FORKS — The Forks Spartans debuted in style under first-year head coach Emil West on their new FieldTurf playing surface, knocking off Vashon 42-26 in the nonleague season opener at Spartan Stadium.
“It was great,” West said of Friday’s game.
“The best part is it wasn’t one guy, it was a team effort.
“We hammered the football, just like we talked about.”
“We wanted to set the tone. A big part of our game is going to be grinding teams down and we were able to do that.”
Forks put up 20 unanswered points to close the first half up 28-6 on the Pirates.
“Last year we were never able to get the early score, so we want to get out and get running,” West said.
“I want to be front runners all year. We want to control the tempo.”
West said the team’s play was sparked by a crucial third-down conversion pass to Jack Dahlgren from quarterback Gabe Reaume.
“We had a big play-action pass to Jack Dahlgren and that really got us going,” West said.
“Gabe kept on hitting Jack with passes in pregame and it looked perfect. This isn’t something that neccesarily came easy to Jack [who converted to tight end this season after playing guard]. He had to put in work, but he’s a natural athlete and we like his chances one-on-one with a linebacker or safety.”
West also credited the play of his “three-headed monster” running back corps.
“That’s what will help us all year, if we can hammer the football,” West said.
“We’ve got a two-headed monster in Kenny Gale, Tristan Pisani at running back, and really it’s a three-headed monster with Garrison Schumack at fullback.”
Gale had two rushing TDs, Schumack another score, and Pisani ran in two 2-point conversion tries.
Cole Baysinger and Jeffrey Schumack added touchdowns on direct-snap plays.
“The fun part of being offensive coordinator is being able to design stuff for them,” West said.
“The kids went out and executed every single play I called. And it was awesome to see the offensive line play so well.”
West also was pleased with his defense, which kept Bryce Hoisington, the state’s single-season all-time leading rusher, contained for the most part.
“We forced a lot of turnovers,” West said. “We were flying around the football and we were hitting.”
West was pleased with his first game in charge.
“As a first-year head coach it was a dream come true for me,” West said.
“Last year was tough on these kids, so that win represented so much. I love these kids. I just want to see them be successful.”
Neah Bay 52, Chimacum 6
NEAH BAY — Chimacum struck first against Neah Bay, as Domenick Zack returned the opening kickoff 78 yards for a 6-0 Cowboys’ lead.But it was all Neah Bay after that, as the Red Devils rolled up 52 unanswered points in a 52-6 win against Chimacum in an 11-man contest Friday.
Ben Greene took the snaps at quarterback for Neah Bay, completing 6 of 9 passes for 170 yards and two touchdown passes.
Rwehabura Munyagi Jr. caught the first TD, going 52-yards to the house in the first quarter. He later added an 8-yard run for a 22-6 Red Devils’ lead.
Cole Svec rushed for 155 of his 175 yards, including a 70-yard TD run, in the first half of the victory.
Greene later connected with Cameron Buzzell on an 18-yard score for a 34-6 lead.
Buzzell also scored early in the game on a 10-yard rush.
He finished with two catches for 53 yards.
Kenrick Doherty added three receptions for 37 yards.
Neah Bay limited Chimacum to 36 rushing yards on 44 carries and 75 passing yards.
Chris Sevilla was 4 of 6 for 50 yards for the Cowboys, while Cole Dotson completed 2 of 8 passes for 25 yards and two interceptions.
The Red Devils (1-0) host Lummi (1-0) in a nonleague contest at 5 p.m. Friday. The Blackhawks beat Seattle Lutheran 66-22 on Friday.
Chimacum (0-1) visits South Whidbey on Friday. The Falcons faced Coupeville late Saturday night.
Mount Tahoma 40, Port Angeles 0
PORT ANGELES — The Roughriders mustered only 114 yards of total offense in a shutout loss to the Thunderbirds.
What we were assuming all along they would be athletic and have some speed, but what we didn’t know is they were pretty physical,” Port Angeles coach Bret Curtis said.
“That speed, they ran away from a couple of times, and they threw it deep and they outran us a little bit a few times,”
“They have an experienced, senior-dominated team and they were big and tough.”
Sophomore Rudy Valdez was a bright spot for Port Angeles, catching 2 passes for 67 yards.
“Rudy Valdez broke one on them,” Curtis said.
“He didn’t quite score, and that’s when it dawned on us they had some pretty good speed.”
Curtis said Easton Joslin nabbed an interception to stop a 17-play Mount Tahoma drive.
The Riders visit Port Townsend on Thursday.
Mount Tahoma 40, Port Angeles 0
Mount Tahoma 6 20 14 0— 40
Port Angeles 0 0 0 0— 0
First Quarter
MT— Pate 10 run (run failed)
Second Quarter
MT—Washington 8 pass from Ballard-Swenson (run failed)
MT—Foster 3 run (Foster run)
Third Quarter
MT—Rogers 19 interception return (kick failed)
MT—Washington 8 pass from Ballard-Swenson (Foster run)
Individual Stats
Passing—PA: Guttormsen 2-6-0, 90; Warner 3-6-1, 14.
Receiving—PA: Valdez 2-67, E. Joslin 2-28, C. Joslin 1-9.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News Neah Bay’s Cole Svec stretches out for more yardage as he is being tackled By Chimacum’s Matt Bainbridge (31) and Jordan Mason (72) While Neah Bay’s Kenrick Doherty Jr. (1) looks on.
Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News Port Angeles’ Jace Lausche is hit by Mount Tahoma’s Sonny Te’o. The hit forced a fumble which the Thunderbirds recovered.
Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News Port Angeles’ Jace Lausche is hit by Mount Tahoma’s Sonny Te’o. The hit forced a fumble which the Thunderbirds recovered.
