HS Football: Seton Catholic Continues to Roll in Kalama

10/11/24

Seton Catholic 49, Kalama 12

(Kalama, WA) As we move into the back half of the high school football season, there remains fewer and fewer undefeated teams across the state. In week 6, one unbeaten was guaranteed to fall as the Seton Catholic Cougars took on new Trico 1A foe in the Kalama Chinooks. Both teams entered the anticipated showdown with identical records, 5-0 overall and 3-0 in league play. But someone’s 0 would have to go when the two top 10 ranked teams did battle.

Kalama received the opening kick-off and threw some wrinkles into their offense to try to confuse a very strong Seton Catholic defense. Some very late shifts and even double shifts did seem to throw the Cougar defense for a loop as the Chinooks moved the ball right down the field on their opening drive. The duo of Aiden Brown and Drew Schlangen kept the chains moving with a nice ground attack as Kalama’s offensive line did pretty well at the line of scrimmage. Brown would get the edge and make his way into the endzone on a four-yard touchdown run to give Kalama the first points and a 6-0 lead. Unfortunately, that would be the last play of the game for Kalama’s standout QB as he exited the game after an injury on the score which put some added pressure on Kalama’s defense.

Entering Friday night’s showdown, the season low in points scored in a game for Seton Catholic was 41. That high powered offense looked unstoppable one again on Friday night. Led by running back Jacob Williams, the Cougars marched right down the field with no negative plays to even slow down the offense. Kolten Gesser would then get a chance to air it out and the pass play caught the Nooks sleeping. Gesser found a wide open Ryker Ruelas for a walk-in 38-yard touchdown. The immediate response gave the Cougars their first lead of the game at 7-6.

Moving down the quarterback depth chart, Henry Sigfridson would take over at QB for Kalama on their next drive. There would be growing pains however as the Chinooks turned the ball over on downs at midfield giving Seton Catholic great field position. They once again made their way to the 38-yard line which seemed to be the lucky spot on the field for the Cougars. This time it would be Jacob Williams getting the hand-off on the near side and taking it all the way. A second 38-yard touchdown for the Cougars opened their lead up to 14-6.

After working out the kinks, Kalama had to turn to their third string QB in Benji Brightbill. Using his legs, Brightbill made enough plays to open things up for Schlangen on an important drive. Moving the ball down into Cougar territory, the Chinooks faced a third down and that’s when Kalama called Schlangen’s number. The offensive line opened up a huge lane for the tailback and he made his way into the endzone untouched for a seven-yard score. The two-point attempt was no good, but Kalama cut their deficit down to 14-12.

The biggest problem was that Kalama’s defense just couldn’t slow down the Cougar offense. Seton Catholic again marched right down the field and found the endzone on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Gesser to Teddy Wieczorek to make it 21-12. After another stop, Seton Catholic scored again on a short touchdown run by Jacob Williams to make it 28-12.

On the next Kalama possession, they were moving the ball very well until an interception changed everything. Lance Lee took a pick all the way back for a touchdown, making it 35-12. Another Chinook turnover gifted Seton Catholic one last opportunity before halftime to get points on the board. Just like they did on every possession in the half, the Cougars found the endzone. This time, it was Gesser to Ruelas again for a six-yard score to blow things open before halftime with Seton Catholic leading Kalama 42-12.

After scoring 28 unanswered points before halftime, Seton Catholic got the ball to begin the second half as well. Kalama desperately needed a stop and actually tried to surprise Kalama with an onside kick. The Cougars recovered to get some great field position and took no time at all to turn that into points. A touchdown pass from Gesser to Joe Callerame would make it 35 unanswered as the Cougars extended the lead to 49-12.

Defense was the story from there. Seton Catholic continued to smother Kalama’s offense as both teams pretty much kept the ball on the ground for the remainder of the game. Kalama would get a stop and force a punt to prevent Seton Catholic from scoring on all of their offensive possessions, but the Cougar defense would not allow the Chinooks back into the game. Seton Catholic scored the final 35 points of the game to take down Kalama 49-12 in the battle of unbeatens.

Our Elisportsnetwork.com MVP of the game went to Jacob Williams for Seton Catholic. The standout running back was nearly impossible bring down or slow down. Williams ran the ball 12 times for 154 yards and two touchdowns. On top of that, the senior was a standout defensively with a number of tackles while slowing down the Kalama run game. The senior leader stepped up on a big stage for his team en route to the big statement win.

Meanwhile through the air for Seton Catholic, Kolten Gesser went 9-13 through the air for 126 yards and four touchdowns. He spread the ball around but Joe Callerame would be his number one receiver with five catches for 43 yards and a score. Ryker Ruelas caught two passes for 45 yards and two scores while Teddy Wieczorek had a 16-yard touchdown reception as well. On defense, Lance Lee recorded a pick six and Nathan Beaver had a fumble recovery as well. Dalton Woods would go 7-7 on PAT attempts in a very impressive performance for the kicker.

For Kalama, Drew Schlangen was the guy offensively, carrying the ball 21 times for 128 yards and a touchdown while catching three passes for 14 yards. Aiden Brown would run the ball six times for 44 yards and a touchdown and caught a six-yard pass in his only drive of the game. Talan Thomas ran the ball three times for 16 yards and Benji Brightbill added a couple of carries for 20 yards.

Seton Catholic remains perfect on the season with a 6-0 record and 4-0 in Trico play. The Cougars return home next Friday looking to keep that zero in the loss column when they host King’s Way Christian. Kalama suffers their first defeat, dropping to 5-1 and 3-1 in league play. The Chinooks will try to bounce back on the road on Friday when they visit Columbia (White Salmon) at 7pm.

Link to watch full broadcast on the NFHS Network (Subscription required)