On a sunny Saturday afternoon, a team that didn’t exist five seasons ago raised a league championship trophy, and a whole town celebrated.
The Lake Quinault Elks led big then held off a second-half rally by the Northwest Christian Wolverines for a 67-38 victory in the 1B Coastal League six-man championship game at Fred Soth Field in Amanda Park.
“Emotions are high,” said Lake Quinault head coach Melvyn Houtz, who along with former athletic director Keith Samplawski, restarted the program in 2019 after a four-year hiatus. “I’m just happy for (the players). I’m happy for the community. Football is back in town and (winning the six-man title) hasn’t really hit me yet. … It’s really surreal right now.”
As they have done the entire season, the Elks (8-0 overall) started the game red-hot, opening up a 19-0 lead toward the end of the first quarter on a 63-yard touchdown pass by senior quarterback Jesse Ferry to junior receiver Luis Estrada.
Elks senior running back Grady Fowler scored on runs of 36 and 14 yards while Ferry threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Cody Perry in the second quarter.
Lake Quinault scored 29 points in the second frame — including a sack by senior defensive back Charles Gumecindo for a safety — to hold a comfortable 41-18 halftime lead.
After Fowler scored on a 16-yard pitch run to put the Elks up 54-24 in the third quarter, the Wolverines (3-4) mounted a comeback.
NWC quarterback Levi Maevega scored on a 3-yard run and — after the Wolverines defense recovered an Elks fumble — gave NWC its second touchdown in less than a minute with a 10-yard touchdown run.
Maevega’s extra point got the Wolverines close at 54-38 late in the third quarter.
With the Elks’ comfortable lead dwindling and pressure mounting, a Lake Quinault team that has dominated its opponents this season proved it was up to the test.
Facing a third down from the NWC 38-yard line, Fowler took a handoff and sprinted to the goal line for a much-needed six points, staking the Elks to a 60-38 lead at the end of the third quarter.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Lake Quinault running back Grady Fowler (15) breaks loose for a big gain during the Elks’ 67-38 win over Northwest Christian on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022 at Lake Quinault High School.
Lake Quinault’s defense then created a critical turnover, forcing running back Ethan Hall to cough up the football, which was recovered by Elks senior lineman Wyatt Holland.
Four plays later, Ferry hit Estrada with a short pass in the flat. Estrada then broke a tackle and outran the Wolverines defense down the sideline for a 30-yard touchdown that proved to be the backbreaker.
“Us defensive captains, we had to make some adjustments so it was more simple for everybody to understand what to do, and it worked a whole lot better,” Ferry said. “We went to a more of a man defense and it helped a lot. It helped us shut them down.”
“(NWC) had some good plays and had us feeling a little unsteady for a minute,” Fowler said. “But we knew we were going to come back and we knew we were going to hit hard, and we did hit them hard.”
With Lake Quinault up 67-38 and just seconds remaining, Houtz had all seven seniors in the huddle one last time knowing full well it would be a too-many-men-on-the-field penalty, but wanted to give his senior class and the home crowd a moment to remember.
The final buzzer sounded and the Elks were awarded the six-man championship trophy after the 67-38 victory.
“It feels amazing,” Perry said of the victory. “We’ve put in a lot of hard work. Our freshman year, we weren’t good at all. But we just kept at it and we just put in a lot of work to get here. … I’m proud of every single one of these guys and it’s not just the starters. It’s the scout team, they help us get better.”
“It feels great,” said Ferry, echoing Perry’s sentiments about the depth of the Lake Quinault squad. “This year, (the second team) stepped up a lot and it helped.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Lake Quinault quarterback Jesse Ferry (24) throws a pass while Northwest Christian’s Carter Sands defends during the Elks’ 67-38 win on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022 at Lake Quinault High School.
“To be able to grow with the team and to grow as myself and be a big part of the team, it’s awesome,” Fowler said. “It’s beautiful.”
The victory completed an undefeated regular season for the Elks in which they won the 1B Coastal League, the first River Bowl against Taholah to be played in 12 seasons, and a six-man championship.
Lake Quinault’s victory earned them a shot in the eight-man football playoffs against the Quilcene Rangers at 1 p.m. Saturday at Port Townsend Memorial Stadium.
But as of Saturday afternoon, the Elks were relishing in the completion of a goal that started when the program was resurrected in 2019.
“They’re like family. Every single one of them,” Fowler said of his teammates. “We have ups and downs of course and sometimes there is inside beef. But when it’s game time, it’s game time and we get real with it.”
“I grew up with all of them,” Ferry said. “So it felt good to cherish my last home game and win the championship for our school. It just felt great.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Lake Quinault defensive back Charles Gumecindo, right, defense a pass to Northwest Christian receiver Ryddis Robinson during a 67-38 win over Northwest Christian on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022 at Lake Quinault High School.
The game already had meaningful family ties for Coach Houtz, who is the the father of Fowler and uncle to Perry, but the recent hospitalization of his former coach at Omak High School, Gary Smith, gave the Elks helmsman that much more of a reason to complete the task at hand.
“He was a great inspiration to me, he always is,” said Houtz, acknowledging that Smith’s fingerprints were prevalent in Saturday’s victory. “Now, I can call him in the hospital and say, ‘Hey, we did it coach.’”
Northwest Christian 0 18 20 0 — 38
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD The Lake Quinault Elks raise the six-man championship trophy after a 67-38 win over Northwest Christian on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022 at Lake Quinault High School.
