JOYCE — Taking a cue from the weather, Lopez Island rained on Crescent’s homecoming football game by the score of 56-6 in Northwest Football League action.
The Lobos will make their second trip to the North Olympic Peninsula in three days for a pigtail game against Quilcene today at 2 p.m.
Against the young Loggers on Saturday, Lopez demonstrated why it is considered one of the top 1B teams in the state.
The Lobos jumped out to a quick 20-0 lead after one quarter of play, yet in the early going, Crescent was making Lopez work for everything it achieved.
“Take away three big first-quarter plays and the game turns out differently,” Loggers coach Darrell Yount said.
“Now, does that change the outcome? Our offense was struggling to convert third downs, so probably not, but our defense was hanging with them.
“We were getting the stops we needed and then, boom, they break one off and the score gets ugly in a hurry.”
It has been a familiar scenario for Crescent, with over half its roster made up of eighth graders and freshmen.
“Our learning curve has been so steep,” Yount said.
“It just takes a lot of dedication, time and perseverance to learn the complexities of this game.
“We’re really young and inexperienced.”
“You can be young and be very experienced, as many teams have had their athletes come up through the ranks of pee-wee and middle school football programs.
“But our kids haven’t had those opportunities. So, we have a team of first- and second-year kids to the sport.”
Injuries have hampered those Loggers who have football experience, and Saturday was no difference.
Key injury
Zach Fletcher, who leads the team with over 1,200 all purpose yards on the season, went down with a backside rib injury early in the second quarter.
That medical situation extended for over 30 minutes, prompting the officials to call for an early halftime break due to that extended game delay and the blowing rain.
The game resumed some 40 minutes later after the homecoming halftime ceremonies, with 11:05 still showing on the second-quarter game clock.
The rest of the game was played straight through with the regular quarter breaks.
“Losing Fletcher was really kind of the last straw to the season,” Yount said.
“We had already lost [running back Travis] Walker for the season after game two, had seen our big 300-pounder, [Ian] Sowders go down with the knee thing three weeks ago.
“Fletcher had really amped up his game as he had assumed basically all the duties.
“Our offense didn’t just run through him, it was him.
“So, to see him go down was a blow, and of course our main concern was for his health.
“You just really hate to see the injuries in any sense but when the ambulance shows up then football kind of goes out the window, and the welfare of the athlete and his family become paramount.”
When the game resumed, Lopez turned it up a notch, ripping off three straight scores to take a 44-0 lead after two quarters.
The second half was played to a 12-6 Lobos advantage, as both teams substituted heavily.
Crescent freshman quarterback Neil Peppard’s 30-yard strike to Quenton Wolfer finally put the Loggers on the board in the last minute of play.
Peppard finished with two completions for 61 yards. Along with his pass to Wolfer, Peppard also hooked up with promising eighth-grader KC Spencer for a 31-yard gain.
Freshman McCabe Story led Crescent with 40 yards rushing.
Dane Kjerulf had nine tackles on defense. Quenton Wolfer and Cody Wolfer added eight apiece.
The Loggers bid farewell to their senior class of Quenton Wolfer, Ian Sowders, Dane Kjerulf, Quin’Tinn March and Kaleb Dodson.
Since Highland Christian dropped football before this season, Crescent (0-5, 0-9) doesn’t have a South Division team to play in a crossover game, so the Loggers’ season is done.
Lopez plays Quilcene
Lopez finishes the regular season with a 7-2 record (3-2 in league play), with its only losses coming to perennial 1B powerhouses Neah Bay and Lummi.
Since the Lobos finished third in the Northwest Football League North Division, they must make the trip from the San Juan Islands to Anacortes to Whidbey Island to Port Townsend and then Quilcene to face the Rangers, who finished second in the South Division behind Evergreen Lutheran.
The Lobos handed Quilcene (2-1, 5-2) one of its two losses this season with a 68-30 win in September. That game also was played at Quilcene.
The Rangers and Lopez will play a half-game, according to Quilcene coach Nic Dahl.
The winner will advance to play top-ranked Neah Bay (5-0, 8-0) later in the week.
