GH Newspaper Group

Scoring 29 unanswered points in the final three quarters, Montesano remained unbeaten by defeating R.A. Long, 36-12, in a non-league game Friday, Oct. 7, at Longview Stadium.

The fourth-ranked Bulldogs (6-0) experienced a rare bit of adversity in this contest against the Class 2A Lumberjacks (1-5). R.A. Long led 12-7 after one quarter.

Nathan Olson scored the first of his three second-quarter touchdowns at the 9:44 mark of the period to put Monte in front to stay. Trevor Ridgway passed to Carson Klinger for the conversion and a 15-12 lead.

Montesano’s Tyler Izatt recovered a fumble moments later to set up Olson’s second TD, this on a 15-yard run. Olson scored again on a 1-yard run with 37 seconds left in the first half.

“We picked up the tempo quite a bit,” Bulldog coach Terry Jensen said of the second-quarter eruption. “When we play fast, good things usually happen for us.”

Klinger’s 3-yard run in the third quarter closed out the scoring. Larry Dwyer was perfect on five conversion kicks.

Klinger also tallied Montesano’s first touchdown, on a 3-yard run in the opening quarter. He wound up leading Bulldog ball-carriers with 118 yards on eight carries.

Ridgway completed 12 of 19 passes for 139 yards. Nick Chapman led Monte receivers with 62 yards on five catches. Klinger added 51 yards, also on five receptions and also led Bulldog tacklers with 10 stops. Chapman had nine tackles and Taylor Rupe a pair of sacks.

Jensen said the Bulldogs experienced some early difficulty dealing with a massive R.A. Long line.

“We’re not very big, they made us work for everything,” the Montesano coach said. “It was good for us to play all four quarters and be able to compete.”

The Bulldogs travel to Hoquiam tomorrow for an Evergreen 1A League showdown.