By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
TACOMA — Sequim hung with powerhouse Fife into the second quarter, but in the end, the Trojans had too much speed and too many athletes for the Wolves, winning their West Central District 2A playoff game 62-26.
Fife, ranked as high as fifth in the state last week, ran for over 400 yards on 50 carries, but they didn’t really take control until the second quarter.
“Our kids came to play,” said Sequim head coach Erik Wiker. “We were beating them for a while.”
The Wolves got on the scoreboard first after a 14-yard touchdown run by Hayden Gresli. Gavin Velarde also had a nine-yard touchdown reception from Riley Cowan in the first uarter as the Wolves held a brief 13-7 lead.
But, the Trojans responded with some big plays to quickly wipe out that lead, including a 48-yard touchdown run, a 66-yard touchdown run and a 19-yard touchdown pass.
Still, after a Kyler Rollness TD pass from Cowan in the second quarter, the Wolves were in the game, down 36-19 at the half. The game remained within reach at 43-26 into the fourth quarter after another Velarde touchdown catch from Cowan, but Fife ended the game with 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to run away with it.
Cowan ended with three TD passes on 16 for 32 passing as the Wolves were forced to throw the ball to try and catch up to Fife. Gresli led the Wolves with 56 yards rushing, while Velarde had two TDs on four catches and Rollness had five catches for 63 yards.
“They actually had a few more athletes than we realized. They played a guy we’d never seen on film and he was fast,” Wiker said.
Wiker said he he was proud of his players, especially after the Wolves (6-4) started the season losing three out of their first four games.
“From where we started to where we ended, I couldn’t be more proud,” he said. “Ending being able to play with a team like that.”
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Fife 62, Sequim 26
Sequim 13 6 7 0 — 26
Fife 14 22 7 19 — 62
First Quarter
Seq — Gresli 14 run (Rice kick))
Fife — Ale recovered fumble in end zone (Duenas kick)
Seq — Velarde 9 pass from Cowan (run failed) 1:20
Fife — Alexander 48 run (kick)
Second Quarter
Fife — Alexander 8 run (kick) 9:26
Fife — Ginnis 66 run (kick) 3:48
Fife — Ginnis 19 pass from Jennings (Jennings run)
Seq — Rollness 12 pass from Cowan (pass failed)
Third Quarter
Seq — Velarde 10 pass from Cowan (Rice kick)
Fife — Alexander 2 run (Duenas kick)
Fourth Quarter
Fife — Jennings 8 run (kick blocked)
Fife — Brooks 5 run (run failed)
Fife — Kuehn 19 run (kick) 4:10
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Seq: Rollness 1-1, Cowan 4-36, Gresli 11-56. Fife: Brooks 5-24, Alexander 14-165, Jennings 6-15, Hernandez 9-62, Ginnis 6-108, Teddy 1-8, Brown 1-13, Schwaerzler 2-0, Jansen 2-6, Kuehn 2-23, Faualo 2-6.
Passing — Seq: Cowan 16-32-149, 3TD, 2INT. Fife – Jennings 1-4-19, 1TD.
Receiving — Seq: Velarde 4-38-2TD, Rollness 5-63, Wiker 3-29, Young 2-15, Gresli 2-4. Fife: Ginnis 1-19-1TD.
1A Playoffs La Center 49, Forks 12
WOODLAND — Forks got 104 yards rushing from Cole Baysinger, but they were unable to keep up with 1A powerhouse La Center in the Class 1A District 4 playoff game in a 49-12 loss.
“La Center ran the ball really well. They do what they can do, they just lean on you,” said Forks head coach Emil West.
The Wildcats ran the ball 51 times for 370 yards. West thought the game was a “microcosm for all of our struggles this year.”
“We’re a lot better team than we showed,” he said. He thought the team had some small numbers, especially compared to La Center, which had twice as many players as the Spartans, but that the team had a lot of talent.
“I feel we could’ve done more,” he said. Still, it was a successful year with a 2-2 record in league and 6-4 overall and West said this season will be part of the team’s learning process.
“It was the best season we had in a long, long time,” West said.
Baysinger had a 67-yard touchdown late in the game. Caleb Peters also scored on a 1-yard run for the Spartans.
The Spartans graduate all-world Baysinger, who had well over 1,000 yards rushing.
“He’s going to be a really tough guy to replace with his speed and playmaking abilities,” West said.
La Center 49, Forks 12
Forks 0 6 0 6— 12
La Center 14 14 14 7— 49
First Quarter
LC — Evan Honore 16 run (Sean Fox kick)
LC — Colton Dolezal 2 run (Fox kick)
Second Quarter
F — Caleb Peters 1 run (pass failed)
LC — Dolezal 1 run (Fox kick)
LC — Hayden Williamson 33 run (Fox kick)
Third Quarter
LC — Thomas Dreyer 49 interception return (Fox kick)
LC — Clint Smith 26 fumble return (Fox kick)
Fourth Quarter
LC — Tanner Dreyer 38 run (Fox kick)
F — Cole Baysiner 67 run (run failed)
Individual Stats
Rushing—F: Moody 11-47, Baysinger 9-104, Peters 8-29, Cort Prose 1-0, Demorest 3-(-4), Keith Thompson 2-(-5), . LC: Ta.Dreyer 19-160, Williamson 10-71, Tom Lambert 9-18, Dolezal 5-22, Honore 4-80, Tucker Harrington 2-16, Th.Dreyer 1-4, Clay Roberts 1-0, team 2-(-2).
Passing—F: Moody 5-17-2-39. LC: Williamson 3-8-0-22, Lambert 0-1-0-0.
Receiving—F: Baysinger 2-12, Gabriel Terrones 2-20, Prose 1-7. LC: Honore 2-12, Jackson Leslie 1-10.
Chimacum 17, Klahowya 14
CHIMACUM — The Cowboys concluded their season with their second straight win, going to overtime to beat Klahowya in a back and forth game. Issac Purser kicked the game-winning field goal to lift Chimacum (2-5, 4-6).
“It was a nice win for the guys,” said coach Mike Dowling.
Dowling said it was somewhat of a weird season, with the Cowboys winning their first two games, losing six straight, then finishing on a high note with two straight wins.
The game was 7-0 in the first half when Purser, whom Dowling said “is a heck of a kicker” missed a field goal, then Klahowya got the ball back and was able to score with only six seconds left in the half to make it 7-7.
Purser more than made up for his miss, however. He had five catches for 83 yards, including a catch and long run for a touchdown.
Peyton Hundley had a huge game for the Cowboys, rushing for 78 yards and a TD on 16 carries and passing 6 for 12 for 90 yards and a touchdown. However, his biggest play may have come on defense in overtime with the score tied 14-14. Klahowya ran the ball down to the 1-yard line, but Hundley caused a fumble on the tackle, then recovered the fumble to keep Klahowya from scoring.
After Chimacum got the ball back, Hundley made a run down to the 1-yard line, but was knocked out of the game from a helmet-to-helmet hit. Dowling said Hundley was woozy after the hit, but was smiling and celebrating after the game.
“[Hundley] played his guts out,” said Dowling.
With the ball on the 1-yard line, the Cowboys actually dropped back to the 5-yard line after a fumble caused Chimacum to lose yardage. They ran to the center of the field to make it an easier kick for Purser and Purser came through, booting the ball through for the game-winning score.
Aaron Serrato led the Cowboys with 15 tackles, including a sack. Matthew Bainbridge had 40 yards rushing, seven receiving and nine tackles, while Logan Storm had 42 yards rushing and a fumble recovery. Ben Preston had two sacks.
Dowling said it was the first time in several years Chimacum was able to win four games. The Cowboys return their entire offensive line, their receivers and quarterback Cole Dotson.
Charles Wright 14, Port Townsend 7
UNIVERSITY PLACE — The Redhawks finished their season with a close loss to the state-bound Tarriers, the third one-score loss suffered by Port Townsend this season.
“I think we played hard. We had some opportunities and things just didn’t pan out,” said coach Alex Heilig.
Dylan Tracer scored Port Townsend’s touchdown on a 30-yard run in the second quarter.
It was the end of a frustrating year for the 3-7 Redhawks. They were forced to forfeit their first game of the year because they didn’t have enough players eligible. The young team lost games by one point, six points and seven points.
“We win two of those three games, we’re playing again [in the postseason] next week,” Heilig said. “We were really close to where we wanted to be. We weren’t able to take charge when we needed to. The boys played hard. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Heilig said one of the seniors last night pointed out to the rest of the team that “next year started today.
“That’s kind of what we need to do,” Heilig said.
The Redhawks return a lot from this young team, including starting quarterback Noa Apker-Montoya and Tracer, the team’s workhorse running back.
