Prep Football Roundup: Montesano blows out Tenino to lock up league title

Also: Elma blanked by Eatonville; Forks edges PWV; Lake Quinault on-field win streak snapped

CORRECTION: Due to a source error, a previous version of this article contained incorrect information. Naselle defeated Taholah 70-0.

Montesano secured its first league title in three seasons with a victory over Tenino as we review Twin Harbors prep football games from Week 8 of the 2023 season.

PREP FOOTBALL

Montesano 42, Tenino 0

Montesano locked up its first league title since the 2020 season with a 42-0 thrashing over Tenino on Friday at Tenino High School.

The Bulldogs (8-0 overall, 3-0 1A Evergreen) led just 14-0 at halftime after rushing touchdowns by running backs Felix Romero and Gabe Pyhala in a first-half filled with costly Monte penalties that killed drives inside the Tenino red zone.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM 
Montesano junior Felix Romero (15) stiff-arms a Tenino defender during the Bulldogs’ 42-0 win on Friday in Tenino.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano junior Felix Romero (15) stiff-arms a Tenino defender during the Bulldogs’ 42-0 win on Friday in Tenino.

But the Bulldogs quickly turned a close game into a rout by ramping up its tempo after the break, leading to 214 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the third quarter alone.

Montesano’s Bode Poler scored on a run of 33 yards and caught a 7-yard pass from quarterback Tyson Perry for his second touchdown of the quarter.

Romero scored his second touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run while senior running back Gabe Bodwell scored from 20-yards out to put Monte up 42-0 with just under 30 seconds left in the third frame.

Monte head coach Terry Jensen said running more of a hurry-up offense in the second half led to the Bulldogs’ offensive outburst.

“Part of it was us trying to get over our frustrations of the first half, but we went to some tempo offense and I think that helped quite a bit. It got (Tenino) to rush and they couldn’t get subs in. I think that was a big key,” Jensen said. “You get 28 points in a quarter, you’re getting out of drives quickly and scoring quickly. To get four touchdowns in 12 minutes is not an easy thing to do in high school football.”

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM 
Montesano linebacker Gaby Pyhala (11) wrangles Tenino quarterback Cody Strawn (3) during the Bulldogs’ 42-0 win on Friday at Tenino High School.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano linebacker Gaby Pyhala (11) wrangles Tenino quarterback Cody Strawn (3) during the Bulldogs’ 42-0 win on Friday at Tenino High School.

The Bulldogs accounted for 523 yards of offense, 464 of those on the ground.

Bodwell led the way with an all-state caliber performance, rushing for 203 yards on 20 carries to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau for the season.

Montesano’s defense, which Jensen said “bent but didn’t break” on Friday, held Tenino to 183 yards of offense – 158 on the ground – and forced two turnovers. Monte defensive back Tucker Eaton and linebacker Mason Rasmussen each intercepted a pass from Tenino quarterback Cody Strawn.

With the win, Montesano clinched the 1A Evergreen League and will enter the postseason as the league No. 1 seed.

Monte takes on Elma in the East County Civil War at 7 p.m. Friday at Elma High School.

Montesano 6 8 28 0 – 42

Tenino 0 0 0 0 – 0

Scoring

First quarter

M – Romero 7 run (kick fail), 9:37

Second quarter

M – Pyhala 13 run (Rasmussen pass from Perry), 6:46

Third quarter

M – Poler 33 run (kick fail), 10:49

M – Romero 5 run (Poler run), 6:35

M – Poler 7 pass from Perry (Poler pass from Perry), 3:51

M – Bodwell 20 run (Poler kick), 0:24

Fourth quarter

None

Passing leaders: M – Perry 7-12-1-59. T – Strawn 5-11-2-25.

Rushing leaders: M – Bodwell 20-203, Poler 5-96, Romero 4-58, Gunter 6-37, Pyhala 2-23, Eaton 1-6, T. Crites 1-9.

Receiving leaders: M – Poler 4-5, Rasmussen 3-40, Johansen 1-14.

Eatonville 44, Elma 0

Not much went right for Elma in a 44-0 loss to Eatonville on Thursday in Eatonville.

The Eagles (4-4, 1-2 1A Evergreen) managed just 166 yards of offense and were a combined 2-for-14 (14%) on third and fourth-down conversions in suffering their second consecutive league loss.

Elma trailed 12-0 at the end of the first quarter after allowing two short touchdown runs before Eatonville senior defensive back Riley McFadden intercepted a pass from Elma senior quarterback Carter Studer and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown and a 19-0 lead.

That opened the floodgates in the second quarter as the Cruisers (4-4, 2-1) would score twice more for a commanding 31-0 halftime lead.

Two more Cruisers touchdowns in the third quarter put away any Eagles comeback hopes as Elma dropped to fourth place in the 1A Evergreen League.

Elma closes out the regular season against Montesano in an East County Civil War game at 7 p.m. Friday in Elma.

Elma 0 0 0 0 – 0

Eatonville 12 19 13 0 – 44

First quarter

Eat. – Porter 4 run (PAT fail)

Eat. – Wimbled 5 run (PAT fail)

Second quarter

Eat. – McFadden 70 Interception return (Norman kick)

Eat. – Clevenger 43 pass from Hanly (2 pt. conversion)

Eat. – Stogsdill 15 pass from Klumpat (2 pt. conversion)

Third quarter

Eat. – Nation 10 pass from Klumpat (Norman kick)

Eat. – Henley 2 run (PAT fail)

Passing leaders: Elma – Studer 9-21-1-87, Landstrom 0-1-0-0. Eat. – Klumpat 12-16-0-154, Hanly 1-2-0-43, Fowler 2-4-0-13.

Rushing leaders: Elma – Studer 4-28, Phillips 7-18, Landstrom 3-11, Rademacher 1-9, Finch 1-7, Reeves 4-7, Muller 2-0, Aguilar 1-(-1). Eat. – Norman 12-89, Hanly 3-27, Wimbled 2-25, Clevenger 1-18, Porter 2-10.

Receiving leaders: Elma – Wright 1-35, Meadows 2-25, Schneider 3-19, Phillips 1-8, Brookins 1-0. Eat. – Stogsdill 4-63, Clevenger 2-51, Simons 2-31, McFadden 1-30, Hoefs 2-10, Nation 1-10, Wimbled 1-7, Norman 1-4, Hill 1-4.

Forks 21, Pe Ell-Willapa Valley 18

Pe Ell-Willapa Valley’s second-half comeback fell short in a 21-18 loss to Forks on Friday at Forks High School.

The Titans (5-3, 2-2 2B Central-North) took an early 6-0 lead when quarterback Nathan Fluke hit receiver Blaine King for an 11-yard touchdown pass halfway through the first quarter. Forks quarterback Nate Dahlgren tied the game with a 9-yard run less than two minutes later.

PWV would take its second lead of the game when Fluke connected with King for an 87-yard touchdown with 9:26 to play in the first half.

But Dahlgren followed with scoring runs of nine and 59 yards to give the Spartans (7-1, 3-1) a 21-12 halftime lead.

Titans running back Blake Howard scored on a 3-yard run with just under 8:30 to go in the third quarter, bringing PWV to within a field goal at 21-18.

But the Titans couldn’t muster any more points, coming up short on an incomplete pass in the end zone as time expired.

The loss spoiled career-best performances from Fluke and King. King caught 10 passes for 236 yards while Fluke went 19-0f-38 passing for 283 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Howard rushed 10 times for 99 yards for PWV.

The Titans drop to third place in the 2B Central-North League, one game behind the Spartans.

PWV hosts Onalaska in the regular-season finale at 7 p.m. Thursday in Pe Ell.

Pe Ell-Willapa Valley 6 6 6 0 – 18

Forks 7 14 0 0 – 21

Scoring

First quarter

PWV – King 11 pass from Fluke (kick fail), 6:24

F – Dahlgren 9 run (kick good), 4:58

Second quarter

PWV – King 87 pass from Fluke (run fail), 9:26

F – Dahlgren 9 run (kick good), 8:13

F – Dahlgren 59 run (kick good), 2:43

Third quarter

PWV – Howard 3 run (kick fail), 8:37

Fourth quarter

None

Passing leaders: PWV – Fluke 19-38-1-283.

Rushing leaders: PWV – Howard 10-99.

Receiving leaders: PWV – 10-236.

Napavine 56, Raymond-South Bend 12

Despite taking an early lead on a big play, Raymond-South Bend couldn’t slow the football machine that is the Napavine Tigers in a 56-12 loss on Friday in South Bend.

The Ravens (4-3, 1-2) took the early lead when senior Austin Snodgrass scooped up a Napavine fumble and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead at the 9:45 mark of the first quarter.

But the Tigers (7-1, 3-0) would respond in emphatic fashion, taking a 12-6 lead on two scoring runs by quarterback Ashton Demarest by the end of the first quarter.

Napavine wasn’t done, scoring four touchdowns in the second quarter – including two through the air via TD tosses from Demarest – to score 32 points in the frame and take a definitive 44-6 lead at halftime.

After a Tigers touchdown run in the third quarter made it a 50-6 game, RSB senior running back Ferrill Johnson broke loose for a 62-yard scoring run. Johnson led RSB with 116 rushing yards on 11 carries.

The Ravens sit in fourth place in the 2B Central-North League with the loss.

RSB closes out the regular season against Morton-White Pass at 7 p.m. Thursday at White Pass High School.

Napavine 12 32 12 0 — 56

Raymond-South Bend 6 0 6 0 — 12

Scoring

First quarter

RSB — Snodgrass 25 fumble recovery (kick fail), 9:45

N — Demarest 8 run (PAT fail), 6:35

N — Demarest 21 run (PAT fail), 2:16

Second quarter

N — Stanley 7 run (2 pt. conversion), 7:24

N — Shields 27 pass from Demarest (2 pt. conversion), 6:17

N — Grose 30 pass from Demarest (2 pt. conversion), 3:38

N — Kelly 30 run (2 pt. conversion), 1:12

Third quarter

N — Kelly 2 run (PAT fail), 9:53

RSB — Ferrell 62 run (PAT fail), 7:48

N — Stanley 7 run (PAT fail), 3:21

Fourth quarter

None

Passing leaders: N — Demarest 8-14-0-141, Wilson 1-1-0-17.

Rushing leaders: RSB – Johnson 11-116, Stigall 10-40. N – Kelly 6-138, Demarest 11-90, Stanley 6-60.

Receiving leaders: N – Grose 4-104, Shields 1-27.

Northwest Christian 40, Lake Quinault 24

Lake Quinault’s reign atop the 1B Coastal (6-man) League ended in a 40-24 loss to Northwest Christian (Lacey) on Saturday at Black Hills High School.

The Elks (5-2 overall, 4-2 1B Coastal 6-man) came from behind to bring the score to within 33-24 and had the ball inside the Wolverines 20-yard line with five minutes left in the game. But one of three dropped passes in the end zone ended Lake Quinault’s last major threat of the game.

The game was the second straight loss for the Elks after 13 consecutive 6-man victories that included a league title last season.

“With the disciplinary problems we had and with (the players) coming back, it messed up the flow,” Elks head coach Melvyn Houtz said, adding his players learned a valuable lesson with the loss. “The kids learned from it and how important it is to stay focused in life. They learned their lesson and hopefully when they go on in life, they’ll understand how to handle the situation. … It’s a good loss, if there is such a thing.”

Houtz commended the play of senior Daniel Ceja, who entered the game at quarterback after starter Luis Farias was sidelined with a nagging knee injury.

The loss ends Lake Quinault’s hopes of competing in an 8-man playoff game for the second-straight season.

The Elks will close out their season against the Washington School for the Deaf at 3 p.m. Thursday at Lake Quinault High School.

Mary M. Knight 45, Wishkah Valley 18

Wishkah Valley lost to Mary M. Knight 45-18 in a 1B Coastal (6-man) League game on Saturday at Mary M. Knight High School.

The Loggers (2-5 overall, 1-4 1B Coastal 6-man) were led by sophomore quarterback Boady Dhooghe, who had 184 passing yards and two touchdowns on 9-of-17 passing.

Sophomore Kohl Brandner (3 receptions, 63 yards) and junior Matthew Erickson (2-52) were some of Dhooghe’s favorite targets, each catching a touchdown pass in the game.

Freshman running back Josh Ellis had a solid all-around game with two carries for 42 yards and a rushing touchdown while catching four passes for 72 yards.

Erickson led the Loggers defense with 17 tackles and a fumble recovery.

“Our eighth and ninth graders got a lot of playing time in the second half and played really well,” Loggers head coach Eric Erickson said. “We’re looking forward to the contributions they will be making in the future.”

Wishkah Valley wraps up its season against league-champion Northwest Christian (7-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wishkah Valley High School.

Other games

Centralia 13, Hoquiam 6

Naselle 70, Taholah 0

Ocosta 54, Toutle Lake 32

Ilwaco 55, North Beach 0