Extra Point
By Justin Damasiewicz
It feels weird to call Montesano vs Forks a key matchup…but it is.
It feels weird to say that this Friday’s road trip to Forks might possibly be the game that determines the Evergreen 1A League champion…but it might.
Perhaps it feels weird to me because the Bulldogs have beaten the Spartans in each of the last three seasons by a combined score of 150-12. That’s my most recent memory of Forks football.
Maybe the weird feeling comes from the fact that the Spartans were not on my radar before the season as a team that would compete with Monte at the top of the league.
Either way, Forks, who hasn’t recorded a winning season since 2009, is off to a 4-0 start and is absolutely demolishing its opponents.
Ultimately, we’ll have to see how the league plays out.
I am still of the completely unbiased opinion that the fourth-ranked Bulldogs are the clear favorite.
Hoquiam (1-2) is not off to a great start, but the Grizzlies have played a pretty tough schedule with losses to state-ranked, Class 2A W.F. West and a tough La Center squad.
Spartans senior running back Cole Baysinger, who was an all-league honorable mention as a wide receiver last season and also has logged some time under center in his prep career, has been absolutely dominant through the first four games of the season.
I was unable to track down all of Baysinger’s stats, but what I can tell you is he rushed for 818 yards and 14 touchdowns through Forks’ first three wins – 68-0 over Vashon Island, 54-21 over King’s Way Christian and 52-7 over Chimacum – then added another three rushing scores to his total in a 50-0 drubbing of Neah Bay last week.
I think it’s safe to say moving Baysinger into the backfield was a good decision by the Spartans coaching staff.
The Bulldogs are coming off another win in which they started slow, even falling behind 7-0 to Rochester in the first quarter, before slamming the pedal to the metal for a convincing 54-19 win.
In typical fashion, Carson Klinger demonstrated his explosiveness and power in rushing for 165 yards and a couple of scores.
I don’t recall if I have mentioned this in print yet, but I have been very impressed with Klinger’s defense this season as well. He is playing fast and aggressive and finds himself around the ball constantly.
Speaking of defensive standouts, Kooper Karaffa seems to be in the right place at the right time constantly. Karaffa picked off two passes on Friday and returned one for a touchdown, making it the second consecutive game he has scored a touchdown on defense. A couple of times can be luck, but he keeps making plays, proving he is talented and smart on the field. The senior also caught a long touchdown pass from Trevor Ridgway for the second game in a row.
Ridgway continues to demonstrate his ability to chuck the deep ball. After three 40-plus yard touchdown passes in week-3 against Castle Rock, the senior tossed two such scoring passes last week against Rochester.
Karaffa, sophomore Sam Winter and junior Teegan Zillyett have all stepped up big as skill position players. Zillyett and Winter both got into the end zone on long runs for Montesano last week.
It was also nice to see Kobe Gallinger back on the field after missing some time due to injury. Gallinger hauled in a 40-yard TD pass near the end of the second quarter.
As much as I love seeing Klinger show he is able to carry the load, it’s comforting to see some of these other guys demonstrating week after week that they can make plays.
The Bulldogs will make the long trip to Forks on Friday having used the non-league portion of their schedule to fine-tune some things and develop their inexperienced players. Montesano now boasts a plethora of offensive weapons that can hurt its opponent in different ways.
Go ’Dogs!
