Blazers' explosive offense outscores Olympic on road

By George Edgar | For The Olympian • Published October 04, 2008

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SILVERDALE – The Olympic Trojans stared down the barrel of a loaded pistol. The Timberline Blazers pulled the trigger. Again and again and again.

When the smoke had cleared, the Blazers from Lacey had a 34-20 victory over the Trojans at a rain swept Silverdale Stadium, thanks to their 'Pistol' offense.

A variation of the spread offense, Timberline went up and down the field on the Olympic defense. Their first drive of the game went 98 yards and ended in a touchdown.

Save for a couple of fumbles, the Pistol offense shot holes in Olympic's defense to keep them at 0-5 on the year, 0-3 in the Olympic/Western Cascade League. The Blazers improved to 4-1, and 3-0 for a share of the league lead.

The loss negated a tremendous performance by Olympic junior running back Larry Dixon, who rushed through Timberline's defense for 225 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. He had a 57-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that tied the game at 7-7.

"Coach (Eric Allen) said we need to keep our heads up," said Nollan Quinn, who played defensive back and running back for the Trojans. "We may be low on numbers, but we have to keep playing. That's all we can do."

Timberline running back Jordan Radcliffe rushed for 126 yards and two scores on 17 carries, and quarterback Delas Raiford completed 7 of 17 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown; he added another on a keeper in the second quarter.

"We practiced for it all week," Olympic defensive coordinator Tim Allbee said. "We were ready for it. We just didn't execute. They've run it all year, so it was no surprise."

Timberline had a 27-7 lead after three quarters. It took advantage of an onside kick to start the second half. Backup quarterback Kevin Russell scored on a 4-yard run for a 21-7 lead, then Radcliffe added a 7-yarder to cap the Blazers' next drive.

"We thought the rain would work to our advantage, but it didn't," Quinn added, "They just took it to us. We didn't play the game as well as we should have."

But Olympic made things interesting in the fourth quarter.

Dixon scored on the first play of the quarter on a 27-yard run to cut the Blazer lead to 27-13. Timberline came right back and scored on a 27-yard run by Radcliff to make it 34-13. On the ensuing kickoff, Olympic's Garrett Brown fielded a bouncing ball at the 25, broke through the Timberline coverage and outraced everyone to the end zone for a 75-yard kickoff return.

Olympic then attempted their own onside kick and recovered the ball at the Blazers' 35, but the Trojans gave up on downs.

Timberline fumbled the ball back to Olympic three plays later, only to get it back when Olympic fumbled inside the Blazers' 9-yard line.

Olympic lost three fumbles and an interception. They also lost another quarterback, when starter Danny Sedgebeer, playing in place of Zach Bird, left late in the fourth quarter after being sacked. Sophomore Richie Fesuluai was under center for the final drive.

"We're not doing the basics," Quinn said. "We got to get back to basics. We got to work on things, like turnovers. They were the big difference in the game obviously."