It was a tale of two halves as Montesano defeated Tenino 31-13 on Friday at Beavers Stadium in Tenino.
The Bulldogs (3-2 overall, 1-0 1A Evergreen) struggled to get its game going with three turnovers in the first half, but Monte flipped the script on Tenino (3-2, 0-1), outscoring the Beavers 21-6 over the final 24 minutes of the game.
Monte trailed 7-0 in the second quarter until running back Terek Gunter capped off a drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to tie the game with just over eight minutes left in the first half.
Kicker Chris Tobar gave the Bulldogs the lead with a booming 40-yard field goal that easily cleared the uprights with 3:47 to play in the first half.
Monte’s stingy defense was able to maintain the lead entering halftime despite the Bulldogs committing three turnovers and allowing Tenino running back Mikey Vassar to rush for 90 yards.
“We turned the ball over three times in the first half and they gouged us running the ball,” Monte head coach Terry Jensen said. “We were very careless with the ball tonight and we’ve got to be better at that. We preach ball security and we lost two fumbles and threw an interception. It wasn’t the weather that caused those things. We just didn’t execute very well and we’ve got to be better.”
Monte was better in the second half.
The Bulldogs extended the lead when receiver Toren Crites broke loose for a 62-yard touchdown run to go up 17-7.
Tenino responded immediately when broken coverage and poor kick placement led to Tenino’s Austin Johnson returning the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to make it a 17-13 game.
But that was as close as the Beavers would get as Monte dominated the rest of the way, outscoring the Beavers 14-0 down the stretch.
The Bulldogs went up 24-13 on a 9-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Tyson Perry late in the third quarter and put the game away when Zach Timmons scored on a 15-yard run with 6:09 to play.
Monte’s defense buckled down in the second half, holding Tenino’s featured running game to just 19 yards while Timmons, Gunter and Kole Kjesbu each snared an interception to thwart Tenino drives.
Jensen said his defense gets a lot of credit for Friday’s victory.
“I thought defensively we played pretty well. We gave up one score (on defense),” he said. “(Vassar) had 90 yds rushing at halftime and our defense did a really good job of shutting down the run in the second half. (Monte defensive coordinator) Todd Hoiness called a great game tonight.”
Montesano defensive lineman Shaun Straka recorded a sack for the second consecutive game with fellow linemen Kyle Caton and Mason Fry also recording a sack apiece.
The Bulldogs had 297 total yards – 179 on the ground – and held Tenino to 196 total yards.
Jensen said he was pleased with the win, but added the poor start and turnovers are areas they need to work on.
“We’re really happy with the win, don’t get me wrong, but I’m sitting here thinking about some of the things we did tonight that we have to get so much better at,” he said. “A win is a win, and an ugly win is better than a good loss. There is a long way to go, but that was a big step tonight. We still control our destiny as long as we can play well every week and grow and get better.”
Eighth-ranked Montesano will face Rochester in a matchup of the league’s top two teams at 7 p.m. Friday at Rochester High School.
Montesano 0 10 14 7 – 31
Tenino 0 7 6 0 – 13
Scoring
First quarter
None
Second quarter
Tenino – Vassar 10 run (Espinoza kick), 10:37
Montesano – Gunter 3 run (Tobar kick), 8:07
M – Tobar 40 field goal, 3:47
Third quarter
M – Crites 62 run (Tobar kick), 11:42
T – Johnson 90 kick return (kick fail), 11:23
M – Perry 9 run (Tobar kick), 1:38
Fourth quarter
M – Timmons 15 run (Tobar kick), 6:09
Passing: M – Perry 9-14-1-118. T – Metcalf 7-19-3-74.
Rushing: M – Crites 7-81, Gunter 12-39, Perry 10-39, Timmons 4-23. T – Vassar 25-109, Metcalf 4-9, Ash 3-10, Whitaker 1-4, Espinoza 1-2.
Receiving: M – Crites 4-58, Rasmussen 3-22, Timmons 1-28, Hale 1-10. T – Espinoza 3-25, Gonia 2-32, Whitaker 1-8.
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W.F. West 47, Aberdeen 12
XXX
“We are still trying to establish our running game.
We got their varsity to punt once, so they was good
Running clock 2nd half, we scored on both our possessions.
Held their varsity crew in for 1 possession on defense and one possession of offense. Forced their offense to work for their yards in the 2nd half and we scored on their varsity. Mycah Schroeder for a 1 yard plunge. Extra pt missed
2nd TD Drive was against their 2’s,
Adonis Hammonds from Mason Hill. About 4 yards out.
Kids never quit and that says something about we never rolled over. We never had 1 guy asked to be subbed out.
This is a very fun group of young men to coach. Just scrappy, like a Bobcat.
Aberdeen head coach Todd Bridge
WFW 20 20 7 0 – 47
Aberdeen 0 0 0 12 – 12
Scoring
First quarter
WFW – Guyette 1 run (Kelley kick), 8:27
WFW – Westlund 4 pass from Brumfield (Kelley kick), 5:35
WFW – Brumfield 29 run, 2:48
Second quarter
WFW – Land 21 pass from Brumfield, 11:47
WFW – Land 4 run (Kelley kick), 10:03
WFW – Land 76 pass from Brumfield (Kelley kick), 1:39
Third quarter
WFW – Kelley 3 pass from Brumfield (Kelley kick), 5:52
Fourth quarter
A – Schroeder 1 run, 9:25
A – Hammonds 2 pass from Hill, 0:13
Passing: WFW – Brumfield 8-12-0-177. A – Hill 1-11-2-2.
Rushing: WFW – Brumfield 6-102, Guyette 9-71, Land 5-33, Martin 3-(-7). A – R. Wixson 8-66, Schroeder 18-58, Vessey 10-9, Martin 1-4, Crowder 1-2, Hill 1-1.
Receiving: WFW – Land 2-97, Kelley 4-62, Westlund 1-4, White 1-14. A – Hammonds 1-2.
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Rochester 43, Elma 0
XXX
Rochester 7 21 7 8 – 43
Elma 0 0 0 0 – 0
Scoring
First quarter
R – Nelson 1 run (Castillo kick)
Second quarter
R – Peterman 3 run (Castillo kick)
R – Rotter 1 run (Castillo kick)
R – Rodriguez 23 run (Castillo kick)
Third quarter
R – Rodriguez 73 run (Castillo kick)
Fourth quarter
R – Delgado 23 run (Rotter run)
Passing: E – McGaffey 10-21-1-91.
Rushing: R – Rodrugiez 11-165, Dalgado 5-49, Rotter 6-34, Peterman 10-31, Mathews 3-24, Tartios 2-21, Nelson 5-15, Simpkins 3-11, Austin 2-9, Smith 1-5, Patrick 1-1. E – Rademacher 12-38, McGaffey 11-29, Salazar 1-18, Muller 2-7, Carter 1-(-3), Camus 1-(-5).
Receiving: E – Landstrom 3-42, Camus 3-36, Amaya 1-12, Carter 1-4, Brookins 2-(-3).
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Wahkiakum 50, Ocosta 28
XXX
Passing: W – Stoddard 10-16-0-274. O – Turner 6-11-2-77.
Rushing: W – Stoddard 4-94, Merz 3-20, Waldeck 2-7, West 2-5. O – Rutzer 28-169, Turner 21-134, Tackett 12-40, Ceja Guevara 1-0.
Receiving: W – Robinson 3-101, Leitz 3-71, Waldeck 2-66, West 1-35, Merz 1-1. O – Rutzer 2-33, Bonina 2-32, Tackett 1-10, Sevilla 1-2.
~~~
WA School for Deaf 40, Lake Quinault 29
XXX
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Other games
Naselle 78, North Beach 0
Oakville 32, Taholah 30
Hoquiam 14, Toutle Lake 13