Montesano capitalizes on miscues to blast Black Hills

Published 4:00 am Sunday, September 21, 2025

CORRECTION: Due to a source error, incorrect statistical information was published in a previous version of this article. Montesano had 332 yards of total offense, including 156 rushing yards.

Montesano had a lot of help in dispatching Black Hills on Friday, most notably from the Wolves themselves.

Montesano played on a short field all night – thanks in large part to five Black Hills turnovers – to dominate the Wolves 47-7 at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano.

The Bulldogs (3-0 overall) were the beneficiaries of multiple Black Hills miscues. The Wolves fumbled the ball 10 times in the game – including two on Montesano kickoffs – had a punt blocked for a safety and committed nine penalties for 57 yards, leading to a Montesano 44-0 lead by halftime and a running clock over the final two quarters of play.

The game got off to a strange and ominous start for Black Hills (2-1) as the Wolves’ opening kickoff sailed out of bounds for a penalty three times in a row.

“When we were doing our scouting, we noticed they had a lot of fumbles and they were prone to losing the ball on offense,” Montesano senior standout Toren Crites said. “It was definitely a different start to the football game than we would’ve imagined. I think the crowd could have been a factor and they had some young guys out there that don’t have the experience.”

When the game finally got underway, Montesano ran its hurry-up offense to perfection, driving 63 yards quickly down the field and scoring on a four-yard plunge by senior quarterback Tyson Perry.

“We have a script of plays we like to go over at the start. I just thought we were on fire just lining up quickly and running them fast,” Monte head coach Terry Jensen said. “A lot faster than we have the last couple of weeks. Our offense really kind of set the tone there.”

On the ensuing possession, Black Hills fumbled the ball on its first three plays – two on the snap and another on an option pitch – to force a punt from deep in its own territory.

Monte’s special teams burst through the line to block Jesse Keith’s punt attempt. Keith picked up the ball and ran to the 10-yard line, but an illegal touch penalty against Black Hills on the play resulted in a safety and 9-0 Bulldogs lead.

Monte closed out the quarter on a four-yard touchdown run by senior running back Zach Timmons to take a 16-0 lead.

The Bulldogs defense then forced a Black Hills punt that Monte senior Toren Crites returned to the Wolves’ 26-yard line.

Five plays later, Timmons would run it in from nine yards to stake Monte to a 23-0 lead.

On the following kickoff, Monte kicker Chris Tobar lined a squib kick off a Wolves defender. The ball rolled forward a few yards where it was pounced on by Montesano’s Isaac Hawkins near midfield.

Perry then connected with Bulldogs receiver Kole Kjesbu down the sideline for 40 yards to set up an 18-yard scoring run by running back Terek Gunter for a 30-0 lead.

Bulldogs defender Kaden Stott recovered another Black Hills fumbled snap deep in Wolves territory.

One play later, Perry scampered in from 17 yards for Monte’s third touchdown in less than two minutes of game time, putting Monte up 37-0.

Another Tobar squib kick was mishandled by the Wolves’ return team, with Monte special-teamer Jerrell Bayless scrambling to make a recovery that fired up the Bulldogs sideline.

Monte needed just four plays to go 34 yards and score on a Crites 17-yard run and a 44-0 lead with more than five minutes left in the first half.

A field goal by Tobar in the third quarter put Monte up 47-0, with the Bulldogs playing its reserves for the majority of the second half.

Montesano had 332 yards of total offense – 176 passing and 156 rushing – with four of the Bulldogs’ eight first-half possessions starting at the Black Hills 37 yard-line or better.

“Our thing this week was to run the ball and just do the small things right,” said Crites, who had a long touchdown reception taken off the board as the linesman deemed his catch to be out of bounds. “We were able to block the perimeter and stay on our blocks long enough to get those explosive plays and first downs. We executed enough that we were able to punch things in.”

Perry completed 10-of-14 passes for 130 yards without an interception.

Crites caught six passes for 71 yards while Timmons had 57 rushing yards on seven carries and Gunter had 46 yards on four carries to lead Monte.

Montesano’s defense shined, allowing just 81 total yards – much of that coming on one 56-yard run by Wolves running back Marshall Orona against the Monte reserves in the third quarter – and three first downs in the game.

The “Maroon Storm” was in the Black Hills backfield the entire night as the Wolves offense had 12 negative-yardage plays out of 26 total offensive plays from scrimmage.

“(Black Hills) is built to run the option. They’re built to rely on the pitch and all that stuff,” Jensen said. “We worked hard on being disciplined and taking care of your option responsibilities. (Black Hills) made so many mistakes, it started rolling downhill for us. … The big word for us tonight was discipline. … I thought we did an excellent job on being disciplined tonight.”

If there was one thing the Montesano coaching staff will address in practice this coming week is penalties. Montesano had 11 penalties for 75 yards, three alone for defensive encroachment.

“I’m preaching that penalties are all mental errors, every one of them. So when we line up offside, that’s a mental error to me,” Jensen said. “You can’t have pre-snap penalties on offense or defense. Lining up offside or a false start, we can’t do that. We’ve got to be better.”

Montesano will face 2B-class powerhouse Napavine at 7 p.m. Friday at Napavine High School.

Black Hills 0 0 0 7 – 7

Montesano 16 28 3 0 – 47

Scoring

First quarter

Montesano – Perry 1 run (Tobar kick), 8:19

M – Safety, 6:12

M – Timmons 2 run (Tobar kick), 0:07

Second quarter

M – Timmons 9 run (Tobar kick), 9:10

M – Gunter 18 run (Tobar kick), 8:48

M – Perry 17 run (Tobar kick), 7:11

M – Crites 17 run (Tobar kick), 5:22

Third quarter

M – Tobar 29 field goal, 4:52

Fourth quarter

Black Hills – Keith 2 run (1 kick), 11:10

Passing: BH – Keith 1-1-0-10; Ross IV 0-1-0-0. M – Perry 10-14-0-130; Wilson 2-2-0-46.

Rushing: BH – Orona 9-99; Ross IV 3-23; Tinsley 6-11; Keith 6-6. M – Timmons 7-57; Gunter 4-46; Wilson 4-29; Crites 1-17; Perry 6-10; Causey 1-4; Smith 1-0; Mann 2-(-5); Ames 1-(-2).

Receiving: BH – Tinsley 1-10. M – Crites 6-71; Kjesbu 2-46; Stott 2-46; Hawkins 1-10; Gunter 1-7.