MONTESANO — When Montesano receiver Sam Winter saw teammate Shaydon Farmer drop back to pass with 25 seconds left in the game, he knew what he had to do put his team ahead.
“I just wanted to make sure I caught it in-bounds, and Shady threw me a ball that let me do that,” he said.
Winter and Farmer teamed up for some late-game heroics on a game-winning 12-yard touchdown in Montesano’s 25-19 victory over Elma at Jack Rottle Field Friday night.
The Eagles (7-2, 2-2 Evergreen 1A) had a shot to create some late-game magic of their own, but failed to answer as Cody Vollan’s Hail Mary heave was incomplete, allowing Monte players and fans to celebrate on the field as fireworks illuminated the evening sky.
Montesano head coach Terry Jensen said two intense weeks of practice prepared his players for a close, physical game.
“The last two weeks we challenged our kids to practice better and step up and I’m not sure we would have gotten that outcome tonight without us improving as a football team the last two weeks,” he said. “We talked a lot about playing with courage and believing in each other and tonight we didn’t give up.”
Monte’s touchdown drive came after Elma had seemingly secured victory for itself. Vollan came up with two big runs for chunks of yardage to set up a first-and-goal situation from the 1-yard line with just over five minutes remaining in the contest.
Taitum Brumfield then punched it in to give Elma the 19-16 lead after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
“Vollan had a signature drive that would have been part of his legacy,” Eagles head coach Ron Clark said. “Sometimes it’s out of the player’s control, but the kids played their tails off.”
Vollan ended the game with 100 yards on 7-of-17 passing and added another 83 yards on the ground.
Elam’s Cody Vollan throws the ball down field while under pressure from Montesano’s Jordan King in he second quarter at Jack Rotltle Field on Friday night. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
The East County Civil War was not without controversy. With 1:32 left before halftime, a fracas erupted at midfield following a short run by Monte’s Teegan Zillyett. The pushing-and-shoving match that ensued resulted in the ejection of Elma’s Carter Jacobson.
Jensen wasn’t necessarily pleased with the midfield extra-curriculars but understood that his players were sticking up for each other.
“We don’t play that way and it was totally uncharacteristic for our kids to even shove somebody and it’s just a matter of staying poised,” he said. “We wanted to stay disciplined but I thought our kids reacted to it, maybe not in the best way, but they were defending their teammate and I can’t fault them for that.”
Before the bad blood boiled over late in the second quarter, stout defense had been the highlight of the first half.
Elma got off to a slow start, with penalties stunting its progress on the first possession of the game. The Eagles made up for it with a 70-yard touchdown run from Brady Shriver on their second possession for a 7-0 lead with 4:15 remaining in the first quarter.
Montesano (7-2, 3-1) answered back with a 5-yard touchdown reception from Winter to tie the game at 7-7.
Both offenses would remain quiet until the second quarter when Monte, with the help of the penalty yardage awarded after the scuffle, picked up a Jordan King field goal as time expired to take 10-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Clark said he wasn’t discouraged after the loss and is confident his team can handle whatever the playoff bracket presents.
“We’re fine. We can play with anybody,” he said. “We made enormous strides this year and we’ll keep making them to keep our season alive.”
The win gives the Bulldogs the No. 2 seed out of the 1A Evergreen league, with Elma sitting in the third spot.
Monte will play Columbia-White Salmon in a 2A crossover playoff game. The Bulldogs got the home victory over the Bruins 24-12 in week three and Jensen said he expects his team’s confidence will give them the edge in the rematch.
Montesano’s Teegan Zillyett breaks a tackle from Elma’s Carter Jacobson late in the first quarter at Jack Rotltle Field on Friday night. Zilyett ran for 86 yards in the game. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
“Elma’s a great football team and they’re very physical. Because we were able to play with that physicality, it will give us a lot of confidence,” he said. “But we have to go back to work. I told the kids to celebrate this, come back ready to work Monday and the coaches will go to work tonight.”
The win was Monte’s 13th consecutive victory in the long-standing rivalry game.
Elma 7 0 6 6 – 19
Monte 0 10 7 8 – 25
Leading Rusher: Elma – Shriver (7-93, TD); Montesano — Zillyett (23-86)
Leading Passer: Elma – Vollan (7-17-1, 100, TD); Montesano – Farmer (16-34, 247, 2 TD)
Leading Receiver: Elma – Jacobson (1-27); Montesano – Winter (7-164, 2 TD)
Hoquiam 42, Forks 13
Hoquiam quarterback Payton Quintanilla threw four touchdowns as the Grizzlies completed an undefeated regular season with a 42-13 win over Forks on Friday at Forks High School.
Quintanilla opened the scoring throwing three 8-yard touchdown passes to three different receivers — Jonah Doll in the first quarter and Jackson Folkers and Rayyon Dayton in the second quarter — to give the Grizzlies a 21-0 lead.
Forks’ Tristen Pisani scored on a short run to cut into the Hoquiam lead at 21-7. The Spartans then threatened to bring the score to within a touchdown when they had the ball at the Grizzlies 4-yard line late in the first half, but a Quintanilla interception on the final play of the first half preserved Hoquiam’s 14-point lead.
Quintanilla made the game 28-7 when he snared his second interception of the game and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown with 7:16 to go in the third quarter.
The Spartans (5-4, 1-3 Evergreen 1A) scored late in the third on a 40-yard pass play from Pisani to receiver Tony Hernandez-Flores to cut into the lead at 28-13.
But that’s as close as Forks would get as Hoquiam (9-0, 4-0) scored on a Matt Brown 4-yard run and a Quintanilla 15-yard pass to Antonio Garcia for the 42-13 final.
Quintanilla completed 23 of 32 passes for 245 yards. The senior also ran the ball 12 times for 59 yards and had two interceptions on the defensive end for a total of 109 return yards.
Dane McMillan was Quintanilla’s favorite target on the evening, catching eight passes for 75 yards. He was followed by Folkers, who caught seven passes for 69 yards.
Brown and Brady Cummings each recorded double-digit tackles on Friday. Cummings had 15 tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery while Brown added 12 tackles.
Hoquiam kicker Trey Brydon converted all six of his PAT tries in the game.
After completing a spectacular regular season, Hoquiam head coach Jeremy McMillan isn’t resting on the team’s laurels and will focus on getting better ahead of the upcoming crossover games.
“There is definitely room for improvement,” he said. “But it’s a great accomplishment. I can’t thank my coaching staff enough for the work they’ve done.”
Hoquiam 7 14 7 14 — 42
Forks 0 7 6 0 — 13
WF West 49, Aberdeen 23
The Aberdeen Bobcats fell behind 28-0 in the first half and were unable to overcome the deficit in a 49-23 loss on Friday in Chehalis.
Abderdeen (1-8, 1-4 Evergreen 2A) fell behind by four touchdowns in the second quarter before quarterback Ben Dublanko hit receiver Wyatt Johnson for a 68-yard touchdown.
But WF West (5-4, 3-2) scored twice more before the break to take a 42-7 lead into halftime.
Dublanko passed for two more TDs in the game, connecting with Gio Pisani for a 7-yard score in the third quarter followed by a 79-yard strike to Johnson in the fourth.
Pisani drilled a 28-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to close out Aberdeen’s scoring.
Dublanko was 16-for-32 for 302 yards, three TDs with no interceptions.
Johnson caught five passes for 182 yards and two TDs in the win.
Aberdeen head coach Kevin Ridout was proud of how his injury-riddled team, which included lineman Dylan Richie carrying the ball 11 times for 59 yards in an emergency running back role, kept playing through adversity this season.
“Our kids battled all year,” he said. “I’m proud of how our seniors led the young kids and they battled hard and improved throughout the season.”
Aberdeen 7 0 16 0 — 23
WF West 28 14 7 7 — 56
Raymond 49, Vashon Island 7
Despite losing its top two running backs to injury on Friday, the Raymond Seagulls offense chewed up over 400 yards on the ground en route to a 49-7 drubbing over Vashon Island on Friday at Vashon Island High School.
With starting running backs McCartney Maden and Patrick Edwards suffering minor in-game injuries, Raymond benefited from big contributions from Tristan Hamlin and Joseph Villalpondo, each of whom ran for over 100 yards in the win. Hamlin carried the ball 12 times for 134 yards and a touchdown while Villalpondo had 12 rushes for 114 yards and a pair of scores.
Before he went out with a knee sprain, Edwards ran 12 times for 90 yards and two touchdowns.
Edwards and Maden both made their presense felt early, each scoring first-quarter touchdowns. Edwards made it a 21-0 game in the second quarter on a 3-yard run before leaving the game.
But Raymond (6-3, 5-1 Coastal 2B) didn’t miss a step with their prolific running-back duo sidelined, as they took a 27-0 lead into halftime and a 39-0 advantage into the final quarter.
“Our younger kids came in and stepped up in (Edwards and Maden’s place),” Raymond head coach Luke Abbott said.
With Pe Ell-Willapa Valley beating Ilwaco on Friday, Raymond earns the No. 2 seed in the 2B Coastal league behind the first-place Titans.
After a rough go of it in their non-league schedule, the Seagulls have run off six-straight wins.
Abbott was pleased with the performance of his offensive line, as Raymond had 424 rushing yards on the evening.
“Our offensive line got better each week,” he said. “They’re more confident in the system and comfortable with each other.”
Raymond will play a 2B crossover game tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday at Stewart Field.
Raymond 27 0 12 10 — 49
Vashon Island 0 0 0 7 — 7
Pe Ell-Willapa Valley 42, Ilwaco 0
Max Smith gave Ilwaco’s defense fits as Pe Ell-Willapa Valley blew out the Fishermen, 42-0, to secure a league title in front of the home crowd on Friday night.
Smith carried the ball 21 times for 158 yards and three rushing touchdowns to help PWV (6-2, 5-0 Coastal 2B) stay undefeated in league play.
Smith got the scoring started early for the Titans with a 50-yard touchdown run to put PWV up 6-0 with 11:41 left in the first quarter.
The passing game got into the scoring act on the next drive with Logan Walker hitting Wyatt Bush for an 11-yard touchdown reception, putting PWV 14-0 after a successful two-point conversion.
PWV picked up two more points when a bad snap from Ilwaco resulted in a safety and added another score when Walker hit Carson Cox for the 15-yard touchdown catch with 1:42 left in the second quarter.
Cox found paydirt again in the third quarter, this time on the ground with a 7-yard scamper to push PWV’s lead to 36-0 with 6:36 left in the third.
Smith capped off the scoring with another touchdown run early in the fourth quarter on a night that saw PWV run for 307 yards as a team.
The Titans defense was up to task on its end, limiting Ilwaco to 74 yards on the ground and 81 through the air.
Kiah Carter led the way defensively with seven tackles, a picked and a fumble recovery. Luke Gerow had a team eight eight tackles on the evening as well.
“We wanted to come out and play a sound football game,” PWV head coach Josh Fluke said. “And that’s what we did.
PWV will play in a 2B crossover playoff game on Nov. 2. Time and opponent have yet to be determined at the time of this writing.
Ocosta 29, Chief Leschi 14
The Ocosta Wildcats secured the fourth and final playoff spot out of the 2B Coastal league in a 29-14 victory over Chief Leschi on Friday at Chief Leschi High School.
Ocosta running back Kobe Beck ran for a season-high 255 yards to lead the Wildcats (5-3, 3-3 Coastal 2B).
Ocosta will face Adna in 2B crossover playoff game at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Adna High School.
No further information was available for this game at the time of this writing.
South Bend 26, North Beach 8
South Bend (2-6, 1-5 Coastal 2B) kept the North Beach Hyaks (0-8, 0-6) winless on the season with a 26-8 win to close out the season on Friday at South Bend High School.
No further information was available for this game at the time of this writing.
