DYLEN HEAWARD HAD himself a season . . . in the last two games.
The Crescent running back ripped the Lopez and Highland Christian defenses for an astounding 878 yards and 16 touchdowns on 70 carries in a pair of Logger victories.
That’s an average of 12.5 yards per carry, with touchdowns coming every 4.3 touches.
Eight-man football or not, Heaward is putting up numbers that would shame even the most fanatical of XBox junkies.
And it’s all about an offense coming together at the right time, according to Loggers (3-2 in league, 7-3 overall) head coach Tim Rooney.
“We’ve got guys in spots where they need to be,” said Rooney, whose team clinched the PCL North Division’s third seed after scoring 160 points in its last two games.
“Our linemen are figuring out their blocking assignments. It’s finally starting to take shape, the whole offense.”
None more so than Heaward.
The Loggers’ most explosive player broke a pair of school records two weeks ago when he amassed 604 all-purpose yards and scored 10 rushing touchdowns.
Just to make sure he covered all his bases, Heaward also threw for a touchdown in the 84-68 shootout victory over Lopez.
One week later, in a game the Loggers needed to clinch the third seed, Heaward went for 385 yards and six rushing touchdowns in a 76-26 drubbing of Highland Christian.
That put him at 2,086 yards rushing and 44 all-purpose touchdowns on the season.
“Our team’s goal was to get Dylen 2,000 yards before the end of the season,” Rooney said.
“Of course, [the accomplishment] has a lot to do with him, but it has a lot to do with the guys up front, too. The hard work is paying off, and they are buying into a system that myself and my assistant put in four years ago.”
Heaward is one of several players who have been with Rooney during his entire four-year tenure.
The Rooney era started off rocky, with the Loggers going 1-19 overall.
Now Crescent is back in the state preliminary playoffs for the second straight season, set to face Lake Quinault at Tumwater High School on Friday at 7 p.m.
They’ve already won seven games this fall for the first time since 1996, which also happened to be the last time the Loggers reached the postseason prior to last fall.
If they can beat Lake Quinault on Friday, they can match another accomplishment of the ’96 team: reach the Class 1B state playoffs.
“It’s a lot of frustration along the way, but it’s definitely satisfying,” Rooney said. “I’m glad the kids had a chance to accomplish this.”
PT repeats feat
It appears going 1-2 isn’t what it used to be in state cross country.
Port Townsend’s Bereket Piatt and Habtamu Rubio were one of four tandems to take the top two spots in their respective races at last weekend’s state meet at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
That puts the all-time number of 1-2 finishes at 18, with 10 coming this decade.
That being said, the fact that the Redskins were able to pull it off two years in a row is absolutely spectacular.
Port Townsend hadn’t had a runner finish better than second at state before last year.
Piatt did just that in finishing behind teammate Quinton Decker, who won the Class 1A state championship, last fall.
With Decker gone, Piatt assumed his rightful place atop 1A, while Rubio chased down Charles Wright’s Max LaBerge for second.
As a result, Port Townsend became just the second school in state history with back-to-back 1-2 finishes.
The first was Royal, which took 1-2 in the 1A boys race in 2006-07.
Nobody has ever done it three years in a row.
Something for Piatt and Rubio, both juniors, to think about.
Romney’s run
Lost in the hub-bub of Port Townsend’s showing was yet another solid performance from Port Angeles’ Chanda Romney.
The senior transfer competed at the state meet for the fourth straight year, having posted top-10 finishes each of the last three years for Forks.
She was eighth in the 1A girls race as a freshman, second as a sophomore and third as a junior.
Running in the much more competitive 3A race, Romney managed to take 21st for the Riders.
It was the highest placement by a Port Angeles girl runner this decade.
And her time of 19 minutes, 19 seconds, was the best among the Peninsula’s female runners and the fifth fastest all-time by a Rider girl.
“She brought joy, happiness, and a calming atmosphere to the PA girls team,” Port Angeles coach Dwayne Johnson said.
“Her persistence was essential to her success. Her personality was explosive, she was never down, always upbeat and happy to be part of a team of women.”
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.