Sequim eliminated from playoffs by W.F. West 52-21
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November 12th, 2011 - 2:57am
(Poulsbo) -- The W.F. West High School Bearcats of Chehalis overwhelmed the Sequim High Wolves 52-21 in the first-round of the State 2A football playoffs Friday night at North Kitsap Stadium.
Washington State University-bound Mitch Gueller scored on the first two scrimmage plays for the Bearcats on runs of 60 and 73 yards as the Bearcats surged to a 14-0 advantage just 2 minutes and 7 seconds into the game.
"We had our back-side guys there on the first TD run with our outside linebacker squared up on him (Gueller) and he made him miss", observed Sequim coach Erik Wiker, who emphasized tackling Gueller was a priority during practices.
"We were there scheme-wise, but player-wise he jukes us and goes 60 yards," said Wiker, "He's a very fast kid and agile."
The Chehalis team (9-2) will play Lakewood next week in the state quarterfinals.
W.F. West led 28-0 at the end of the first quarter and 31-7 at halftime.
The Bearcats scored three more touchdowns in the third quarter to lead 52-7.
Sequim tallied twice in the final quarter - on an 11-yard run by quarterback Jack Wiker and a 26-yard run by running back Lopaka Yasumura.
The weather had no effect on the contest after a windstorm blew through the Kitsap Peninsula several hours before kickoff.
Wiker was 18-of-38 passing for 154 yards and was intercepted 4 times. He rushed 19 times for 83 yards.
The Wolves played the final three games of the season without Olympic League co-MVP quarterback/linebacker Frank Catelli, who suffered a hip flexor/groin muscle injury against Olympic on October 13th.
He re-aggravated the injury in a 33-13 loss to North Kitsap the following week.
"We overcame a lot of things." said Wiker. "Frank Catelli plays in 5 games out of 10 on a good team, but not a great one, then you take out our best player, who is great . . . we accomplished a lot.
"No offense to anyone, but going into the playoffs with a backup quarterback (Wiker) and backup running back (Lopaka Yasumura) is not the most ideal thing in the world," Erik Wiker noted. "Jack's only been a quarterback half a season. He'll be a great one next year."
Despite the season-ending loss, Wiker said the Wolves can be proud of another Olympic League championship and their non-league victory at Whatcom County powerhouse Meridian.
The Wolves finished the season with a 9-2 record. "I think they overachieved." said Wiker.
Scoring by Quarters:
WF West - 28 3 21 0 - 52
Sequim - 0 7 0 14 - 21
Scoring Summary:
1st quarter:
West - Mitch Gueller 60 yd run (Kyler Huang kick) 10:58
West - Mitch Gueller 73 yd run (Huang kick) 9:53
West - Bryce Hanson 2 yd run (Huang kick) 8:44
West - Alex Cox 21 yd pass from Mitch Gueller :30
2nd quarter:
Seq - Jack Wiker 1 yd run (Mitch Koonz kick) 4:29
West - Kyler Huang 27 yd Field Goal :20
3rd quarter:
West - Bryce Hanson 5 yd run (Huang kick) 11:16
West - Keylen Steen 2 yd run (Huang kick) 7:01
West - Connor Cooke 2 yd run (Huang kick) :09
4th quarter:
Seq - Jack Wiker 11 yd run (Koonz kick) 9:19
Seq - Lopaka Yasumura 26 yd run (Koonz kick) 2:00
Individual Statistics:
Rushing:
WF West -- Mitch Gueller 14-226, Bryce Hanson 9-71, Keylen Steen 2-35, Bradley Downs 3-23, Conner Cooke 5-20, Tanner Gueller 1-7, Cody Sanchez 1-4, Colten Gray 1-4, Shelby Spahr 4-0, Justin Shoemaker 1-2.
Sequim -- Jack Wiker 19-83, Lopaka Yasumura 7-38, Tyler Forshaw 2-6.
Passing:
WF West -- Mitch Gueller 7-13-68 yards, Tanner Gueller 0-1.
Sequim - Jack Wiker 18-38-154 yards, 4 INT.
Receiving:
WF West -- Joseph Rothlin 2-24, Andrew White 2-21, Alex Cox 1-20, Bryce Hanson 1-5, Colton Watson 1-(-2).
Sequim -- Lopaka Yasumura 4-53, Nick Ramirez 5-38, Michael Ballard 3-30, Tyler Forshaw 4-24, Christian Miles 1-5, Jonathan Campbell 1-4.
