FORKS —Forks stood tall in the final minutes, forcing a late turnover to preserve a 22-20 Evergreen League 1A victory over Tenino in the Spartans’ homecoming game.
Garrison Schumack’s interception near midfield with less than 2 minutes to play put a stop to the Beavers’ last-ditch drive and earned Forks (1-1, 3-3) its first Evergreen League victory since a 20-19 win over Tenino on Oct. 3, 2014.
“It was a hard-fought battle,” Spartans coach Emil West said of the important league showdown.
“We had a few scores taken away from us, one from penalties and another on a goal-line stop, and it felt at times like we were about to pull away from them.
“But that quarterback they have [Miles Cannon] is pretty slick and he kept making plays.”
Evergreen foes Montesano and Hoquiam are each ranked in the top-10 in Class 1A and will likely earn the league’s top two berths to the playoffs, so Forks, Tenino and Elma are fighting it out for the last crossover playoff spot making Friday’s win all the more important.
The Spartans led 14-13 at halftime on two Gabe Reaume TD passes. Reaume found Brett Moody all alone for a 6-yard TD pass and later connected with Cole Baysinger on a 15-yard score just before halftime.
Baysinger set up his TD by carving out chunks of yardage on direct snaps as a wildcat quarterback.
Jack Dahlgren had a big night, blocking an extra point and running in two 2-point conversions for Forks.
Schumack scored Forks’ final TD on a 1-yard run to make it 22-13.
Tenino answered with a fourth-quarter TD, but Schumack’s interception touched off a memorable celebration for the Spartans.
“One of the better moments I’ve ever had being a part of football after the game,” West said.
“To see your kids work hard all week and go out and be great and to enjoy that moment with them was really rewarding.”
Sequim 47, North Mason 12
SEQUIM — Strong defense from the Wolves produced three straight Bulldogs’ turnovers in the second quarter and Sequim capitalized with three consecutive touchdowns as a 19-6 lead ballooned to a 41-6 halftime advantage.
Partly by necessity due to injuries, and partly in a bid to get the ball in his hands more often, junior playmaker Gavin Velarde saw time in the offensive backfield as well as his usual wide receiver position.
Velarde scored three touchdowns while catching four passes for 76 yards and rushing five times for 93 yards. He also contributed a 56-yard punt return that helped the Wolves in the early going.
“The o-line played great and we ran pretty well,” coach Erik Wiker said.
“I commend the kids for lining up in multiple formations and causing some confusion and taking advantage of the defense and exploiting those things.”
Tyler Conn added 10 carries for 133 yards, including first-quarter TD runs of 42 and 35 yards for Sequim.
“He had a great night running the ball,” Wiker said.
Wiker said James Thayer continued his strong play defensively.
“Thayer played excellent at middle linebacker,” Wiker said.
“We practiced hard all week, studied the film, made the reads and our defense did an excellent job at stopping them.”
Port Townsend 57, Coupeville 0
COUPEVILLE — Don’t schedule the two-time defending league champions for homecoming.
That’s the lesson the Redhawks (3-0, 4-2) delivered in a sound thrashing of the Wolves on Friday.
Port Townsend scored at least 55 points for the third straight Nisqually-Olympic League game.
“Our offense is doing its job right now,” Redhawks coach Alex Heilig said.
“We were able to overcome some early miscues and rely on our running game and get back on track to strike quick.”
Heilig said quarterback Berkley Hill and running back Detrius Kelsall continued their strong play and Kyle Blankenship also broke some long runs.
“They both did a pretty equal job and Kyle was a big part of things for us with a couple of touchdowns,” Heilig said.
“Our o-line did another great job. Robert Hammett, who played his first game on offense, did an absolutely great job for us at guard.”
Defensive tackle Jackson Foster and linebacker Jonathan Smith drew Heilig’s praise.
“Jackson Foster had a really good night on the d-line,” Heilig said.
“He had about four sacks, and just created a lot of chaos in the middle.
“Jon Smith had a great game at linebacker.
“Overall, we were fundamentally sound in most parts of the game.”
The Redhawks, currently tied for first place with No. 5 Cascade Christian host Klahowya (2-1, 4-2) on Friday in an important league game.
Bellevue Christian 30, Chimacum 23
PORT TOWNSEND — Chimacum played Bellevue Christian tough, but a blocked punt and some untimely offsides penalties cost the the Cowboys in a 30-23 loss.
“The guys gave efforts. It was actually a really good effort. But, we gave them a lot. There’s such a fine line between winning and losing. We’re not good enough to have four or five big mistakes,” said coach Mike Dowling.
The Cowboys got ahead 15-0 in the first half, thanks to a 50-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cole Dotson to Bruce Seton and a 30-yard TD pass to Issac Purser. Then, a blocked punt by the Vikings that helped lead to a touchdown turned things around for Bellevue Christian. The Vikings were able to come back and tie it 15-15 at the half.
The Cowboys also made three critical offsides penalties against the Vikings in the second half, including one on a fourth-and-four.
“A lot of things happened that shouldn’t happen,” Dowling said.
Dowling also gave credit to Elijah Avery for a good game.
Chimacum (0-3, 1-5) visits Vashon on Friday.
Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News Forks’ Jack Dahlgren runs for a good gain during the Spartans’ 22-20 homecoming victory over Tenino. Blocking for Forks are Gavin Palmer (8), Brett Moody (3), and Garrison Schumack (44).
Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News Chimacum’s Peyton Hundley, 45, breaks up a pass intended for Bellevue Christian’s Joe Helton, 42, during a game on Friday at Memorial Field in Port Townsend.
