POULSBO — Sequim all but wrapped up its fifth straight trip to state.
Then it got bored.
The Wolves scored 42 unanswered points to begin their rain-drenched Class 2A preliminary playoff against Washington and cruised from there for a 42-22 win Saturday night.
The win clinched the Wolves’ fifth Class 2A state playoff berth in five years and moved head coach Erik Wiker to 3-2 in preliminary playoff games.
“It feels really good,” said Wiker, who is 1-4 in state playoff games entering next week’s contest.
“A lot of people didn’t expect us to take the league or go back to state and do those things, so it’s really nice to reach those goals.
“And [now let’s] just get going back to practice and kick some butt.”
Sequim (9-1 overall) will face Northwest District No. 4 Burlington-Edison (7-3) in Poulsbo next Saturday night in the first round of the Class 2A tournament.
It’s the same team the Wolves faced and beat in last year’s first round, a 34-32 heart-stopping classic.
“You can’t take them lightly,” Sequim running back Isaac Yamamoto said.
“We know what they are capable of. They came back last year [before losing on the final play]. We’ve got to play them tough and we’ve got to work hard and execute this week.”
Yamamoto did a lot of that on Saturday.
The senior captain ran for a game-high 173 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries, while junior Frank Catelli added two touchdowns of his own to help Sequim race out to a 42-0 second quarter lead.
“Everybody blocked well tonight,” Yamamoto said.
“I can’t ask for anything better. I had great holes, great second-level blocking.
“For me its just find the seam and hit it and just run hard.”
Catelli scored his first touchdown on a 3-yard run on Sequim’s second possession of the game.
He the added a spectacular defensive touchdown on the next play from scrimmage to help put the Wolves up 15-0 early on.
The latter was typical Catelli, with the 6-foot-3 defensive end swatting a pass at the line, catching it and then returning it 23 yards into the end zone.
“He’s just very athletic. He can make things like that happen,” Wiker said
He’s also one of many Wolves’ starters who might not play next week.
He was knocked out of the game with an apparent rib injury, while senior starters Preston McFarlen, Chris Dahl and Joey Hall also went down throughout the course of the game.
“We could have five guys out or none. I really don’t know,” Wiker said. “They could be running by Tuesday or we could have five starters out.”
Those injuries, combined with Wiker emptying his bench, led to an uninspired second half showing from the Wolves when they were outscored 14-0.
Washington (4-6) gained much of its 340 total yards during that time, with Sequim putting together just one scoring threat early in the third quarter.
That ended when quarterback Drew Rickerson was intercepted in the end zone.
“We played well in the first half, but once we got up I was definitely frustrated,” Yamamoto said.
“You can’t go up and continue to let teams come back. A good example is last year with Burlington-Edison [when Sequim nearly let a big lead slip away].
“You just can’t let teams come back. You’ve got to put them away.”
Rickerson completed 11-of-17 passes for 116 yards and two interceptions.
It broke a six-game streak for the senior with over 198 yards passing and at least two touchdowns.
Hall caught five passes for 87 yards to lead the Wolves, with three other receivers catching passes.
Sequim 42, Washington 22
Washington 0 8 6 8–22
Sequim 22 20 0 0– 42
First Quarter
SE–Catelli 3 run (Koonz kick)
SE–Catelli 23 interception return (Catelli run)
SE–McFarlen 3 punt return (Koonz kick)
Second Quarter
SE–Yamamoto 10 run (Rickerson run)
SE–Yamamoto 8 run (kick no good)
SE–Yamamoto 27 run (kick no good)
WA–Bunn 6 pass from Mezias (Yevchev run)
Third Quarter
WA–Weems 25 run (Run failed)
Fourth Quarter
WA–Bedker 2 run (Yevchev pass from Mezias)
Individual Stats
Rushing– SE: Yamamoto 17-173, Catelli 1-3, Wiker 4-(minus 2), Rickerson 9-(minus 11). WA: Yevchev 21-91, Weems 6-62, Davis 12-38, Mezias 1-13, Bedker 6-12.
Passing–SE: Rickerson 11-17-2, 116. WA: Mezias 12-20-1, 124; Yevchev 0-1-0, 0.
Receiving– SE: Hall 5-87, Yamamoto 3-17, Forshaw 2-9, Ballard 1-3. WA: Bunn 4-51, Richard 3-31, Davis 1-25, Yevchev 2-8, Weems 1-7, Gamboa 1-2.
