It didn’t take long for Zhaiel Smith to show Tualatin fans what they can expect from the Timberwolves’ newest weapon.
The transfer from Central Catholic returned the season-opening kickoff 90-plus yards for a touchdown, and Tualatin never looked back en route to a 54-19 win at home against Jesuit to open the football season.
“The team made some great blocks,” Smith said. “The coach made a great scheme for the kickoff return. It felt great.”
The kickoff was just a warmup for Smith, however. In total, the senior caught four passes for more than 100 yards and three more touchdowns. If that wasn’t enough, he also intercepted a pass on defense. Tualatin Coach Dom Ferraro said it was apparent right away once Smith got to the school it was going to be a good fit.
“He’s a spectacular athlete,” Ferraro said. “It was more about getting him comfortable in our offensive and learning everything and developing a connection with our quarterback. He’s done a great job. He’s fit in perfectly.”
That connection with quarterback Nolan Keeney started more than a year ago when the two ended up playing for the same team in 7-on-7, a non-contact style of football.
“The connection is great,” Smith said. “We worked a lot with each other in 7-on-7. We also worked with each other a lot after practice and on weekends.
Keeney said once they started playing together, he started pleading with Smith to join him at Tualatin.
“He’s a stud,” Keeney said. “It showed tonight. The chemistry we built was amazing for us.”
Keeney was throwing to a bunch of new targets in the season-opener, as three of his top pass catchers from last year have all graduated. It didn’t seem to slow him down any. He threw five touchdown passes in all, and had a 60-plus-yard touchdown run called back for a penalty.
The senior quarterback said he felt good in the season opener. Last year, Keeney and Tualatin were off to a great start when Keeney broke his left collarbone in a Week 4 win against Jesuit. He sat out the rest of the regular season and returned for the playoffs, leading Tualatin to the state title game.
The Timberwolves lost that state title game to Central Catholic. With the game close in the second quarter, Keeney re-broke that same collarbone and had to miss the rest of the game. Keeney did return to play in the second half of the school’s basketball season, and said his collarbone has felt great since.
Keeney – who announced his commitment to play for BYU in college – also threw touchdown passes to senior Caden Knips and sophomore Cole Hachmeister, who saw a lot of playing time in the backfield in Week 1.
“Cole is explosive,” Ferraro said. “As a back, he’s a little undersized as a sophomore, but he’s hard to bring down. He doesn’t go down on first contact. When he runs, he runs with great vision and patience. He knows how to set blocks up.”
Hachmeister also runs track and had a lot of success as a freshman in the spring, winning both the 100-meter and 200-meter races at the Oregon Freshmen Championship meet earlier this year. Hashim Hall, head coach of Tualatin’s track team, said in the spring that Hachmeister is one of the fastest freshmen he has ever had at the school.
“He brings a lot of excitement on the field,” Keeney said. “The future is really bright for him. He makes so many plays.”
Ferraro was pleased with a lot of his younger players in the team’s first win, shouting out the play from Junior Calen Simonelic, who had an interception, along with junior Cole Newton on offense, and sophomore Pat Vialva Jr. at cornerback.
Ferraro also said junior Connor LaGrow “mauled people all night” from the offensive line.
“We’re young,” Ferraro said. “I’m sure we’ll have challenges with that but it was great to see those guys come out and play well.”
He also said the adjustments made by Erik Moen, the team’s defensive coordinator, and the other defensive coaches were a big reason for the win. Jesuit scored on its first two drives and then didn’t score again until the last few minutes of the game when each team’s backups were in.
In total, Tualatin picked off four Jesuit passes. The interceptions came from Smith, senior Logan Sunnell, senior Luke Schwab, and Simonelic.
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