Shelton football earns first win against Centralia

Matt Baide | Sep 23, 20210

The Shelton High School football team earned its first win of the season in a 33-6 win against Centralia in the Evergreen Conference opener at Jack Stark Field in Shelton.

Shelton quarterback Mason Goos was 11-for-14 passing for 184 yards and three touchdowns. Dominic Dixson had four catches for 95 yards and a touchdown and Dante Trikoff led the team with seven catches for 70 yards and a touchdown. Gabriel Menefee had one catch for 26 yards and a touchdown.

Jayden Fuller led the Highclimbers on the ground with 15 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown. Bradley Eleton had three carries for 18 yards and a touchdown.

“We were in control of the game from start to finish,” Shelton head coach Mark Smith said. “Our special teams played much improved over previous two weeks. We found some semblance of a run game that helped take some pressure off our quarterback.”

On defense, Lukas Szalonek had a team-high five tackles. Blaze Andrews and Eleton each had four tackles and Andrews had two tackles for loss. John Michael Fauula-Escobedo also recorded two tackles for loss and Anthony Senchelli had a sack and a tackle for loss.

Smith noted his defense has only given up two touchdowns in the past eight quarters, both of which were on fourth down.

The Highclimbers led 6-0 after one quarter and pulled away from the Tigers with 20 points in the second quarter for a 26-0 lead at halftime.

Centralia scored on a fourth and 8 in the third quarter for its only touchdown of the game.

“Defensively, we’re playing well enough to win,” Smith said.

“Obviously, we need to get better in situations on fourth down. It was a good start to the league. We’ve got to continue to get better.”

Shelton (1-2, 1-0) hits the road for the first time this season to take on Rochester in another conference game. Rochester senior Talon Betts will be the player to stop.

“It’s going to come down to who’s going to execute their game plan the best,” Smith said. “The Betts kid, he’s an electric athlete. He has the ability to go the distance every time he

touches the ball.”

In its first game away from Highclimber Stadium, Smith said he hopes Shelton can head south and take care of business.

“It’s a business trip,” Smith said. “We’ve got to take care of our business. If you’re going to be a decent football team, you’ve got to win on the road in enemy territory. It’s going to be a good test for us to see how we travel.”