OAK HARBOR – During a torrential downpour in the first half, scoring didn’t come easy, and turnovers were often. However, after a scoreless first half, the rain let up, and the Mariner offense flourished as Sehome defeated Oak Harbor 20-7 on Friday night.
Mariner quarterback Jacob Kaepernick was in control for most of the game, as he completed 24-of-36 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns.
The first score of the game came on a 4th-and-8 play when the senior lefty was flushed out of the pocket, eluded a defender, he then directed Tim Malo to break off his route, and the two connected on a 16-yard touchdown pass. Malo showed great hands all evening as he tied a team-record by catching 12 passes in the game, totaling 153 yards. Former Mariner receiver Trevor Walker caught 12 passes in a game against Cascade (Everett) in 1997.
Malo’s 153 receiving yards also put him over 1,000 receiving yards for his career.
The Wildcats countered back with their first touchdown of the game on an extremely quick 47-yard touchdown run off right tackle.
Kaepernick led Sehome down the field on the following drive, and when a run by senior Colin Dorsch got the Mariners to the 1-yard line, Kaepernick wisely hurried his team to the line of scrimmage and took the direct snap himself and shot himself into the end zone to give his team a 14-7 lead. Dorsch led the Mariners on the ground with 59 yards on 16 carries.
A short Wildcat punt in the fourth quarter gave Sehome tremendous field position, and Kaepernick took advantage on first down by hitting junior receiver Luke Evans in stride for a 39-yard touchdown pass, which concluded the scoring.
Oak Harbor had a strong drive late in the game, but Mariner sophomore Carson Neff came away with an interception late in the contest that would ultimately seal the victory for Sehome.
Defensively, the Mariners had strong contributions from junior defensive lineman Gavin Ortega, sophomore outside linebacker Tommy Funk as well as Malo as safety. Ortega had seven tackles, two sacks, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Funk led Sehome with 10.5 tackles to go along with a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery, and Malo had eight stops and a fumble recovery.
The Mariners (2-0) will host Ferndale (2-0) on Saturday at 6:00.
Sehome 20
Oak Harbor 7
SEH 0 0 14 6 – 20
OH 0 0 7 0 – 7
SE – T. Malo 16 pass from Kaepernick (Andrews kick)
OH – 47 yard touchdown run (kick good)
SE – Kaepernick 1 run (Andrews kick)
SE – L. Evans 39 pass from Kaepernick (kick blocked)
SEH OH
22-58 Rushing Att-Yards 35-134
24-37-0 Comp-Att-Int 13-24-1
321 Passing yards 60
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – SE: Dorsch 16-59, Kaepernick 6-(-1). OH: N/A.
PASSING – MB: Kaepernick 24-36-0-321, Neff 0-1-0-0. OH: N/A.
RECEIVING – MB: T. Malo 12-153, M. Malo 4-65, L. Evans 4-49, Hayward 2-41, Dorsch 2-13. OH: N/A.
