SPORTS: Chimacum beats archrival Port Townsend 30-0; other prep football reports

PORT TOWNSEND — Mel Thornton came back to haunt his old team just a few days before Halloween.

The Chimacum junior ran for 214 yards and three touchdowns to power the Cowboys past archrival Port Townsend at Memorial Field on Friday night.

Thornton had 297 all-purpose yards in Chimacum’s final home game of the season, which ended in a 30-0 Nisqually League win.

It was the Cowboys’ second straight victory over the Redskins.

“This was a great win,” Chimacum coach Shawn Meacham said.

“We finally put together a good game from the beginning to the end.

“We did that against Vashon Island [a 35-14 Chimacum win], but in this game we took a big step to being better.”

Thornton, who suited up for Port Townsend a year ago, was playing in only his third game of the season after missing the first six because of a knee injury.

“We would have been a different team if we had him all year,” Meacham said.

“Mel had a great game. He has nice breakaway speed.”

Thornton almost took the first kickoff to the house as he ended up at the Port Townsend 10-yard line.

“He ran really hard the whole game,” Meacham said.

The Cowboys had 311 rushing yards in the game.

Senior Justin Morris, who has carried most of the rushing workload this season, had 58 yards on 16 carries, including a 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

“Justin ran hard, too,” Meacham said. “The two runners complement each other.

“They kept Port Townsend honest because the Redskins had to pay attention to both sides of the field.”

The offensive line should get a lot of the credit for Chimacum’s running game, Meacham said.

And it was the line, both on offense and defense, that was the difference in the game, according to Chimacum’s coach.

“The Port Townsend kids played hard,” Meacham said. “They’re a tough team.

“Like us, they have low numbers and they lost one of their key kids to a concussion, and that was a tough loss for them.

“But we just dominated the line a little bit.”

Port Townsend coach Tom Webster agreed about the Cowboys’ line being the difference in the game.

“We played hard but they controlled both lines of scrimmage,” Webster said.

That Chimacum line starts with senior four-year starter Joe Modispacher.

“He has played the offensive and defensive lines in every game of his career,” Meacham said.

Senior lineman Austen Maples also was strong on both lines, and senior tight end Kyle Madayag did his share of blocking in the game, Meacham said.

Underclassmen Seth Ham and Daryl Settlemire, who both made all-league second-team honors last year, also were strong on the line.

Settlemire, especially, puts the fear in other teams on defense.

“Teams run plays away from him,” Meacham said.

The youthful Redskins, with just one senior on the team, showed what lies ahead with sophomore quarterback Jacob King.

King was 8 of 14 passing with no interceptions and 96 yards. He also was the team’s rushing leading with 26 yards on nine carries.

“Jacob had a great overall game for us,” Webster said.

King, on defense, also had the only interception in the game and added seven tackles.

Chimacum (2-5 in league, 2-7 overall) ended up in sixth place in the Nisqually League, finishing ahead of Vashon Island (1-6, 1-8) and Port Townsend (0-7, 0-9).

The Redskins’ misery continues with their second winless season and 19th consecutive loss.

Both teams are out of the playoffs, but Chimacum has a crossover game at the No. 6 team from the Northwest League, Lynden Christian of Bellingham, on Friday.

“The site and time is to be determined,” Meacham said. “The crossover game gives our seniors a final game, and it gives us a chance to end the season the right way [with two straight wins].”

Port Townsend, meanwhile, is looking for a nonleague opponent to play next week to give its youngsters more experience.

There is no crossover game for the Redskins because the Northwest League doesn’t have eight teams.

“We’re looking for someone to play because we could use the experience,” Webster said.

“I would prefer to play a minimum of 10 games, but I would prefer an extra nonleague game in the beginning of the season, and then go straight into the playoffs.”

Chimacum 30,

Port Townsend 0

Port Townsend 0 0 0 0— 0

Chimacum 6 12 12 0— 30

First Quarter

C—Thornton 5 run (kick failed)

Second Quarter

C—Thornton 59 run (run failed)

C—Ajax 1 run (run failed)

Third Quarter

C—Morris 2 run (kick failed)

C—5 run (kick failed)

Individual Stats

Rushing— PT: King 9-26. C: Thornton 21-214, J. Morris 16-58, Ajax 8-20, Hare 3-12, Madayag 2-9.

Passing—PT: King 8-14-0, 96 yards. C: Ajax 3-10-1, 64 yards.

Receiving—PT: Zack 3-67, Cain 3-18, Courtney 1-13. C: Madayag 2-32, Hare 1-32.

Forks 14, Elma 13

ELMA — The Spartans (3-4, 3-6) earned a ticket to a SWL-Evergreen Division Kansas City playoff with Rainier (3-4, 4-5) and Elma (3-4, 4-5) on Monday night with a narrow league victory Friday night.

“We’re real excited about being in the playoff,” Forks coach Mark Feasel said.

The three teams will square up at Olympic Stadium in Aberdeen starting at 6 p.m.

Each team will play each other once in the first round and will keep going until there is a clear winner.

A coin flip will determine what two teams will play first.

Each team will start 25 yards from the end zone with four plays to either make a first down, a field goal or to score. Two teams go back and forth until one outscores the other.

The overall winner will take on the Trico League No. 1 team, Toledo, in the first round of the Class 1A state preliminary playoffs this coming weekend.

To get there, the Spartans took a 14-7 halftime lead against Elma and held on Friday night.

“It went down to the wire,” Feasel said.

Elma scored early in the fourth quarter and then tried a two-point conversion run and failed.

Late in the final period, the Spartans moved the ball to the Elma 20-yard line and stalled.

Elma took over and got close to the Forks end zone but lost the ball on downs.

The Spartans took over and ran the clock out.

Sophomore fullback Brett Pederson scored the first touchdown of the game on an 8-yard run in the first quarter and then quarterback Brady Castellano hit Braden Decker on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 3 minutes to go in the second period.

“That was a great catch by Decker in the end zone,” Feasel said.

Crecencio Uzueta came up with the two extra-point kicks that were the difference in the game.

“Both kicks were very important,” Feasel said.

“Brady probably had his best game of the year, and Decker had three big sacks on defense that were huge.”

Shane WhiteEagle was the key to Forks’ potent running attack, according to Feasel.

“WhiteEagle ran hard. He is a workhorse for us.”

Forks 14, Elma 13

Forks 7 7 0 0— 14

Elma 0 7 0 6— 13

First Quarter

F—Brett Pederson 8 run (Crecencio Uzueta kick)

Second Quarter

E—Not available (kick good)

F—Braden Decker 28 pass from Brady Castellano (Uzueta kick)

Fourth Quarter

E—Not available (run failed)

Individual Stats Not Available

Lummi 40,

Neah Bay 12

BELLINGHAM — The Blackhawks (7-0, 9-0) took over the inside track to the Northwest Football League championship with one game left with the victory Friday night.

The Red Devils (6-1, 6-2) lost their second game of the year against their nemesis and seventh in a row dating back to 2009.

The Blackhawks, the defending 1B state champions, won a 38-36 nonleague game between the two rivals in the first game of the year in Neah Bay.

Lummi, who has defeated the Red Devils in the state semifinals the past two years, led 6-0 after one quarter and 28-6 at halftime.

Jared Tom, who shredded the Neah Bay defense the first time the two teams played, threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth score.

Titus Pascua had an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for the Red Devils while quarterback Josiah Greene had a 24-yard TD run.

Yet that was all the Red Devils could must against a Lummi defense that played its best game of the season, according to Blackhawks head coach Jim Sandusky.

“Definitely,” Sandusky told the Bellingham Herald. “Our linebackers really played well.

“We were well prepared and the guys spent a lot of extra time watching film.”

The regular season ends this weekend with Neah Bay at archrival Clallam Bay on Friday night.

Lummi 40, Neah Bay 12

Neah Bay 0 6 6 0— 12

Lummi 6 22 6 6— 40

First Quarter

L—Scott 2 run (run failed)

Second Quarter

L—Hoskins 1 run (Scott pass from Jared Tom)

L—Hoskins 35 pass from Tom (Hoskins run)

NB—Pascua 80 kickoff return (run failed)

L—Hoskins 25 pass from Tom (pass failed)

Third Quarter

L—Tom 42 run (kick failed)

NB—Greene 24 run (run failed)

Fourth Quarter

L—Brockie 9 pass from Tom (pass failed)

Individual Stats

Rushing— NB: J. Greene 15-55, Pascua 12-50, Tyler McCaulley 6-25. L: Tom 11-84, Hoskins 11-82, Scott 11-72.

Passing—NB: J. Greene 4-9-0, 53 yards; Michael Dulik 0-1-0. L: Tom 9-17-1, 129 yards; Logan Toby 1-1-0, 3 yards.

Receiving—NB: McCaulley 2-45, Pascua 1-3, Z. Greene 1-5. L: Brockie 3-41, Hoskins 5-80, Toby 1-7, Scott 1-4.

Quilcene 55, Clallam Bay 38

QUILCENE — The Rangers (3-4, 4-4) remained alive for a playoff spot with a critical Northwest League Football victory Saturday.

Quilcene will be playing for a playoff spot at Crescent in Joyce this coming Saturday.

The winner of the game will likely advance as the league’s No. 4 seed, provided Neah Bay avoids an upset at the hands of Clallam Bay next Friday.

“It’s great just to have a chance to be in the playoffs,” Quilcene coach Nic Dahl said.

The Bruins (4-3, 4-4), meanwhile, must beat powerhouse archrival Neah Bay at home Friday night to make the playoffs.

For the Rangers on Saturday, Josh Steele had a big rushing game, Dahl said.

Also, in a reversal of what usually happens, wide receiver Kolby Schreier threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to quarterback Jake Pleines.

Pleines was way ahead of the defense and cruised into the end zone.

Schreier, though, later was hurt when he stretched a quadriceps.

Dahl said he hopes Schreier, one of the key players on the team, will be able to practice sometime this following week.

Quilcene lineman Dustin Findley scored his first career touchdown on a 1-yard dive play.

No stats were available for the game.

Crescent 28, Tulalip 22

MARYSVILLE — The Loggers (4-3, 5-3) are a win away from a playoff berth after beating Tulalip (2-6, 2-6) in Northwest Football League action Saturday.

Crescent is in a winner-to-playoffs showdown with Quilcene this coming Saturday at home.

Quarterback Kai Story threw four touchdown passes to spark the Loggers against Tulalip.

Derek Findley caught three of the TD passes, and he had 10 catches for 227 yards on the day.

Story also led the team with 14 tackles while Gene Peppard had 13.

Crescent 28, Tulalip 22

Crescent 6 14 8 0— 28

Tulalip 0 8 8 6— 22

First Quarter

C—Findley 50 pass from Story (kick blocked)

Second Quarter

T—1 run (run good)

C—Bamer 12 pass from Story (pass failed)