Forks’ offensive identity has long been built on aggressive, smash-mouth running.
There was Pat Bennett, who went on to play at Washington State, in the late 1990s, Luke Dixon in the mid-2000s, and more recently Shane WhiteEagle, Miguel Morales and Dimitri Sampson.
This year’s Spartans have a couple of hard-driving backs in Kenny Gale and Garrison Schumack, who tallied 109 and 91 yards, respectively, in last Friday’s 33-28 win over Chimacum.
But an addition has been made to the offense: the forward pass.
New head coach Craig Shetterly’s no-huddle, multiple-formation spread offense incorporates the pass at a rate rarely seen in the Quillayute Valley.
Sophomore quarterback Cole Baysinger completed 20 of 31 passes against Chimacum for 355 yards and four touchdowns.
Forks still called more run plays (37) than pass plays, but the nearly 50-50 ratio of run-to-pass was a significant change.
“We know we can run the football,” Shetterly said after Friday’s game.
“But developing that balance with the pass keeps defenses unsteady.”
Baysinger, for his part, says he loves playing in the new-look offense, which, while looking complex with varied formations, he described as “simple.”
Here are two other things learned last week in North Olympic Peninsula high school football:
■ Roughriders’ special work is paying off.
“Special teams is a third of the game, so we want to execute on special teams,” Port Angeles coach Bret Curtis said after the Roughriders’ 27-18 win over Vashon.
While Port Angeles is still finding its way on defense and offense, its special teams are in fine form so far.
Against Vashon, the Riders’ kickoff coverage ran like wild animals and ended kickoff returns soon after they started.
And the three times the Pirates tried an onside kick, Port Angeles eliminated any potential drama by quickly fielding the ball.
“We got good coverage,” Curtis said. “And we work on it. It’s not an accident. We rep it quite a bit in practice.”
The other kick games also went well for the Riders.
The two times they punted, Jacob Kennedy’s kicks went 43 and 42 yards.
“He’s a good punter,” Curtis said. “We’d rather not punt, but when we have to, he’s good.”
Port Angeles also dodged a bullet when veteran kicker Ryan Beck injured his shoulder playing defense against Port Townsend in Week 1.
Beck isn’t able to kick off for the Riders — backup quarterback Matthew Warner has taken over those duties — but he can still kick extra points and made 3 of 4 Friday.
■ Special teams can go both ways.
Other area squads have seen the benefits of special teams in the first two weeks of the football season.
Sequim, Port Townsend, Neah Bay, Forks and Chimacum have all returned kicks or punts for touchdowns.
Forks and Chimacum had their returns against each other, so their special teams had good and bad moments last week.
The Spartans had a 70-yard punt return by Schumack, but on the next play they gave up a 75-yard kick return to Chimacum’s Chris Bainbridge.
And a bad snap on a punt gave the Cowboys the ball on the Forks 4-yard line, which set up Trevon Noel’s touchdown run that brought Chimacum to within five points 33-28 late in the game.
The Spartans also left points off the board with bad snaps on extra point attempts.
“The return was great, but outside of that punt return, special teams was probably where we were the weakest tonight,” Shetterly said Friday.
“It’s such an important aspect of the game that we have to put more focus and attention in to doing that [better].
“We’ve paid attention to it, but you can really be exposed when you don’t fix it and you are not ready.”
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“Three things learned in high school football” appears each week during the football season in the PDN.
Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250, or at mcarman@peninsualdailynews.com.
