Football: Seniors shine in win over Central Kitsap

With multiple big plays on both sides of the ball and a slew of 12th-graders ready to cap their prep careers at Sequim High with a win, Senior Night became Highlight Night for SHS’s Wolves.

Sequim pounced for 38 first half points and fended off a talented 3A Central Kitsap squad for a 38-22 win on March 18, bringing to close a strange season that saw Sequim’s fall season played in late winter and trimmed to just five games.

Seniors shone bright for the Wolves (3-2), who got a pair of touchdown runs from quarterback Taig Wiker, a long interception return from defensive back Michael Young and an 83-yard touchdown score from Garrett Hoesel.

“The energy and teamwork is the big difference,” Sequim head coach Erik Wiker said. “Last week we didn’t have teamwork, a lot of fractured stuff that just kind of spawned off onto the game. It was the opposite this week.

“I think having it be Senior Night and people wanting to play for the seniors and the seniors accepting everybody else helps a lot. That was the motivation.”

Taig Wiker, the Olympic League’s 2019 Offensive MVP, returned for his first and only game of the season and made an impact on offense and defense, going 9-of-12 for 166 yards and a score, and running for 130 yards and two touchdowns while forcing big stops from his middle linebacker position.

Wiker quickly made his impact felt, breaking through the line for a 37-yard touchdown run and staking Sequim to a 7-0 lead. It was Sequim’s first score in the first quarter all season long.

The Cougars’ big back Joshua Willis got Central even after a Wolves fumble deep in their own territory, but Sequim answered back with a 13-play, 80-yard drive capped by Young’s seven-yard scamper. Sequim added a two-point conversion.

Central (3-2) responded quickly when Kalai Pasai found Chandler Lindstrom on a go route from 64 yards out. Sequim led 15-14 after one quarter.

The Wolves broke it open with a big play second quarter, however. The Wolves went up 22-14 following a 60-play drive highlighted by a Taig Wiker-to-Hoesel pass. The Sequim QB literally dove in from five yards out for the score.

Sequim came up big on a defensive stop on Central’s next possession, as Truman Nestor sacked Pasai on fourth down to force a turnover.

Young pointed out fellow seniors Nestor and Austin Newton for their play on defense.

“Our (defensive) line did really well and they never get the credit but without them you can’t operate,” he said.

On the Cougars’ next possession, CK drove deep into Sequim territory before Young spied a Pasai pass and returned it 70 yards for a score, his second pick-six of the season. Sequim led 30-14.

“I was trying to give a little space to bait the quarterback and follow him out of his break and once that ball is released go for it,” Young said.

“I was getting pretty tired about the 15-yard line. That final stiff arm around the five was just enough.”

Central Kitsap again drove deep into Sequim’s half of the field just before halftime before Young picked off another Pasai throw.

On the next play, Taig Wiker found Hoesel on a short bubble screen and the diminutive senior raced more than 80 yards for a touchdown with 25 second left in the half. Another two-point conversion gave Sequim a 38-14 lead at halftime.

“Right when I saw him catch it, I said ‘That’s a touchdown,’” Taig Wiker said.

Hoesel said he knew early on that the play might develop into a score.

“When I see all my guys in front of me, I figure as long as I can outrun the last guy (it’s a touchdown),” he said.

Hoesel said he was just hoping to not see any penalty flags on the field; twice this season and twice last season he and the Wolves had long touchdowns called back for infractions.

Central trimmed Sequim’s lead in the third quarter, getting a 19-yard touchdown pass from Pasai to Aiden Williamson with 8:30 left in the third quarter. But the Sequim defense held tough throughout — including a goalline stand with 2:04 remaining — while Taig Wiker commandeered several clock-killing drives.

“I cherished the moment and took in these last four quarters,” he said. “It’s the last chance I got to do it, so it felt really good to be out there. I had an attitude coming into this game. I wanted to win, I wanted to run people over and score touchdowns and we made that happen.”

Sequim installed a pair of new defensive coverages before the game.

“I have to totally congratulate coach (Vic) Reykdal,” Erik Wiker said. “We put in a new defense for this week in a short week, Monday, Tuesday, boom reviewed it. He put a ton of time into it and then I have to congratulate the kids for executing it.”

Young said the team was still picking up the finer points before the game.

“Brand new,” Young said of the defense. “We were still learning things up until pregame.”

Sequim running back Walker Ward finished with 14 carried for 62 yards.

Pasai had 83 yards rushing to lead Central Kitsap, who came into the game with big wins over South Kitsap, Olympic and Bainbridge, and whose only loss was a one-point defeat (26-25) to unbeaten North Kitsap.

Sequim finished the season with wins over 3A Bainbridge, 3A Central Kitsap and 4A South Kitsap, with its only losses to North Kitsap and Olympic.

“The biggest thing is that there have been a lot of things out of our control this year,” Young said. “The things we can control we didn’t always do our best. So this game we needed to prove to ourselves that we were still that class that everybody was looking forward to.”

Hoesel said he was happy to walk off the SHS field for the last time with a victory.

“It’s definitely bittersweet, because it’s the end.”

Taig Wiker said he’ll miss the peripheral things around football season as much as the competition.

“I’ll miss the atmosphere, the offseason, 7-on-7s, joking around in gyms at camps and just being alongside my brothers,” he said. “It’s been the same guys forever. It’s going to be tough to move on but we’ve got to do it. That’s what I’ll miss most, the people and the atmosphere.”

Sequim running back Walker Ward gets some key blocking from Brandon Barnett (55) in the first half of Sequim’s season finale against Central Kitsap on March 18. Ward had 62 yards in the 38-22 victory. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell

Sequim receiver Michael Young takes a sweep and eyes yardage in the first half of the Wolves’ March 18 win over visiting Central Kitsap. Young had two key interceptions — one for a touchdown — in the win. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell

Sequim defenders Truman Nestor (center), Taig Wiker (right) and Garrett Hoesel (background) wrap up Central Kitsap quarterback Kalai Pasai in the first half of Sequim’s 38-22 win on March 18. Sequim had two key goalline stands against the Cougars. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell

Sequim quarterback Taig Wiker looks for running room as he scrambles for a 6-yard touchdown in the first half of the Wolves’ 38-22 win over Central Kitsap on March 18. Wiker rushed for 130 yards and two scores, and threw for another 166 yards and a touchdown. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell

Sequim quarterback Taig Wiker gets some key blocking from Brandon Barnett (55) in the first half of Sequim’s season finale against Central Kitsap on March 18. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell

Sequim’s Faas Christiansen, left, and Walker Ward sandwich Central Kitsap’s Ryder Wright during the Wolves’ 38-22 win over the Cougars. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell