Montesano couldn’t be stopped and Aberdeen couldn’t get the offense going as the Bulldogs cruised to a 59-0 season-opening victory Friday night in Montesano.
The Bulldogs (1-0) methodically moved the ball down field in their first possession of the game only to have the drive stall out as the Aberdeen defense held strong on 3rd-and-goal.
Jordan King hit the first of his two successful field goal tries to give Monte the 3-0 lead with 9:10 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs found paydirt on their next drive as Aydan Darst took a toss sweep 18 yards to put Montesano up 10-0 with seven minutes left in the first quarter.
Monte got on the scoreboard one more time before the end of the first frame as quarterback Trace Ridgway crossed the goal line on a designed run from four yards out to put his team up 17-0.
Montesano’s Trace Ridgway (10) looks for daylight on a touchdown run in the first quarter against Aberdeen on Friday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Montesano head coach Terry Jensen said he was impressed with the way the offense, defense and special teams played.
“I thought all three phases of the game played outstanding. We were able to get down and score on almost every drive, I don’t think we punted tonight,” he said. “We had the one turnover in the second half, but it was just an outstanding game for our kids.”
Aberdeen (0-1), on the other hand, struggled to establish the run in their newly-installed Wing-T offense. The Bobcats got across midfield twice in the first half and didn’t make it into the red zone until the third quarter.
Aberdeen was held to 11 rushing yards and 19 passing yards in the first half as they found themselves down 30-0 at halftime.
“The thing with (the Wing-T) is that if you’re not breaking big plays, it’s going to take you 15 or 20 plays (to score). If you do that, then hopefully you’re going to make a mistake somewhere,” Jensen said.
Aberdeen head coach Todd Bridge said his team could have kept the game competitive if they had avoided some of the miscues it suffered from in the second quarter.
“I’m quite familiar with Montesano football and we were thunderstruck by the end of the half. They walked in the locker room with a ton of momentum,” he said. “We gave them the opening kickoff when we fumbled it, and they shoved it down our throats. Then they score 10 points in six seconds at the end of the half.”
The final seconds of the second quarter helped Monte seal the deal as they got another field goal from King followed by a Sam Winter TD catch on a 23-yard pass from Trace Ridgway as time expired.
Montesan’s Sam Winter runs down the sidelines during a punt return in the first quarter against Aberdeen on Friday at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
The lopsided affair allowed both teams to get playing time for some of the under classmen, but Winter created one more highlight play before heading to the bench in favor of his younger counterparts. The senior receiver caught a screen pass from Ridgway and got a key block from Braden Dohrmann as he broke three tackles on his way to a 33-yard touchdown reception with 5:06 left in the third quarter.
Winter said picking up a dominant home win to open the season was a good way to get over the nerves that can set in before the first game.
“We’re just trying to come out and play hard to get those first-game jitters out of the way,” he said. “We just have to keep working still and be humble.”
Aberdeen will try to bounce back from the loss against Montesano next week with another installment of the Myrtle Street Rivalry when the Bobcats face the Grizzlies in Hoquiam at 7 p.m.
Montesano will face a 3A team when they travel to Shelton for its next contest at 7 p.m. on Friday.
“They’re a 3A school, so hopefully they’ll be good competition for us and we’ll be able to improve,” Jensen said. “We’re far away from where we need to be, but we’re getting closer everyday.”
Montesano 17 13 15 14 — 59
Aberdeen 0 0 0 0 — 0
Passing Leaders: Montesano — Ridgway (7-9, 106, 2 TD)
Rushing Leaders: Montesano — Darst (10-132, 2 TD); Aberdeen — Sherman (10-35)
Receiving Leaders: Montesano — Winter (6-113, 2 TD)
Montesano’s Brent Hollatz (11) sacks Aberdeen quarterback Cody Bemis (10) in the first quarter on Friday at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Aberdeen running back Connar Sherman catches a pass in the flat from quarterback Cody Bemis in the first quarter of a game against on Friday at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
