SHS’s second half comeback falls short vs. Forks

Forks’ power rushing scheme gobbled up yardage inside and out offensively. Its defense produced four Sequim turnovers, including an interception return for touchdown and the Spartans battered the Wolves 32-14 on Friday night.

Field position was a key factor in Forks’ early offensive onslaught. The Spartans started three straight first-quarter scoring drives on Sequim’s half of the field.

Sequim was much improved after halftime, scoring on Thomas Reandeau’s 11-yard plunge and an exciting deflection-and-run for a 51-yard TD by diminutive freshman Adrian Aragon (5 foot 4 inches, 130-pounds).

“We had four or five guys playing different positions than they practiced this week [due to in-game injuries], but that’s not an excuse. We didn’t play tough and they played tough,” Sequim coach Erik Wiker said.

“They came out in a completely different offense than they’ve run the last four years, so we were scripted for something different. It’s a great job of coaching to your personnel. I told [Forks coach Trevor Highfield], ‘Great job, coach.”

Walker Wheeler made Sequim pay, busting loose off the left side on the same nifty counter pitch play out of the Spartan’s newly adopted Single-Wing offense twice in a row from 50-and 45-yards out.

Nate Dahlgren, the Spartans’ primary ball carrier, pounded out 19 yards up the middle to put Forks up 18-0 with 3:10 left in the first quarter.

The Jim Thorpe-era offensive formation often resembles a hammer meeting a nail and Dahlgren was that hammer, smashing for 187 yards on 31 carries and two touchdowns.

Forks’ Conner Demorest picked off a Lars Wiker pass in the end zone to snuff out Sequim’s best drive in the second quarter.

The Spartans went up 32-0 at halftime, scoring on Ryan Rancourt’s 50-yard interception return and Dahlgren’s 23-yard run off the right side.

Rancourt added a second interception in the end zone right after halftime and blocked an extra point on the night.

Erik Wiker said his team struggled to make correct reads early against Forks, but did slow the Spartans after that initial burst.

“They squirted a couple of big plays, that will happen when you don’t practice against that all week, it makes it pretty tough,” Wiker said. “But that’s good coaching on their part. Once we figured out the reads, we did a much better job against them defensively.

“Second half — it was about attitude and effort. It was attitude and kids getting their heads out a little bit. We were dropping everything in the first half, we just needed to make some grabs and have some accountability.

“Field position hurt us, too. We couldn’t do anything [in the first half]. If we connect on a couple of catches we wouldn’t have made it so difficult on ourselves.”

Coming up

Sequim is on the road to face the 1a Tenino Beavers on Sept. 9 — the first-ever match-up between the schools.

On Sept. 16, the Wolves host Bainbridge in the Olympic League opener. At 4:45 p.m., school officials and representatives from the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe will celebrate the naming of the stadium and field.

The district stadium on West Fir Street will be named for a S’Klallam word pronounced “stah-chung” and meaning “wolf,” and the field to Myron Teterud’s Field, after the longtime, late SHS sports fanatic.

Sequim’s Aiden Gockerell looks to a tackle by Forks’ Ryan Rancourt in the first half of the Wolves’ season-opener at home on Sept. 2.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Isaiah Moore Jr. looks to break a tackle of Forks’ Ryan Rancourt after catching a pass from SHS quarterback Lars Wiker in the first half of the Wolves’ season-opener at home on Sept. 2.