Riding a smothering defensive performance, the Montesano Bulldogs are back in the 1A State quarterfinals.
Monte held the Omak Pioneers and their high-powered offense to just seven points en route to a 31-7 victory in a 1A State Tournament game on Saturday at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano.
Aside from a 45-yard touchdown run by Pioneers quarterback Teagen Mullin in the first quarter, Montesano’s defense played a near-perfect football game.
Of Omak’s 57 offensive plays in the game, 18 were for two yards or less (31.5%), including seven plays for negative yardage.
That came thanks to a defensive front the hassled Mullin and his teammates by playing disciplined, gang-tackling football and laying some heavy hits on the Pioneers.
“We ran to the ball,” Montesano head coach Terry Jensen said. “(Defensive coordinator) Todd Hoiness put a lot on the players this week to recognize what our keys were versus certain formations and what we were going to do. They executed to almost perfection.”
After the Monte defense forced a turnover on downs thanks to a big 4th-and-short tackle by senior linebacker Marcus Hale, the Bulldogs opened the scoring when junior quarterback Tyson Perry broke through the left side for a 27-yard touchdown run with just over seven minutes on the clock in the first quarter.
PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano lineman Nathan Dowler (left) congratulates quarterback Tyson Perry (7) after a touchdown run during a 31-7 victory over Omak in a 1A State Tournament playoff game on Saturday at Montesano High School.
Omak responded with Mullin’s aforementioned long touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7, followed by Perry scoring on a 10-yard run just before the end of the first quarter to put the Bulldogs up 14-7.
Monte’s defense came up with another clutch 4th-and-short stoppage when Hale and fellow linebacker Mason Rasmussen tackled Mullin for no gain.
“(Coach Hoiness) this week let it be on us to make the calls,” Monte senior linebacker Gabe Pyhala said. “They ran a lot of empty-spread stuff and we just had to keep our head in the game and it worked.”
The two teams traded punts followed by a Monte missed field goal, giving the ball back to Omak with the first half winding down.
The Pioneers drove to the Monte 43-yard line until Mullin fumbled on 4th and 3, with the Montesano defense recovering the ball with 45 seconds left in the half.
A few plays later, Montesano caught the big break it was looking for with a play that turned out to be the pivotal point of the contest.
Montesano kicker Cristofer Tobar lined up for a 41-yard field goal attempt, but the Pioneer defensive line burst through to block the kick.
As the several Pioneers and Bulldogs began to walk off the field, Rasmussen turned around, grabbed the ball off the turf and took off to the corner of the end zone, scoring on a rare blocked field goal return to put Monte up 21-7 at the half.
“We work on that every Thursday night,” Jensen said of the blocked field goal return, which officials deemed legal as the ball can be advanced by the offensive team if it hasn’t crossed the line of scrimmage. “I’m sitting there looking and no one was doing anything and Mason picks up the ball and I just go, ‘Run!’ And he did. That was a huge play because it put us up two scores.”
Check out this super heads-up play by Montesano senior Mason Rasmussen during the Bulldogs’ state playoff win over Omak today.
Monte’s FG attempt was blocked, but the play was still live & @mrasmussen25 picked up the ball and ran for a TD.#wafbscores@EvansRankings @media_n2 pic.twitter.com/bKk80XxACa
— The Scrimmage (@TheScrimmage) November 17, 2024
Monte opened the second half with a Perry pass being intercepted by Mullin, but the Bulldogs defense once again proved their mettle on fourth down when Pyhala and Hale stuffed Mullin behind the line of scrimmage on 4th and 1 from the Omak 46-yard line.
Four plays later, Perry provided the proverbial dagger, scoring on a 12-yard run to stake Monte to a 28-7 lead with 6:07 to play in the third quarter.
On Omak’s ensuing possession, defensive back Zach Timmons intercepted a Mullin fourth-down pass, leading to a Tobar 25-yard field goal that put Monte up by the final score of 31-7.
The Pioneers went 0-5 on fourth-d0wn conversions against a Montesano defense that held Omak to 222 total yards and a 3.89 yards-per-play average.
Mullin led all rushers with 100 yards on 18 carries, but completed just three passes as the Monte secondary blanketed Pioneers receivers and held coverage despite Mullin often using his feet to buy more time.
“(Mullin) is a really good quarterback and we felt like that was the key to their offense and if we stop him, we win,” Pyhala said. “And that’s what we did.”
“(Mullin) is a great athlete and we had to try to find a way to contain him and we did a really good job of that,” Jenen said. “I think we frustrated them a little bit with our patience a little bit – not over-running or over-pursuing – just waiting a little bit and reacting a little bit better. … They extended plays, but our secondary played so well today. … When we didn’t get pressure, they did their job and when we did get pressure, the defensive line and linebackers did there job.”
Montesano managed 252 total yards – 200 via the run – and averaged 5.14 yards per play.
Perry had 10 carries for 91 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs.
With the victory, Montesano advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2022, where the Bulldogs suffered a 41-9 loss to eventual state-champion Royal.
“This was my last game at Montesano and all the seniors wanted to go out on a win,” Pyhala said. “I’m glad we did that. It feels amazing, just everything, the atmosphere, it was a great day.”
The sixth-seeded Bulldogs will face No. 3 La Center – a team they lost to 35-7 in the season opener – at 1 p.m. Saturday at Woodland High School.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano’s Marcus Hale (23) sprints away from Omak linebacker Juan Duran during the Bulldogs’ 31-7 win in a 1A State Tournament playoff game on Saturday at Montesano High School.
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Omak 7 0 0 0 – 7
Montesano 14 7 7 3 – 31
Scoring
First quarter
Montesano – Perry 27 run (Tobar kick), 7:04
Omak – Mullin 45 run (Quezada kick), 3:35
M – Perry 10 run (Tobar kick), 0:27
Second quarter
M – Rasmussen 29 blocked field goal return (Tobar kick), 0:03
Third quarter
M – Perry 12 run (Tobar kick), 6:07
Fourth quarter
M – Tobar 26 FG, 10:59
Passing: O – Mullin 3-15-1-35. Perry 7-13-1-52.
Rushing: O – Mullin 18-100, Allen 7-51, Smith 8-27, Bucsko 5-9. M – Perry 10-91, Timmons 10-51, Rasmussen 1-29, Gunter 6-19, Crites 3-10, Hale 4-0.
Receiving: O – Click 1-23, Smith 1-13, Allen 1-(-1). M – Crites 3-25, Hale 2-20, Rasmussen 2-7.
PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano senior Mason Rasmussen returns a blocked field goal for a touchdown at the end of the first half in the Bulldogs’ 31-7 win over Omak in a 1A State Tournament playoff game on Saturday at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano.
