Extra Point
By Justin Damasiewicz
It’s over and I didn’t jinx it.
As expected, Montesano cruised through the District IV crossover round of the playoffs with a 48-10 home win over White Salmon.
In last week’s column, I looked past the game as if it were in the bag, as if begging for a fluky upset loss.
Fortunately, the Bulldogs overcame the bad juju I created and rolled to a convincing win.
I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.
The contest was reminiscent of pretty much every other dominant victory Montesano has logged this season.
Carson Klinger put on a show as the centerpiece of the offense, Trevor Ridgway was on-point with his limited passing opportunities, Dakoyta Reninger reminded us of his propensity for making big plays, and Taylor Rupe made high schoolers look like sixth graders in a dominant performance in the trenches.
As always, the Bulldog defense appeared to be well prepared and swarmed to the ball consistently and tenaciously.
But I’ve been telling you all about Monte’s key players for the last couple of months…wait…you’ve all been reading my column every week, right?
Of course you have.
So, I spent my Sunday evening digging up all the info I could on the Bulldogs’ next opponent and now I’m going to hit you with some knowledge.
Montesano now will face its toughest test of the season so far. The fourth-ranked Bulldogs will make the long trip – which, per Google, will take more than four hours – to face the third-ranked Connell Eagles.
At a glance, Connell’s season looks pretty similar to Monte’s, with the glaring exception of the Eagles’ 28-21 loss to the state’s top-ranked Class 1A team, Royal.
Connell finished 6-1 in the South Central Athletic Conference (SCAC) East, 9-1 overall, including a 56-0 win over the SCAC West’s fourth-place team, Granger, in a crossover playoff game last week.
In their wins, the Eagles were victorious by an average score of 53-9.
The Bulldogs are 10-0 and have won by an average tally of 50-12.
Connell has cruised past almost every opponent it faced, just like Montesano has.
The Eagles offense is explosive and versatile and primarily is led by a trio of seniors, all of whom were all-league selections last season: quarterback Brian Hawkins, running back Jaxs Whitby and tight end Steven Kroontje.
Connell’s offense runs through Hawkins.
Hawkins can throw from inside the pocket as well as on the run and is a threat on the ground as well. The Eagles like to roll Hawkins out of the pocket to pass, and will use him on designed quarterback runs.
Although complete season statistics were not available, I found multiple occasions in which Hawkins accounted for five or six touchdowns in a single game – five passing TDs against Kiona-Benton; two passing, four rushing against Columbia-Burbank; and five passing, one rushing against River View.
Hawkins plays cornerback on defense.
Hawkins’ primary target is Kroontje. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound receiver has great hands and provides a big target for his quarterback. He has hauled in four touchdown passes in a game twice this season, against Kiona-Benton and Wahluke.
Kroontje also plays defensive end and was selected to the all-league first team on offense and defense last year as a junior.
Whitby is a fast and shifty back with big-play ability. He finished the regular season strong with 105 rushing yards and two touchdowns against Wahluke on Oct. 28 and followed that performance by running for 173 yards and three scores last week against Granger.
Whitby also plays linebacker and can deliver some punishing blows.
Another Connell player to keep an eye on is senior wideout Caleb Price, who seems to be Hawkins’ second option.
I could speculate about which player is the most important for Montesano to contain, but I’ll leave that to the professionals, MHS head coach Terry Jensen and defensive coordinator Brian Hollatz. Those guys seem to come through with a solid game plan every game.
Godspeed to the Bulldog faithful who are joining me in making the trek to Connell on Friday. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
Go Dogs.
