PREP FOOTBALL: Montesano too much for Sequim to handle

SEQUIM — Led by seven touchdowns from junior running back Carson Klinger, Montesano rolled up more than 700 yards of total offense in a 66-34 thumping of Sequim.

Klinger carved up large swaths of Dungeness Valley real estate, rushing 20 times for 226 yards and five TDs, catching a 34-yard TD reception and returning a kickoff 90 yards for another score in Friday’s game.

“[Number] 31 is a stud,” Sequim coach Erik Wiker said.

“They utilized him very well and he responded.”

Wiker, whose team has faced other established 1A programs like Meridian and Cascade Christian in nonleague games over the years, doesn’t put much stock into the size of a school.

“When you’re good [at the 1A or 2A level] you’re good,” Wiker said.

“They have a very good program, they are coached very well and they executed at a very high level.

“When you have good guys executing a good game plan it usually goes pretty good.”

And the Bulldogs, a traditional Class 1A powerhouse that reached the state semifinals last season, showed Sequim just how tough they can be.

But the game didn’t start out in Montesano’s favor.

Gavin Velarde took the opening kickoff 92 yards for a Wolves’ touchdown, slaloming through the Bulldogs’ defense for the score.

Sequim added two other kickoff return touchdowns later in the game, a 72-yard return by Kyler Rollness and an 85-yard bring back by Curtis Gorr.

Montesano answered with a six-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard Klinger TD run.

Velarde bailed Sequim out on the next Bulldogs’ offensive possession, doing his best Michael Jordan impression to sky for an interception inside the Wolves’ 5-yard line.

Later in the first quarter the Wolves recovered a Montesano fumble, but couldn’t convert either of those big plays into points.

Klinger added his second TD, a 13-yard run, with 1:09 left in the opening quarter.

Sequim answered back with a 13-play, 68-yard drive keyed by a 14-yard Cowan scramble on 4th-and-13 at the Bulldogs’ 30-yard line.

Keeshawn Whitney then scored the Wolves’ lone offensive touchdown of the game, a three-yard plunge to pull within 14-13 with 8:35 until halftime.

That’s as close as Sequim would get.

Klinger returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a score and a 21-13 lead.

Cowan threw his second interception inside the Bulldogs’ 10-yard line on the Wolves’ next possession.

Montesano added touchdowns on a 20-yard scamper by quarterback Trevor Ridgway, a 34-yard touchdown pass to Klinger and a 16-yard pass that was deflected in the end zone and caught by Nick Chapman as the first half horn sounded.

All told, the Bulldogs put together a 27-0 run to close out the second quarter.

“We were hanging with them for awhile,” Wiker said.

“We had a lapse right before half, and if we don’t have that we could have made it a game.

“Two picks [interceptions] in the red zone I believe, so some of that is why they were able to [build up a lead].”

Klinger added two TDs in the third quarter.

“I give credit to my lineman,” Klinger said.

“They get downfield and open up holes and I can follow behind them and pick my lanes and bounce.”

Much of the damage came out of an old-fashioned, but clinically effective offensive formation.

“They had the crisscross counter with the double wing, and almost every time they ran that or had a play-action pass option,” Wiker said.

“The play-action stuff was difficult to defend.

“The ones where it was crisscross and nobody was there, that was somebody not doing their job right, and that created some gaping holes. They had some big, Payton-[Glasser] sized receivers out on the edge blocking for them.”

Wiker was pleased with how his team played while facing a large deficit.

“Proud because we came out and competed the whole time,” Wiker said.

“In the second half we had energy and attitude, they were coachable and they didn’t give up on themselves.”

Wiker also said he tried to stress how seeing Montesano’s approach to the game up close could benefit Sequim in the long run.

“That’s something we talked about with the kids at halftime,” Wiker said

“They had tough good lineman that weren’t tired. [Number] 31 is a workhorse like a Velarde is, and he wasn’t tired. They were ready for it.”

But Wiker also said it wasn’t enough to just play a team like Montesano, he wants his team to be able to compete for a victory against these tough teams. He thinks it will pay dividends in league play.

“Answering the call [against these tough programs] is important,” Wiker said.

“If we go schedule, quote unquote ‘easy games,’ then when you get to league you aren’t tested.”

The Wolves (1-1) visit Centralia (2-0) in another nonleague contest next Friday.

Montesano 66, Sequim 34

Monte 14 27 19 6— 66

Sequim 7 6 14 7— 34

First Quarter

S—Velarde 92 kick return (Cowan kick)

M—Klinger 1 run (pass failed)

M—Klinger 13 run (Chapman pass from Ridgway)

Second Quarter

S—Whitney 3 run (kick failed)

M—Klinger 90 kick return (Bates kick)

M—Ridgway 20 run (Bates kick)

M—Klinger 34 pass from Ridgway (Bates kick)

M—Chapman 16 pass from Ridgway (Bates kick)

Third Quarter

M—Klinger 9 run (Bates kick)

S—Velarde 37 pass from Cowan (Cowan kick)

M—Klinger 10 run (kick failed)

S—Rollness 72 kick return (Cowan kick)

M—Klinger 20 run (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter

M—Schleve 2 run (attempt failed)

S—Gorr 85 kick return (Cowan kick)

Individual Stats

Rushing—S: Whitney 13-55, Gresi 3- (-1), Velarde 2-(-8), Cowan 5-(-8); M: Klinger 20-226; Ridgway 7-116; Olson 14-101; Reninger 3-12; Tagman 4-45; Willis 5-20; Bates 3-Schleve 1-2; Farmer 1-(-6).

Passing—S: Cowan 15-24-169, 2 INTs. M: Ridgway 11-16-201, 2 TD, Int.

Receiving—S: Velarde 3-60, Rollness 5-46, Glasser 1-23, Whitehead 3-21, Whitney 2-12, Gorr 1-9; M: Reninger 4-85; Klinger 3-62, Chapman 4-54.

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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.