Montesano’s bid for a second-consecutive 1A Evergreen League title hit a snag on Friday with a 16-12 loss to Rochester at Rochester High School.
The Bulld0gs (4-3 overall, 2-1 1A Evergreen) never got on track against the ball-control minded Warriors (4-3, 2-0), which ran 75 plays to just a paltry 29 for Montesano.
“We struggled offensively all night,” Montesano head coach Terry Jensen said. “You run 29 plays, sometimes you’re just grasping at straws.”
Suited for the rainy weather and a muddy home field, Rochester chewed up clock and churned out yards on the ground.
The game plan paid off when speedy running back Ethan Rodriguez broke loose for a 67-yard touchdown run for an 8-0 first-quarter lead.
Monte had it’s best drive of the game capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by running back Terek Gunter with just under 5:30 to play in the first half.
Monte’s missed two-point conversion had the Bulldogs trailing 8-6 at the half.
On the first play of the second half, the Bulldogs would take the lead.
Gunter caught the second-half kickoff and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown, putting the Bulldogs up 12-8 after another failed two-point try.
But Rochester’s running game embarked on the drive of the game, chewing up approximately 10 and a half minutes of clock and regaining the lead when Rodriguez culminated a 19-play drive with an 8-yard touchdown run.
KODY CHRISTEN | THE CHRONICLE Rochester’s Ethan Rodriguez stiff arms Montesano’s Thomas Flink (20) en route to a touchdown during the Bulldogs’ 16-12 loss on Friday in Rochester.
The Bulldogs never again sniffed the end zone as the Warriors defense held Monte to just 93 yards on the ground to pull off the 16-12 upset.
“The weather probably played some factor in it, but at the same time, we didn’t execute well offensively,” said Jensen, whose team had just 13 plays from scrimmage through three quarters. “I thought we played well enough defensively and on special teams to win this game. Offensively, we never got into a rhythm. We had difficulty throwing the ball and those were probably the major factors.”
By contrast, Rochester chunked its way to 370 rushing yards, with Rodriguez (20 carries, 188 yards) and running back Xander Peterman (24-102) doing the heavy-lifting.
“I thought we did a good job defensively of mixing things up, mixing fronts and personnel to not to give them exact same look every play,” said Jensen, who commended the defensive play of lineman Kyle Caton and linebackers Kole Kjesbu, Marcus Hale and Felix Romero. “Hats off to (Rochester), they were able to execute.”
The loss puts Montesano a half-game behind Rochester in the loss column for first place in the league standings.
Monte can still claim the top spot in the league but will need some help from Tenino and Hoquiam – Rochester’s final two league opponents – and need a win over Elma in two weeks to overtake the Warriors.
The Bulldogs host 1A power Nooksack Valley in a non-league matchup at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Montesano 0 6 6 0 — 12
Rochester 8 0 8 0 — 16
Scoring
First quarter
Rochester – Rodriguez 67 run (Nelson run), 2:26
Second quarter
Montesano — Gunter 6 run (conversion fail), 5:27
Third quarter
M — Gunter 84 kickoff return (conversion fail), 11:34
R — Rodriguez 8-yard rush (Rodriguez run), 52.9
Fourth quarter
None
