Olympic League standings
Team Lg. Over
North Kitsap 4-0 6-0
Olympic 3-1 4-2
Sequim 2-1 4-2
Kingston 2-1 2-4
North Mason 1-3 1-5
Bremerton 0-3 2-4
Port Angeles 0-3 0-6
Sequim’s special Homecoming play — this year, a double flea-flicker pass to the quarterback — fell incomplete despite a diving attempt from sophomore QB Riley Cowan.
That and a couple of dropped passes were about the only things that didn’t go right in the Wolves’ 47-12 romp over North Mason on Friday night.
“I liked our execution,” Sequim lineman James Thayer said. “We were just clicking. (North Mason) is a physical team. They came to play, but we rallied hard.”
Tyler Conn rushed for scores of 42 and 35 yards on his way to 130 total yards, and Gavin Velarde added a 60-yard punt return and 47-yard touchdown rush in the blowout.
Conn said a solid of week of practice made the difference Friday night. That, and some key blocks from the Wolves’ offensive line.
“The O-line (was the difference) — holes you could drive a truck through,” Conn said.
North Mason came into the game with solid defensive numbers, holding opponents to 27 total points in the past three games.
But Sequim found plenty of holes in the Bulldog ground defense, thanks to the Wolves’ spread offense sets.
“We ran better than I thought we would,” Sequim coach Erik Wiker said. “Spreading them out to run works (because) most teams are not used to it. We kind of ran today to open up the pass.”
Nowhere was that more evident than Sequim’s first scoring drive, when Conn had a pair of nine-yard carries before ripping through the Bulldog defense for a 42-yard burst and 7-0 lead with 4:22 left in the first quarter.
Sequim forced a North Mason punt that Velarde returned for 60 yards to the Bulldog 35-yard-line. Conn scored on the next play, slicing through the blue-clad North Mason defense for a 13-0 SHS advantage.
Wiker praised Conn’s hard-nosed running in the Homecoming win.
“He’s running more downhill (than in previous games),” Wiker said.
North Mason got a key fourth-down conversion on its way to a seven-play, 65-yard scoring drive capped by Devon Blondell’s 13-yard touchdown run, trimming Sequim’s lead to 13-6.
That’s as close as the Bulldogs would get, however, as the Wolves reeled off 34 unanswered points. After North Mason’s score, Cowan found Kyler Rollness on a 34-yard pass play, setting up Velarde’s 20-yard touchdown run and 19-6 Sequim lead.
Michael Larsen recovered a North Mason fumble on the next drive and seven plays later, Cowan plunged in from one yard out; a Velarde two-point conversion made it 27-6 Sequim.
Rollness stepped in front of an Anthony Schooler pass on the Bulldogs’ next drive, and Sequim needed just six plays to find paydirt once again; with 1:07 on the first half clock, Cowan found Velarde in the corner of the end zone.
The Wolves weren’t done, however, as Beau Bernsten recovered a North Mason fumble. Sequim needed just two more plays for more points, with Velarde gaining 41 yards on a catch-and-run to the Bulldog three-yard-line. Cowan found Payton Glasser with a pass for a score and 41-6 Sequim halftime lead.
Velarde capped Sequim’s scoring on the first play of the second half, a nimble 47-yard rush that pushed Sequim’s lead to 47-6.
Velarde finished with 110 rushing yards, with much of that coming out of a single-back set — a departure from how the Wolves usually use Velarde, lining him up wide or as a rushing option sweeping across from a slot position.
“We’re going to try to get him the ball in different ways,” Wiker said of Velarde, an all-Olympic League receiver/special teams player. “A lot of times teams will double-team him and other guys will have better games.”
North Mason got a score in the fourth quarter, with Schooler passing to Austin Knight from 15 yards out.
“We definitely set a tone for the rest of the season,” Sequim offensive/defensive tackle Josh Benson said.
“We played together (and) were positive all the time,” Benson said.
“We came into to the NK game a little cocky,” Thayer said of the Wolves’ 42-7 loss to North Kitsap on Sept. 30. “We needed a good wake-up call. This was it.”
Looking ahead
Sequim is back in action with a game in Silverdale against Olympic on Oct. 14. The Trojans (3-1, 4-2) are coming off a 48-6 win against Kingston last week.
Wiker said the collective mistakes Sequim made against North Mason would hurt in tougher games like Olympic.
“Our execution needs to be a bit better,” he said.
The Wolves follow that with a matchup against rival Port Angeles (0-3, 0-6) on Oct. 21, dubbed the Rainshadow Rumble. Sequim caps the regular season at Kingston on Oct. 28.
Scoring
1st quarter
S — Conn 42 run (Cowan kick), 4:22
S — Conn 35 run (kick failed), 2:40
2nd quarter
NM — Blondell 13 run (conversion failed), 8:32
S — Velarde 20 run (conversion failed), 7:15
S — Cowan 1 run (Velarde run), 4:25
S — Velarde 14 pass from Cowan (Cowan kick), 1:07
S — Glasser 3 pass from Cowan (Cowan kick), 0:35
3rd quarter
S — Velarde 47 run (kick failed) 11:39
4th quarter
NM — Knight 15 pass from Schooler (conversion failed), 4:03
Statistics
Sequim
Total yards: 346 (255 rushing, 91 passing)
First downs: 16
Third down: 3-7
Fourth down: 0-1
Passing: Cowan 5-12, 91 yards, 2 TDs; Reynolds 0-2; Glasser 0-1
Rushing: Conn 10-130, 2 TDs; Velarde 6-110, TD; Cowan 3-23, TD; Newell 1-2; Armstrong 1-1; Reynolds 1-1; Dean 4-(-12)
Receiving: Velarde 3-54, TD; Rollness 1-34; Glasser 1-3, TD
Penalties: 8-60
North Mason
Total yards: 186 (99 passing, 87 rushing)
First downs: 12
Third down: 2-11
Fourth down: 3-4
Passing: Schooler 11-26, 82 yards, TD, 2 INTs; Andrew McGuire 1-1 17 yards
Rushing: Borah 5-29; Tupolo 6-21; Thomas 10-21; Blondell 3-20, TD; Fisher 1-0; Schooler 3-(-4)
Receiving: Knight 4-45, TD; Thomas 4-18; Francisco 1-17; Mullins 1-13; Fisher 1-8; Borah 1-(-2)
Penalties: 3-15
