Smith powers Squalicum to big Wesco win at Stanwood
The sky over Stanwood cleared by the 7 p.m. game time at Bob Larson Stadium Friday night, but the Squalicum Storm made its presence known in a 47-14 3A Wesco-North victory over the Spartans.
It took less than two minutes for Squalicum to score its first touchdown, as junior running back Triston Smith powered the first drive and topped it off with a 61-yard touchdown run.
It would prove to be the first of three touchdown runs in the first quarter for Smith.
“It was just wide open; thanks to the line again. ... We may be a little undersized, but we work our tails off,” Smith said.
Behind Smith and quarterback Garrett Sorenson’s 162 total yards, Squalicum built an early lead that its defense refused to let slip.
“We knew that they’d want to get the ball to the perimeter and try to throw it a bit, so we made that emphasis during the week,” Squalicum coach Nick Lucey said.
Star of the Game
Smith fueled Squalicum’s relentless ground game. He broke multiple tackles on each of his three touchdown runs and seemed to be able to locate every hole in the defense, navigating seamlessly laterally, then powering forward. He finished with 189 yards on just 10 carries. He also added 19 receiving yards.
Play of the Night
After Stanwood scored its first touchdown of the night in the fourth quarter, senior Ben Peterson responded with a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, when he sprinted to the right side of the field to catch the kick, then motored his way through the middle of the Spartans’ kick coverage.
The game was over when
The game was over at halftime. By that time, Squalicum had built a commanding 34-0 lead and showed no signs of letting up on either side of the ball. Stanwood didn’t have an answer for the duo of Smith and Sorenson.
What it means
No. 3 Squalicum remained unbeaten this season and moved to the top of the 3A Wesco-North standings as the only team with a 2-0 league record.
Squalicum | 20 | 14 | 6 | 7 | — | 47 |
Stanwood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | — | 14 |
First quarter
Squ— Triston Smith 61 run (Ben Peterson kick)
Squ — Triston Smith 42 run (Failed 2 pt conversion)
Squ --- Triston Smith 5 run (Ben Peterson kick)
Second quarter
Squ— Ben Peterson 1 run (Ben Peterson kick)
Squ — Interception return 30 (Ben Peterson kick)
Third quarter
Squ— Sorenson 1 pass to Westerhoff (Extra point blocked)
Fourth quarter
Stan — Tyler Rich 8 run (Noah Westerhoff kick)
Squ— Ben Peterson 94 return
Stan— Holm pass 15 to Velasquez (Noah Westerhoff kick)
Squ | Stan | |
First downs | 15 | 14 |
Rushing Att-yards | 21-237 | 18-66 |
Comp-Att-Int | 11-18-1 | 15-28-1 |
Passing yards | 133 | 207 |
Penalties-yards | 14-99 | 7-78 |
Fumbles-lost | 3-0 | 3-0 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Squalicum: Ben Peterson 12-189, Kenji Maeda 1-23, Garrett Sorenson 4-19, Brian Pullman 1-3, Zach Tucker 1-2, Ben Peterson 1-1, Spencer Lloyd 1-1. Stanwood: Tyler Rich 9-36, Drew Shuckerow 5-30, Trygve DeBoer 4-0
PASSING — Squalicum: Garrett Sorenson 12-19-144-1. Stanwood: Karl DeBoer 11-23-129-1, Paul Holm 4-5-84-0
RECEIVING — Squalicum: Damek Mitchell 3-65, Noah Westerhoff 5-37, Jake Burns 1-24, Triston Smith 3-18. Stanwood: Trygve DeBoer 5-60, Gavin Schwietzer 5-58, Jalen Velasquez 2-49, Tyler Rich 1-19, David Walker 1-15, Liam Shelley 1-12.
This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Smith powers Squalicum to big Wesco win at Stanwood."