Extra Point

By Justin Damasiewicz

Another “Maroon Friday” has come and gone, and along with it another explosive win for Montesano High School’s football team.

After annihilating Rochester, 63-7, last week, the Bulldogs now sit at 4-0 and are about to kick off Evergreen 1A League play with a home contest against Forks.

So, how much have we really learned about this team after four wins against a seemingly soft schedule and how much more will we be able to learn from this week’s matchup against Forks?

Montesano has made its non-league opponents look weak up to this point, but if you look at the strength of schedule by wins and losses it’s really not that bad. The combined record of the Bulldogs’ first four opponents – Aberdeen, Sequim, Castle Rock and Rochester – is 6-10. Take out the four losses to Montesano and that’s an even record when facing other teams.

Aberdeen has reeled off back-to-back wins after starting the season with losses to Montesano and Hoquiam. Sequim’s only loss so far this season was at the hands of the Bulldogs.

Has the schedule been kind of weak through week 4?

Yes, but perhaps not as weak as we originally thought.

Of further note is the fact that the Bulldogs have won by an average of 41 points and by no less than 32 points, which seems to indicate there could be some wiggle room when they face tougher competition.

So, what have we learned about this team so far?

They play hard and fast, they are versatile on offense and have multiple explosive weapons, and their defense is capable of holding their ground and creating turnovers.

What remains to be seen?

How will they handle adversity? They haven’t faced much to this point.

How will they replace a key player if one goes down with an injury? Depth may be an issue.

Will they be able to keep up the same speed and intensity week in and week out? That can be tough to maintain through breezy wins.

This Friday’s matchup against Forks is the league opener and may or may not provide a more challenging task for the Bulldogs. The Spartans are 2-2, including a 48-7 win over Chimacum. However, a 26-20 loss to Class 1B Neah Bay last week does not seem to indicate a winning football team.

My thought is that this week’s game — and likely next week’s contest against R.A. Long — will probably be another decisive victory that will help build up the anticipation for a week-7 matchup against Hoquiam at Olympic Stadium.

The Montesano-Hoquiam game may have lost a little bit of juice now that the Grizzlies have lost a couple of games, but ultimately, those non-league losses to W.F. West and La Center – two very good teams – won’t mean anything in the long run.

Hoquiam has the pieces to be successful. They just have to figure out how to put the puzzle together over the next couple of weeks against Tenino and Elma.

I still will be looking at the Montesano-Hoquiam game as the league championship game until one of the league’s other teams proves me wrong.

To summarize my thoughts on this page, I am encouraged by the performance we have seen from the Bulldogs thus far and excited to see how they will finish out this season. All signs point to a successful football season.

And in closing, I would like to ask all you Montesano fans out there to please observe “Maroon Friday.” You can wear your Seahawks gear on Sunday. Fridays are for the Dogs.