BREMERTON — Sequim took what the opposition defense gave them, leaning more on their passing game in a 41-21 win over Bremerton on Friday to finish undefeated in Olympic League 2A Division play.
“That’s a tribute to our team and how much balance we have offensively,” coach Erik Wiker said.
“[Bremerton] kept seven guys in the box trying to take our run away which has been really working for us lately, so we capitalized on passing plays to keep the ball moving.”
The Wolves (6-0, 8-1) will open the playoffs with a winner-to-state district contest against South Puget Sound No. 7 Franklin Pierce (5-4) on Friday at 7 p.m. at Silverdale Stadium.
Momentum flipped in the second quarter, when Sequim scored to take a 7-6 lead when Riley Cowan connected with Taig Wiker on a 30-yard touchdown pass.
On the ensuing kickoff, Wiker stripped the ball from the returner and the Wolves recovered, scoring again inside of a minute on a 29-pass from Cowan to Michael Young.
“That was a big turning point,”coach Wiker said.
Young caught seven passes for 136 yards to lead the Wolves’ deep crop of receivers.
“He and Riley were clicking and we have plays where they can basically call the routes on the backside and we took advantage of the coverage,” coach Wiker said.
Taig Wiker was bottled up a bit in the running game, finishing with 51 yards on 14 carries, but he added 80 yards receiving on five catches out of the backfield and had another forced fumble later in the contest.
“He played really well on defense for us,” coach Wiker said.
Cowan finished 19 of 28 for 239 yards and four touchdowns.
“Riley made a lot of great decisions with the football.
“He spread the ball around, the routes to Mike and also the concepts. He was really close to hitting on some other plays and having 300 yards passing.
“Having a game like that from our quarterbback who can make things happen right before we enter the playoffs is good for all of us,” coach Wiker said.
Sequim 41, Bremerton 21
Sequim 0 21 13 7— 41
Bremerton 6 0 8 7— 21
First Quarter
B—Parish 27 run (kick failed)
Second Quarter
S—Wiker 30 pass from Cowan (Cowan kick)
S—Young 29 pass from Cowan (Cowan kick)
S—Wiker 18 pass from Cowan (Cowan kick)
Third Quarter
S—Wiker 4 run (pass failed)
B—Parish 69 pass from Logova (Parish run)
S—Rollness 90 punt return (Cowan kick)
Fourth Quarter
B—DeJesus 3 run (kick good)
S—Young 17 pass from Cowan (Cowan kick)
Individual Stats
Rushing—S: Wiker 14-51, Whitney 5-34, Cowan 2-(-3), Allen 1-(-4).
Passing—S: Cowan 19-28-239, 4 TDs.
Receiving—S: Young 7-120, Wiker 5-80, Rollness 4-21, Oliver 2-12, Langston 1-6.
No. 3 Hoquiam 42, Forks 13
FORKS — The Spartans spotted the third-ranked, unbeaten Grizzlies three first-half touchdowns to trail 21-0, but worked their way back to have a shot to pull within one score at the halftime break.
Unfortunately for Forks, Hoquiam picked off a pass near the goalline to squelch that drive.
And the Grizzlies (4-0, 9-0) intercepted another Spartans’ pass in the third quarter that was returned for a touchdown. Tristen Pisani connected with Tony Hernandez-Flores on a 40-yard TD pass to make it 28-13 heading to the final quarter, but a comeback wasn’t in the cards.
“I was really proud of the kids they played so tough and brought a lot of intensity last night,” Forks coach Emil West said. “We were always a little bit behind, but as you can tell Hoquiam’s a pretty good ball club and you can’t make too many mistakes against them and expect to come out on top.”
The Spartans (1-3, 5-4) honored their senior class Friday night.
“They mean everying to me,” West said. “This is my first head coaching job, I was with them when they one won game as a defensive coordinator when they were freshman. They put in the work, nothing was ever given to them. It seems like their is no luck involved with their success. It’s all earned. They turned the program around and I can’t wait to see how these guys are going to do in college.
West said he thinks multiple Forks players have a shot to continue playing the game.
Luke Dahlgren was getting talked to by the Central Washington coaches at football camp, he’ll be playing somewhere. Eden Cisneros and Iziah Morton are looking at some Division III schools. Brett Moody will have his choice of playing football or baseball. What a tough kid to go through the season with a dislocated shoulder.
They all have potential to go play college football and be successful. And not just get there, but to stay there.
“They made it their mission to work hard enough in high school football to be able to have those kind of opportunities.”
Hoquiam 42, Forks 13
Hoquiam 7 14 7 14— 42
Forks 0 7 6 0— 13
First Quarter
H—Doll 8 pass from Quintanilla (Brydon kick)
Second Quarter
H—Folkers 8 pass from Quintanilla (Brydon kick)
H—Dayton 8 pass from Quintanilla (Brydon kick)
F—Pisani run (kick good)
Third Quarter
H—Quintanilla 54 interception return (Brydon kick)
F—Hernandez-Flores 40 pass from Pisani (conversion failed)
Fourth Quarter
H—Brown 4 run (Brydon kick)
H—Garcia 15 pass from Quintanilla (Brydon kick)
Naselle 54, Neah Bay 22
NEAH BAY — The Red Devils got touchdowns from Billy Parkin, Jay Brunk and Joe Bain but couldn’t keep pace with the fifth-ranked Comets.
Naselle outscored Neah Bay 34-0 in the second quarter to take the upper hand.
“They have a lot of speed and that’s hard to defend in eight-man and they gave us all we could handle in that second quarter,” Red Devils coach TJ Greene said.
Neah Bay (3-3, 4-5) is the Northwest Football League North Division’s No. 3 seed into the Quad-District Playoff. The Red Devils will have a bye next week and await their Quad-District opponent, likely the winner of a play-in game between Tacoma Baptist and Taholah.
Naselle 54, Neah Bay 22
Naselle 8 34 6 6— 54
Neah Bay 8 0 0 14— 22
First Quarter
NB—Parkin 42 run (Brunk pass from Soeneke)
N—Dorman 44 run (Eaton pass from Dorman)
Second Quarter
N—Townsen 50 pass from Dorman (conversion failed)
N—Townsen 52 pass from Dorman (conversion failed)
N—Tutu’u 30 run (Tutu’u pass from Dorman)
N—Lindstrom 43 pass from Dorman (run good)
N—Lindstrom 44 pass from Dorman (conversion failed)
Third Quarter
N—Strange 39 run (conversion failed)
Fourth Quarter
NB—Jay Brunk 54 pass from Soeneke (pass failed)
N—Strange 42 run (conversion failed)
NB—Bain 6 run (Bain run)
