CONNELL — Connell’s high-powered attack was too much for Montesano to handle.
Rolling up 608 yards of total offense, the third-ranked Eagles ended Montesano’s season, 48-28, in the opening round of the state Class 1A football playoffs on Friday night at Connell’s fog-shrouded field.
Connell (10-1) advances to a state quarterfinal contest with the winner of today’s Cascade Christian-Meridian game. Montesano ends its season with a 9-1 record.
Jaxs Whitby rushed for move than 200 yards and four touchdowns to pace the Connell attack. Quarterback Brian Hawkins passed for 265 yards.
“They’re just a better team than we are right now,” Montesano coach Terry Jensen said. “Hats are off to them. (If) we play them 10 times, we can hope to beat them once, maybe.”
With the aid of three takeaways and a goal-line stand, the Bulldogs demonstrated considerably resiliency in this contest. Down 34-7 late in the first half, they trimmed the deficit to 13 points at two stages in the second half.
Dakoyta Reninger, a standout on both sides of the ball, began the comeback by catching a 29-yard scoring pass from Trevor Ridgway with 1:25 remaining in the second quarter. Ben Lopez’s conversion kick made it 34-14 at intermission.
The Bulldogs also scored on the opening possession of the third quarter. A fake punt, on which Dakoyta Reninger passed to his brother Tyler for a first down, set up Ridgway’s 6-yard TD pass to D. Reninger at the 7:04 mark of the third quarter.
Connell returned a blocked punt for a touchdown later in the third period, but Monte’s Carson Klinger went the distance on a 79-yard return of the ensuing kickoff. Lopez’s PAT again chopped the margin to 13, at 41-28, entering the fourth quarter.
But that was as close as the Bulldogs were to come. Whitby broke a 45-yard run for a largely superflous TD with 1:36 remaining.
Ridgway scored Montesano’s first touchdown in the second quarter on a freak play. Teammate Nathan Olson fumbled on a run inside the Eagle 5-yard line. Ridgway, however, scooped up the loose ball on about the two and took it into the end zone.
Montesano’s normally productive running game was limited to 51 net yards. Ridgway, however, passed for 164 yards. Dakoyta Reninger caught six passes for 127 yards, while Nick Chapman added four receptions for 58 yards.
Hit hard by graduation from a year ago, the Bulldogs regrouped quickly to capture the Evergreen 1A championship.
Coach Jensen paid tribute to his seniors, who demonstrated dramatic improvement since they played on a 2013 C Squad team that went 1-9.
“I thought we exceeded all our expectations going into the season,” he said. “I’m proud of our seniors, they’ve got a lot to be proud of. We always say (you should be proud) if you leave the program better than how you started and they certainly did.”
