Bigger, more experienced and in the end, the victors.
New Westminster (B.C.) used an advantage on the offensive and defensive lines to turn a 14-14 halftime tie into a 35-20 win against the host Sequim Wolves on Friday night.
“We stopped beating ourselves in the second half,” New Westminster head coach Farhan Lalji said. “We found some bubbles (in the Sequim defense) and I stopped calling dumb plays.”
Hyack quarterback Tommy Robertson ran for 151 yards and two scores and threw for 97 yards and ran for another in the Hyack win. New Westminster running back Angelo Tanjuaquio — all 5 foot 4 inches and 120 pounds — had two second-half touchdown runs and fullback Julian Ramirez had 151 yards on 20 carries.
All told, New Westminster ran for more than 300 yards.
“We’re quite comfortable with our line,” Lalji said.
Sequim starting quarterback Miguel Moroles had 243 passing yards — including 116 to senior Brett Wright — but New Westminster’s rush forced a pair of second half interceptions. Backup quarterback Dylan Lott, a freshman, had a two-yard touchdown toss to Wright to close the scoring. Lott had 47 yards passing.
“I’m really proud of the team,” Sequim coach Erik Wiker said. “We played a junior- and senior-loaded team. We had an inexperienced line but they tried hard.”
The Hyacks (2-0) had an advantage, coaches acknowledged, having already played their season opener — a 21-14 victory against South Delta — while the Wolves (0-1) were at least five players shorthanded in their season-opener.
“I know they’ve got a couple of linemen out,” Lalji said.
Said Wiker, “We had better body language (than last season), played hard and executed well.”
A second half surge
For a half, Sequim’s inexperienced lineup held their own against a junior- and senior-heavy Hyack lineup, leading with a strong opening drive capped by Adam Knapman’s 5-yard scoring run for a 6-0 lead.
The Hyacks rebounded with a pair of scores of their own. Robertson found Stewart Sommerfeld for a 35-yard touchdown pass, then scored on a quarterback keeper to open the second quarter scoring.
Sequim evened things up when Brett Wright returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown and Moroles found Josiah Anastasi for a two-point conversion.
Sequim had a chance to take the lead late in the first half with the ball on the Hyack 10-yard-line, but New Westminster forced a turnover on downs.
Sequim sophomore Nathan Allison recovered a Hyack fumble early in the second half but New Westminster forced a punt. The Hyacks then romped to a 14-play, 99-yard drive capped by Tanjuaquio’s 6-yard scamper.
The teams traded possessions until Tanjuaquio pushed New Westminster’s lead to 28-14 with another short touchdown run.
Hyack’s James Sommerfield picked off Moroles’ next pass, leading to a 1-yard Robertson plunge and New Westminster’s biggest lead of the night.
Wiker said he was impressed with how Moroles played, despite the turnovers.
“If anything, he may have rushed things but he handled it well,” Wiker said.
Although it was the first official game between the two teams, Sequim and New Westminster have met before at a team camp about eight years ago in Renton. Lalji said he implemented Sequim’s quick-snap rushing attack for use in the Hyack offense — and New Westminster executed it to great effect Friday evening.
Looking ahead
The Wolves play the second of three home games to open the season when they host River Ridge of Lacey on Sept. 13 — game time is 7 p.m.
The Hawks dropped a 40-0 decision to powerhouse Timberline in week one.
River Ridge played rude hosts last season, topping the Wolves 34-0.
In other Olympic League football action on Friday evening, WF dumped Port Angeles 41-6, North Kitsap
fell to Archbishop Murphy 22-21, Bremerton crushed Foster 51-6, Squalicum bullied Kingston 48-28, Klahowya beat Cleveland 22-7, North Mason beat Sultan 21-9 and Renton topped Olympic 26-20.
