JOYCE — Neah Bay’s junior varsity team provided a promising glance at the future of Red Devil football as the Neah Bay backups overwhelmed the Crescent varsity 72-42.
“Neah Bay is such a deep team, this squad they fielded today could compete in the Northwest [Football] League and do just fine,” Loggers head coach Darrell Yount said.
“I think they could even compete with Lopez for a playoff berth.”
Played under sunny November skies, Saturday’s homecoming game and senior day also allowed Crescent’s players a chance to shine offensively and pile up tackles on defense.
The contest started slowly, with the first quarter’s lone score coming on a 12-yard toss from Ben Greene to Isaiah Knaus to put the Red Devils up 8-0.
Later, the freshman pair would connect on a 27-yard touchdown pass, and Greene would end the day completing 8 of 17 passes for 214 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Loggers declined to punt all game long, instead going for it on every fourth down.
The strategy was tested early, with Neah Bay picking up excellent field position after stopping Crescent cold on early drives.
But the Loggers defense kept them out of early trouble, with a KC Spencer interception and fumble recovery by homecoming king Cody Wolfer giving Crescent the ball back.
Eventually, it hurt the Loggers, with Michael McGee rolling in from 7 yards out for his first score of the day on a Neah Bay drive that started from the Crescent 19.
Greene would then find his favorite receiving target, Kenrick Doherty Jr. for a 6-yard touchdown to push Neah Bay to a 24-0 lead with 8:21 until half.
Doherty would finish with four catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
McGee then intercepted two Neil Peppard passes, and the Red Devils capitalizing on the second pick with Greene strolling in from 5 yards out for a score.
He later found Doherty Jr. for a 50-yard TD reception and a 38-0 lead.
Then the Loggers came alive, with Peppard finding Spencer for a 23-yard gain on a third-and-8, and connecting again with Spencer for a 22-yard touchdown.
Collin West intercepted Greene on the next play from scrimmage, and Peppard again found Spencer for a score on a 20-yard corner route as time expired in the first half for a 38-14 halftime score.
McGee and Neah Bay kept the ground-and-pound game going in the second half, with the tough-running sophomore doing the dirty work and Greene getting the light duty on two third-quarter rushing scores.
McGee ended the day with 32 rushes for 210 yards and three TDs.
Peppard found senior Zach Fletcher for two third-quarter scores, a 59-yard catch and run along the right sideline and a 27-yard score.
Fletcher also contributed a considerable effort on defense. The Crescent stat-tracker credited him with 36 tackles.
With the game well in hand at 64-34, Fletcher showed speed and a whole lot of heart by running down a long Doherty catch and run to temporarily prevent the last Red Devils touchdown.
“Just a tremendous play from Zach there to chase him down. That’s the type of effort we’ve had from his entire career,” Yount said of the senior captain.
Yount also praised the other seniors, West and Wolfer, for contributions that might not show up in the stat sheet — blocking along the offensive line and holding position on the defensive line.
Sophomore Peppard and freshman Spencer connected multiple times in the second half, including a 66-yard touchdown and a 72-yard catch and run before Spencer was hauled down at the 9-yard line.
Peppard finished 15 of 35 for 370 yards, with six touchdowns and two interceptions.
“Neil stood in there and took a beating today at QB, so it was nice to see him have some success and make some plays for us,” Yount said.
“KC battled through a shoulder injury suffered in the first half and made some great catches for us as well.”
Neah Bay assistant T.J. Greene was happy to have had the opportunity to play the game and get the Red Devil reserves some playing time before the varsity team’s postseason run.
“It’s nice to get them out on the field before the playoffs,” Greene said.
“We’re going to need some of these guys to step in and be solid for us when a starter needs a break in the playoffs, so this was a real good situation.”
Crescent wrapped up its season with a 2-6 record with wins over Muckleshoot and Oakville.
Neah Bay JV 72, Crescent 42
Neah Bay 8 30 20 14— 72
Crescent 0 14 14 14— 42
First Quarter
NB—Knaus 12 pass from Ben Greene (McGee rush)
Second Quarter
NB—McGee 7 rush (McGee rush)
NB—Doherty 6 pass from Greene (McGee rush)
NB—Greene 5 rush (pass failed)
NB—Doherty 50 pass from Greene (McGee rush)
C— Spencer 22 pass from Peppard (rush failed)
C— Spencer 20 pass from Peppard (Peppard to Fletcher pass)
Third Quarter
NB—Greene 1 rush (Knaus pass from Greene)
NB—Greene 2 rush (pass failed)
C—Fletcher 59 pass from Peppard (rush failed)
NB—Knaus 27 pass from Greene (rush failed)
C— Fletcher 27 pass from Peppard (Peppard to Spencer pass)
Fourth Quarter
NB—McGee 9 rush (rush failed)
C— Spencer 15 pass from Peppard (rush failed)
NB—McGee 2 rush (Greene rush)
C— Spencer 66 pass from Peppard (rush good)
Individual Stats
Rushing— C: Spencer 1-5, Wolfer 3-5, West 2-(-6), Fletcher 5-(-7), Peppard 14-(-35). NB: McGee 32-210, Greene 6-3, Bain 1-0.
Passing—C: Peppard 15-35-2, 370. NB: Greene 8-17-2, 214.
Receiving—C: Spencer 7-245, Fletcher 5-68, West 2-17, Wolfer 1-5. NB: Doherty 4-116, Tyler 2-59, Knaus 2-39.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsualdailynews.com.
