Week 5 of the prep football season marks the beginning of the all-important league schedule as we take a look at Friday’s prep football matchups.

Montesano at Forks

When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday at Spartan Stadium, Forks

Players to Watch: Montesano — Trace Ridgway QB; Sam Winter WR/LB; Aydan Darst RB/LB. Forks — Ethan Bello K

If the nonleague portion of the schedule is a precursor of things to come, the 1A Evergreen League comes down to Montesano, then everybody else.

The Bulldogs (4-0) have scored 238 points through four games this season, including last Friday’s 70-12 rout over Port Angeles.

Against the Roughriders it wasn’t just Monte’s offense that was having its way with the opponent as the Bulldogs defense caused six turnovers, five of which were interceptions. Of those five picks, four were returned to the house for touchdowns as Monte took a 63-6 lead at halftime.

Forks, which beat Port Angeles 23-0 to open the season, won 8-7 over Granite Falls last weekend without the benefit of a touchdown. A safety and two field goals from kicker Ethan Bello, including a 21-yarder late in the game, sealed the low-scoring victory for the Spartans.

Running back Hayden Baker has been the go-to guy for the Spartans, carrying the ball 40 times for 344 yards and three TDs in a 46-20 win over Port Townsend on Sept. 20.

Tenth-ranked Montesano has dominated the series against Forks over the past decade-plus. The Bulldogs have won 14 of their last 15 meetings with the Spartans, their lone loss being a 14-12 defeat in 2013. It was the only time during the stretch Forks had managed to break double digits on the scoreboard. Monte has shut out Forks seven times during that stretch.

RA Long at Elma

When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday at Davis Field, Elma

Players to Watch: Elma — Cody Vollan QB; Tyson Richardsen WR; Brady Shriver RB. RA Long — Julian Machic-Sheldon QB; Jacob Johnson-Valencia RB; Gage ‘Moose’ Kotera WR

After starting out the season with impressive victories in the first two weeks of the season, the Elma Eagles are licking their wounds after suffering back to back losses.

Missed opportunities led to the Eagles’ stunning loss to Aberdeen two weeks back followed by too many turnovers in a 52-14 drubbing at the hands of Castle Rock last week.

Luckily for the Eagles, they’ll have one more chance to right the ship before league play starts when the Eagles host RA Long on Friday.

After a 43-16 win over Fort Vancouver to open the season — a game in which the Lumberjacks racked up 342 yards of offense — RA Long has suffered three consecutive blowouts, most recently a 55-7 loss against Woodland last Friday.

Elma beat RA Long last season by a score of 33-15.

Hoquiam at Tenino

When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday at Beaver Stadium, Tenino

Players to Watch: Hoquiam — Cameron Bumstead WR/DB; Dane McMillan QB; Matt Brown RB/LB. Tenino — Aiden Wright, QB; Shawn Nicholson RB; Paxton Russell WR

Hoquiam wide receiver Cameron Bumstead was prolific in last Friday’s blowout victory over Columbia-White Salmon, so much so that the senior has shot to the top of the state statistical leader boards.

Bumstead, who caught 14 passes for a massive 278 yards and five touchdowns in the Grizzlies’ 56-10 win, leads the state in receiving yards (657) and receiving touchdowns (10) through the first four games of the season. The 5-foot-10 wideout is also second in the state in receptions (35) and is third in receiving yards per game (164.3), according to maxpreps.com.

While there is no requirement for schools to report stats to the prep sports website, and several don’t, Bumstead’s performance thus far has been no less impressive.

Bumstead, the favorite target of sophomore quarterback Dane McMillan, and the rest of the Grizzlies open the league season against against a 3-1 Tenino Beavers team whose solid nonleague record is perhaps a smokescreen.

After a 14-point loss to 2A Rochester to open the season, the Beavers have won three straight against lesser opponents — beating up on Chimacum (1-3 overall) before smashing 2B foes Life Christian Academy and Northwest Christian.

Tenino runs a balanced offense led by senior quarterback Aiden Wright (46-94-5, 731 yards, 8 TD, 81.5 QBR) and sophomore running back Shawn Nicholson (66-508, TD).

Centralia at Aberdeen

When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday at Stewart Field, Aberdeen

Players to Watch: Aberdeen — Ethan Morrill RB; Connar Sherman RB; Cody Bemis QB; Elijah Brown QB/RB. Centralia — Chase Sobolesky-Reynolds RB; Cameron Erickson QB.

Aberdeen decided to forego its scheduled matchup against the No. 10 team in the 3A section, Kelso, and took a forfeit last week, citing competitive imbalance as one of the issues that led to the forfeiture.

The forfeit loss may be a blessing in disguise as the Bobcats, which upset Elma the last time they were on the football field, open its 2A Evergreen League season when they host the 3-1 Centralia Tigers on Friday.

In Centralia, Aberdeen will face a run-heavy team that rushed for 354 yards in last week’s 44-21 victory over G.W. Graham.

The Tigers are apt to give up points, as Centralia has allowed 34 points-per-game this season, an average which includes a 62-50 loss to Evergreen in Week 2.

Aberdeen has won the last two meetings against the Tigers, including a 21-14 win last season for the Bobcats’ only victory of the 2018 campaign.

Other Games

(All games 7 p.m. Friday unless noted)

Pe Ell-Willapa Valley at Chief Leschi

Northwest Christian at Ocosta

Raymond at Kings

Ilwaco at North Beach

Clallam Bay at Lake Quinault (1 p.m. Saturday)

Crescent at Taholah (1 p.m. Saturday)

Hoquiam receiver Cameron Bumstead is among the state leaders in several categories after collecting 14 passes for nearly 300 yards and five touchdowns in last week’s victory over Columbia-White Salmon. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)

Aberdeen’s Elijah Brown (9) passes the ball downfield during a game against Hoquiam this season. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)