In a battle of undefeated Olympic League teams, Sequim went with some old school tactics — a grinding running game and a stout defense — to knock off the visiting North Mason Bulldogs.
The Wolves gave their 2018 Homecoming visitors plenty to cheer about in a 20-0 win over North Mason on Sept. 21, taking an early inside lead on the league title one week after knocking off a state-ranked North Kitsap squad.
The Wolves (2-0 in league play 4-0 overall) racked up 211 rushing yards and stopped three North Mason drives deep inside SHS territory as Sequim’s defense tallied its first shutout since the 2016 season.
“We might blitz (only) three times a game,” Sequim head coach Erik Wiker said. “We line up right, make our reads. It might be what you call a bend-but-not-break defense.”
Running back Taig Wiker racked up 143 rushing yards and a score, and Kyle Rollness had a key 60-yard punt return for a touchdown for the only score in the second half, helping Sequim knock off the previously unbeaten Bulldogs (3-1).
Sequim lineman Tommy Hall, named SHS’s Homecoming King at halftime, said SHS’s offensive line set a tone against North Mason. On the first drive, Sequim ran the ball nine out of 11 plays, capped by Taig Wiker’s five-yard score.
“The linemen picked it up this time,” Hall said.
After seeing North Mason on film, Erik Wiker said, “We thought we could run the ball.”
Hall credited lessons learned in the Wolves’ win over a big, strong Forks squad on Sept. 7 in helping them take down the previously undefeated Bulldogs and their pair of big running backs: Dylan Tupolo and Reece Smelcer.
‘“We worked really hard on wrapping up,” Hall said.
Securing a shutout
Sequim jumped out to a lead on the first drive, earning 64 of 65 yards on the ground. Taig Wiker capped the scoring with a five-yard run, and caught a pass from Michael Young for the two-point conversion.
North Mason responded with a drive to the Wolves’ 10-yard-line, but Sequim’s defense stopped Smelcer short on fourth and 1. After a Sequim turnover on downs in the Wolves side of the field the Bulldogs again threatened to score, but Taig Wiker caught Smelcer behind the line on a third and short, and a following incompletion on fourth down stymied another Bulldog drive.
Sequim followed that with another 11-play scoring drive that spanned 93 yards, highlighted by a Riley Cowan 28-yard scramble. With about a minute in the first half, Cowan found Michael Young for seven-yard TD pass and a 14-0 SHS lead.
North Mason’s final drive of the first half stalled, thanks in large part to a Ben Cowan sack for force a third-and-long.
Cowan came up with another sack to quell the Bulldogs’ opening drive, setting up a punt that Sequim senior Kyler Rollness returned 60 yards for a touchdown and a 20-0 Sequim lead.
For what was a rather damp remaining two quarters, the Wolves’ defense managed to keep North Mason off the scoreboard, forcing a fumble on their second possession, a punt on their third, and a turnover on downs at the Sequim 2 yard line on their fourth, thanks in particular to key tackles-for-losses by Isaiah Cowan and Austin Newton.
Tupolo, the North Mason back, ran for 77 yards on 13 carries.
“(He) was definitely tough to tackle,” Ben Cowan said. “We were worried more about the run than the pass.”
The key to the victory, one Cowan called Sequim’s best on-field performance this season thus far, was confidence.
“(It was) the defense not getting down on ourselves, and thinking, ‘They are not going to score,’” Ben Cowan said.
Looking ahead
Sequim takes on the winless Kingston Buccaneers on the road on Sept. 28. Last week, the Bucs dropped a 56-12 decision to Olympic.
On Oct. 5, the Wolves are in Silverdale to take on the Olympic Trojans.
Sequim hosts cross-peninsula rival Port Angeles on Oct. 12.
Box score:
at Sequim 20, North Mason 0
N. Mason 0 0 0 0 — 0
Sequim 8 6 6 0 — 20
Scoring:
First quarter
S — Wiker 5 run (Wiker pass from Young), 7:11
Second quarter
S — Young 7 pass from Cowan (pass failed), 0:59
Third quarter
S — Rollness 60 punt return (run failed), 9:32
Sequim stats:
Passing — Cowan 13-21, 115 yards, TD
Rushing — Wiker 24-143, TD; Cowan 9-61; Whitney 4-6; Rollness 1-1
Receiving — Rollness 4-38; Wiker 3-34; Langston 2-23; Young 3-12, TD; Oliver 1-8
First downs: 18
Third down: 8-12
Fourth down: 3-4
Penalties: 5-30
North Mason stats:
Passing — Ward 10-19, 77 yards
Rushing — Tupolo 13-77; Smelcer 12-27; Nanez 2-4; Ward 3-(-7)
Receiving — Nogues 3-34; Nanez 2-18; Smelcer 2-16; Anderson 2-7; Tupolo 1-2
First downs: 9
Third down: 3-11
Fourth down: 2-6
Sequim High quarterback Riley Cowan looks for running room in the Wolves’ win over North Mason last week. Cowan had 61 of Sequim’s 211 rushing yards. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell
SHS punt returner Kyler Rollness races 60 yards for a score in the third quarter of the Wolves’ 20-0 win over North Mason on Sept. 21. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell
