BREMERTON — Sequim suffered another painful loss, being shut out by Olympic 39-0 in Olympic League action at Silverdale Stadium.
The Wolves still have a shot at the postseason, but Friday’s loss jumbles their path.
Late in the first half Friday, they experienced probably the worst injury of the injury-filled season when Chris Whitaker was taken off the field on a stretcher to an ambulance with what head coach Erik Wiker said was a broken fibula.
Sequim’s injury list is rivaling its roster of healthy players in length.
“We have built [the team] on no excuses; these kids have been rallying big-time, doing lots of good things. The guys respond well and they do really good, it’s just a lot of adversity,” Wiker said of the injuries.
“I could list them all; it’s just unbelievable and I’m starting to think I made somebody mad.”
Nobody seems immune. Even an assistant coach, Craig Frick, was roaming the sidelines Friday on a pair of crutches after having surgery earlier in the week, according to Wiker.
Sequim had played Olympic tight before Whitaker’s injury, trailing only 9-0 with 2:04 remaining in the half.
The Trojans reached the scoreboard for the first time four minutes into the second quarter when R.J. Enriquez blocked a punt in the end zone. Whitaker jumped on the ball to limit the damage to a safety.
On the ensuing drive, Sequim’s defense made Olympic work hard for the first touchdown of the game.
The Trojans needed 12 plays and over six minutes to cover 51 yards, capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Makaleb McInnis to Geordyn Shinard that put Olympic ahead 9-0.
On the next play from scrimmage, Whitaker was dropped for a 2-yard loss.
He stayed face down on the turf, with his leg bent in an unpleasant direction, and remained on the field for several minutes while his lower leg was stabilized my medical personnel.
Losing a starter at running back and middle linebacker affected the Wolves on the field and, Wiker said, in their heads.
“Ten other guys saw how bad [the injury] was,” Wiker said.
“They were like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ and then your concerns are there, and how important is a football game after that.
“And then he’s one of our studs, offensively and defensively.
“We had stable of running backs — I mean, [Brandon] Stamper and [Mark] Feeney at the beginning of the year were Nos. 4, 5 [on the depth chart], or whatever they were, and now they’re our starting guys in the second half. Even . . . having Whitaker be the [main] ball carrier the whole time was something else [caused by injuries].
“Then at defense, too, I mean, we’re already on our last line of linebackers, and [Whitaker is] our best middle ‘backer.
“And it’s a position we can hardly even have backups, because they’re the guys who are right next to him [at the other linebacker positions].”
After a three-and-out by Sequim’s offense, the defense held the Trojans to a 31-yard field goal from McInnis as the second quarter ended to give Olympic a 12-0 lead at halftime.
“I was really proud of them,” Wiker said of the defense for its first-half performance.
But the Trojans quickly pulled away after halftime, reaching the end zone on all four of their third-quarter possessions, while the Wolves went the entire period without a first down.
“That’s all after emotion . . . losing a middle linebacker,” Wiker said of the second half.
“And it is emotion, it’s a big thing.”
One of Sequim’s few bright spots in the quarter was when Feeney blocked the extra point after Olympic’s second-to-last touchdown.
The Wolves did go on to pick up three first downs in the final period.
Stamper earned two of those, one on an 18-yard run that was Sequim’s longest play of the game and the other on a 5-yard run.
Backup quarterback Dylan Lott scrambled 11 yards for the other first down.
He also completed an 8-yard pass to Bailey Earley that Earley snagged out of the air with one hand.
The Wolves accumulated only 95 yards of total offense in the game. Stamper led the team with 25 yards rushing on four carries.
Starting quarterback Miguel Moroles completed 5 of 10 passes for 29 yards and was held to 4 yards rushing on seven carries.
Lott completed 2 of 4 passes for 15 yards and rushed for 13 yards on three carries.
Earley caught four passes for 32 yards.
Despite the difficult loss, Wiker said the Wolves are sticking together.
“I think the majority of the way the kids responded is good. Their attitude, their demeanor afterwards; they really want to stick together and be a team,” Wiker said.
“Not a lot of pointing fingers, not a lot of chipping. They didn’t go into unsportsmanlike stuff, they played with class.
“The team responded well to all the adversity they faced on the scoreboard and in the injuries.”
Sequim (2-3, 4-4) can lock down one of the Olympic League’s four playoff spots with a win at home against Bremerton (0-5, 2-6) this week and a loss by Port Angeles to Kingston.
If Sequim and Port Angeles (2-3, 4-4) both win, they will play a mini-playoff with North Mason (3-3, 4-4) for the league’s final two playoff spots.
The Wolves’ focus going into the Bremerton game will be helping players fit into the unfamiliar positions that injuries have forced them into.
“The big thing is, like every single week, we’re going to have to coach people up at their position, make them better, make them ready,” Wiker said.
Olympic (5-0, 6-2), meanwhile, next faces a battle for the Olympic League championship with seventh-ranked North Kitsap (5-0, 8-0) in Poulsbo next week. The Vikings beat Port Angeles 26-10 on Friday.
Olympic 39, Sequim 0
Sequim 0 0 0 0— 0
Olympic 0 12 27 0— 39
Second Quarter
O—Safety, Sequim recovered blocked punt in end zone
O—Shinard 5 pass from McInnis (McInnis kick)
O—McInnis 31 field goal
Third Quarter
O—Johnson 13 run (McInnis kick)
O—McGee 60 run (McInnis kick)
O—Madison 9 run (kick blocked)
O—Campana 26 pass from McInnis (McInnis kick)
Individual Stats
Rushing— S: Stamper 4-25, Whitaker 4-13, Lott 3-13, Tong 2-7, Moroles 7-4, Feeney 1-4, Richmond 2-0, Velarde 3-(-11). O: McGee 8-109, Shinard 9-45, Johnson 8-44, Madison 11-44, McInnis 5-32, Fernandez 2-26, Enriquez 4-16, Stoudermire 3-14, Davie 2-9, Carrier 1-1.
Passing—S: Moroles 5-10-0, 29; Lott 2-4-0 15; Earley 0-1. O: McInnis 4-9-0, 45.
Receiving—S: Earley 4-32, Faunce 1-7, Dennis 1-(-2). O: Campana 1-26, Quitevis 1-15, Shinard 1-5, Enriquez 1-(-1).
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
