SEQUIM — Sequim quarterback Riley Cowan recently recounted an experience often described by high-performing athletes and backed by studies by neuroscientists.
Elite professionals in sports as diverse as basketball (Michael Jordan) to men’s tennis (John McEnroe) said during their athletic careers that the perception of time really does slow down as they prepare to make a physical action.
It helps to explain at least some of the offensive exploits achieved by the four-year starter who will graduate in June as the Wolves’ all-time career passing yardage and touchdown passes leader.
“Senior year the game really started to slow down for me,” Cowan said. “[Opposing] players didn’t seem as fast or as big anymore. The holes in the defense seemed to stay open longer.”
That was trouble for Sequim’s opponents this fall as Cowan and the Wolves won the Olympic League 2A Division championship, a district playoff game and advanced to the Class 2A State Football Tournament for the first time since 2011.
He was selected as Olympic League 2A Division MVP, his second career MVP honor after being picked as Offensive MVP as a sophomore, and made the all-league team in all four high school seasons.
Because of his exploits, Cowan also has been selected as the Peninsula Daily News’ All-Peninsula Football MVP.
He finished the season with 2,018 passing yards to go with 25 touchdowns and just nine interceptions, totaling four games with four touchdown passes to go with 410 rushing yards and five scores as his team’s second-leading rusher.
Cowan broke Drew Rickerson’s previous all-time passing yardage (4,731) and career passing touchdown records (45) for Sequim this season, finishing his career with 6,845 yards passing and 64 TD passes. As kicker he booted 18 of 20 point-after attempts and hit four field goals, including connecting on all three field goals in a crucial 16-14 win over North Kitsap.
“That was an all-time motivator,” Cowan said of beating North Kitsap. “We thought we had Port Angeles figured out, our rivals, but North Kitsap had been on top for so long.”
As punter he also pinned the vaunted Vikings inside their own 5-yard line three separate times and placed two kickoffs inside North Kitsap’s 10-yard line to lift Sequim to its first win against the Olympic League powerhouse Vikings since Oct. 22, 2010 — and give North Kitsap its first league loss since Oct. 30, 2015.
“I couldn’t have been happier for any single player on our team,” Sequim head coach Erik Wiker said of Cowan and the Wolves’ successful season.
“We always talk about team and this is one kid who’s put in the time over the four years of his career. There’s no more deserving single player and what a way to go out. His senior year he helped the whole program reach a level it hadn’t been in years.”
Wiker loved the leadership Cowan displayed and placed him at a lofty spot in the hierarchy of Sequim football players.
“We really measure a leader’s impact by asking how you make the other people around you better and he was fantastic at that,” Wiker said. “I think he would definitely be No. 1 [all-time for Sequim] at [quarterback]. A four-year starter who accomplished all that he did, worked hard and was a great kid.”
Cowan said he was a leader by example.
“I really tried to do it by my work ethic,” he said. “I can’t remember a practice I didn’t show up early for. I didn’t talk as much, but when i did they listened. You have to get on guys sometimes, or if we have a bad practice you try to lift them up and try to make it better the next time out.”
Wiker noted that despite Sequim’s balanced blend of the run and the pass, Cowan was charged with copious on-field decisions.
“It’s nice to have an offensive coordinator on the field,” Wiker told the Sequim Gazette.
Cowan was able to improve each season, adding a little more to this game each year and rounding out what little rough patches there were as an underclassmen.
Both Cowan and his head coach agreed that his sophomore season was when the reins on the Wolves offense were loosened and Cowan began more and more to call Sequim’s offense at the point of attack.
“I would really say he grew a lot his sophomore year from us calling the plays to him catching on and taking charge,” Wiker said.
“It was two-fold. Because of him and his growth and because of the trends in football, knowing he could handle more.”
“Having that second year in the offense [was huge], knowing what defenses would try to do against us,” Cowan said.
Strictly a pocket passer early on, Cowan became a threat on his feet ensuring opposing defenses would have to watch out for designed QB runs and scrambles and rollout passes.
He threw to a number of receivers his senior year, including first-team All-Olympic Leaguer Kyler Rollness, and found a new target out of the backfield in running back Taig Wiker. And he did well as the team’s kicker and punter.
“He got better every year,” Wiker said. “He was a winner … and sometimes kids who have a little success early don’t strive to get better. They are happy with where they are at.”
Cowan looks back fondly on his senior season.
“I’m really happy,” Cowan said. “I already miss it. I wish we could have went further [in the state tournament] and I wish we could have the Hoquiam game back. But the team stepped up, the improvement we saw each week was incredible.
“As the season went on we got even more coachable. It was a little different than other years in how it didn’t matter who played. We were there for each other, we were playing for Sequim and playing for all of us.”
And he said he was exploring options to play in college.
“I’d love to play at the next level,” Cowan said. “I think I’ll have an opportunity.”
Peninsula Daily News
2018 All-Peninsula Football Team
• All-Peninsula MVP: Riley Cowan, Sr., Sequim (Quarterback/Kicker)
• Running Backs: Noah Leonard, Sr., Crescent; Taig Wiker, Soph., Sequim; Dylan Tracer, Soph., Port Townsend; Olin Reynolds, Sr., Quilcene
• Wide Receivers: Kyler Rollness, Sr., Sequim; Tyler Bowen, Jr., Port Angeles; Garrett Edwards, Sr., Port Angeles
• Tight End: Brett Moody, Sr., Forks; Robert Comstock III, Sr., Quilcene.
• Offensive Line: Johnnie Young, Sr., Sequim; Luke Dahlgren, Sr., Forks; Eden Cisneros, Sr., Forks; Chase Campbell, Sr., Port Townsend; Brandon Barnett, Soph., Sequim; Cole Walsh, Jr., Port Angeles; Skyler Cobb, Jr., Port Angeles
Defense
• Defensive Line: Zach Budnek, Soph., Quilcene; Ben Cowan, Sr., Sequim; Jacob Williamson, Jr., Chimacum; Wes Blue, Jr., Port Townsend
• Linebacker: Colby Demorest, Sr., Forks; Lane Mote, Soph., Sequim; Nico Winegar, Sr., Port Townsend.; Billy Parkin III, Sr., Neah Bay
• Secondary: Noa Montoya, Jr., Port Townsend; Keith Thompson, Sr., Forks; Joey Oliver, Sr., Sequim; Ben Bruner, Sr., Quilcene.
• Kicker: Riley Cowan, Sr., Sequim
• Punter: Anton Kathol, Jr., Port Angeles
