FORKS — Forks senior Jack Dahlgren is living the dream of every offensive lineman who has toiled for extended stretches in the trenches.
Dahlgren, an All-Evergreen League 1A Division first-teamer at guard last season, was moved to tight end in the offseason in a bid to get the ball in the hands of the 6’2, 220-pound athlete, while still using his strengths and skills as a blocker.
He even got some touches as a running back in the Spartans’ 48-7 blowout of Chimacum at Memorial Field in Port Townsend last week.
And he made the most of his four carries. Dahlgren totaled 60 rushing yards and scored the game’s opening touchdown on an 8-yard run.
He also contributed one of the more exciting plays of the game, nearly going the distance before being whistled down at the 1-yard line on a 30-yard rumble through the middle of the Cowboys’ defense.
“That was fun,” said Forks coach Emil West.
“We feed off of him, so seeing him running in the open field gets everybody excited.”
Calling Dahlgren’s No. 99 as a running back was a new development, according to West.
“I know he’s having fun with that offense,” West said.
“It’s fun for me to put in new stuff and be creative. They make it easy for me because they work so hard.”
Dahlgren also has made an impact with some standout catches in his time at tight end.
He had a crucial third-down reception on a play-action pass against Vashon and caught three passes for 64 yards against King’s Way Christian.
West knows a thing or two about offensive line play, having played center at NCAA Division II Fort Lewis College.
“He deserves it,” West said.
“It’s like we talked about with him playing guard for so many years. He’s put in the time, and he has the skills to pull it off. You saw him get the one touchdown, and I thought he should have had the second but they called him down.”
West foreshadowed the seniors’ standout play in a preseason interview last month.
“Jack can do it all,” West said.
“He can do anything we ask him to. Anywhere you put him he’ll be one of our best players. We really want to utilize his speed and we are looking forward to what he can do there.”
Those comments seem downright prescient, in retrospect.
McNeece carries load
Another reformed lineman, Crescent’s 6’4, 270-pound senior Wyatt McNeece, led the Loggers in rushing with 9 carries for 91 yards and three rushing touchdowns in Crescent’s 50-18 win over the State School for the Deaf.
He also came through as a decoy, taking a handoff and himself handing off on a reverse to running back Kyle Buchanan who promptly motored 21 yards for a touchdown.
McNeece had three scores, including a 34-yard run to close out the scoring in the fourth quarter of the win.
But McNeece is no stranger to the end zone. And he’s scored from much farther out on the field.
He scored on a 65-yard kickoff return against Quilcene last season.
“I’m an offensive linemen, man, that was my dream right there,” McNeece said at the time.
That score led to a standoff between McNeece and the Crescent coaching staff.
“Wyatt made a deal with all the coaches that if he returned a kick for a touchdown we would have to shave his number [22] on our heads,”head coach Brian Shimko said.
“So he was really happy about that. But none of us coaches shook [hands] with him on it, so I don’t know if that’s going to happen. (editors note-it didn’t).
The Loggers visit Quilcene on Saturday.
Shimko said McNeece will be part of the team’s offensive packages going forward this season.
Tributes to Rygaard
Prep and little league football players in Chimacum honored the life of Port Angeles’ Gabe Rygaard over the weekend.
Rygaard, a youth baseball and football coach, and founding sponsor of the Olympic Crosscutters’ American Legion baseball program, was killed in a vehicle collision last Friday.
That night, Chimacum High School quarterback Cole Dotson, and a Crosscutters player, wore a sticker with Rygaard’s initials on his helmet during the team’s game against Forks.
Dotson’s father Darrin, a Chimacum Youth Football board member and a Crosscutters’ assistant coach, said he planned to have the Chimacum B Squad youth team wear the initials in their game last Saturday.
The team also held a pregame prayer for the Rygaard family before their game.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
