HS Football: Omak Beats Rochester in Ground Game Battle

11/15/25

(Centralia, WA) Saturday afternoon high school football was on the schedule this weekend as all four first round games in the 1A state football tournament were played. In our featured game on ESN, it would be an east vs. west battle as the #11 Omak Pioneers traveled west of the Cascades to take on the #6 Rochester Warriors. Two teams known for their grinding rushing attacks were ready to give a prime example of old school football in Centralia.

It doesn’t get much more old school than the Omak Pioneers. Led by a very dangerous rushing tandem of Payton Smith and Joshua Bucsko, the Pioneers coaching staff believes so much in the players on the field, the coaching staff doesn’t use any headsets or radio and the only thing in their bench area is a water cooler. No flash, all substance had the Pioneers coming in with a 7-3 record as Caribou Trail league champions.

On the other side of the field, after a rough stint at 2A the Rochester Warriors have been much more comfortable back down at 1A with their second consecutive state appearance. Despite not winning the EvCo 1A this season, the Warriors felt like a much more dangerous team than last season’s league champions and proved that in a thrilling win in the round of 24 where they put up 74 points on a whopping 627 yards.

Omak 14, Rochester 12

Omak would receive the opening kick and the Pioneers established the run game immediately. A trio of running backs all tallied runs of 10+ yards early with Payton Smith leading the way along with Joshua Bucsko. Rochester’s defense would start to tighten things up and did not allow Omak to find any success with their few early passes. The Warriors ended up getting a stop to turn Omak’s long drive into nothing. Rochester then went on their own long and time consuming drive behind the trio of Ethan Rodriguez, Xander Peterman, and Maddox Rodgers. Just like their counterpart, Omak would tighten things up and end that drive without any points being allowed. A sack by Joshua Long and Tanner Eaton stopped the next Omak drive as a quick 1st quarter ended with a scoreless game.

Rochester had a fourth down and one early in the 2nd quarter near midfield, but the Warriors rolled the dice and it paid off as Xander Peterman got just enough to move the chains. A few plays later, it was another fourth and short but once again Rochester moved the sticks with Maddox Rodgers finding a six-yard gain. Rodgers then caught fire with a 17-yard run and the Warriors were knocking on the door of the goal line. A two-yard run by Ethan Rodriguez capped off the drive with the first points of the game and Rochester took a 6-0 lead.

That lead did not last long at all as the kick right after found Elijah Allen and the playmaker did just that for Omak. Zigging and zagging his way across the field, Allen finally found the far sideline and had a lot of green in front of him. The senior turned on the jets and he was gone for an 83-yard kick return for a touchdown. Just like that we were back to even as Omak tied it at 6-6. That score carried into halftime.

It would be Rochester football to begin the 3rd quarter after an onside kick rolled out of bounds to give the Warriors the ball near midfield. A heavy dose of Ethan Rodriguez had the Warriors moving with their grinding offense. Rodriguez would have an explosive 23-yard run to help take a chunk out of what they needed. It wasn’t broke so head coach AJ Easley didn’t try to fix it and just continued to feed Rodriguez. He would continue to do his job and found the endzone for a two-yard score to put Rochester back in front at 12-6.

Omak would not be able to answer right back on the kick but Payton Smith had the Pioneers moving right down the field with some help from a personal foul penalty on Rochester. A huge tackle for a loss by Dominic Delgado in the open field slowed down the Omak drive and forced a fourth down. The Warrior defense wouldn’t budge on a fourth down carry by Payton Smith, forcing a turnover on downs. However, the Warriors had to punt the ball right back and Omak would have the ball entering the 4th quarter, trailing Rochester 12-6.

Omak had already began their march as the game shifted to the 4th and final quarter. Payton Smith was a little banged up but Fred Hurlbert was able to complete a couple of passes to Elijah Allen and Joshua Bucsko as the Pioneers continued to move the ball. Hurlbert set things up at the two after a scramble and Joshua Bucsko finished things off with a two-yard score. Head coach Nick Sackman burned a timeout to discuss the two-point conversion attempt and it paid off. Elijah Allen ran it in for the two and just like that Omak had taken their first lead late at 14-12.

Rochester would look to answer back and had a nice drive going before Omak’s defense got the turnover on downs. That would not seal it however as the ball was knocked free and recovered by Dominic Delgado on the very next play for Omak. That gave Rochester one last shot and they had to throw the ball on a fourth and seven but Easton Singleton found Ethan Rodriguez for 12 yards and a first down. Omak’s defense had one last play however as Teagun Haigh picked off the next pass attempt to put and end to this one. Omak’s defense stood strong late and the Pioneers earned a 14-12 win over Rochester to move to the quarterfinals.

Stats and MVP

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game went to Omak’s senior Elijah Allen. The versatile playmaker ran the ball five times for 19 yards and had three catches for 21 yards but had a much larger impact on the game. Allen ran a kick back for a touchdown to get the Pioneers on the board and also ran in the game-winning two-point conversion. While it wasn’t a bunch of flashy plays, the arguably two biggest plays of the Pioneers win were made by Elijah Allen.

Payton Smith was the leading rusher for the Omak Pioneers, running the ball 16 times for 64 yards and he had a reception as well. Joshua Bucsko also had a busy day with nine carries for 46 yards and a touchdown and had a five-yard reception. Fred Hurlbert went 5/8 for 26 yards and four carries for 10 yards at quarterback for Omak. On defense, Payton Smith and Hawk Mullen both recorded a sack while Teagun Haigh had the game sealing interception.

For the Rochester Warriors, it was almost all run plays all game long. Ethan Rodriguez was the busiest tailback for Rochester, carrying the ball 28 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Maddox Rodgers was busy as well with 17 carries for 84 yards while Xander Peterson had 10 carries for 16 yards. Easton Singleton was 1/2 passing with a 12-yard completion to Ethan Rodriguez. Joshua Long and Tanner Eaton recorded a sack while Jay Johnson had a pass break-up on defense. Connor Rapp came away with an interception as well.

The win moves Omak to 8-3 on the season and sends the Pioneers to the state quarterfinals where they will take on the Mount Baker Mountaineers in a rematch from a game that took place just two weeks ago. Rochester finishes their season with an 8-3 record and another program altering campaign.

Click here for the 1A football bracket

Click here for the link to the full game replay (Subscription Required)