Owen Paulsen throws 4 TDs to help lead King’s Way Christian in home opener

Sometimes the receivers do make the quarterback look good.

And sometimes, the QB can make the receivers look good as well.

The combination of those two elements helped King’s Way Christian to a resounding 49-13 non-league victory over Hoquiam on Friday at a packed Knights Stadium for the home opener.

Sophomore quarterback Owen Paulsen completed 17 of 30 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns to help the Knights improve to 2-0.

Last year the Knights only won two games.

“We’ve just got to keep pushing harder,” Paulsen said. “Going forward, I’m going to expect more from myself.”

Two of his TD passes came on catches where his receivers caught the ball falling down with their back to the end zone.

Asher Wyckoff caught two of Paulsen’s TD passes. He capped a 71-yard drive with a 12-yard TD reception just before halftime to give the Knights a 14-7 lead they would not give back.

The second TD came on a 67-yard pass play as Paulsen rolled out of the pocket and found Wyckoff, who had three receptions for 102 yards, open ahead of the defense.

Cade Horrocks caught a 33-yard TD pass on the first drive of the second half, and Ryan Charlton had a 9-yard TD reception on the second play of the fourth quarter to bring the lead up to 35-13.

“The execution was great, and everyone ran great routes,” Paulsen said. “The receivers made me look good.”

Charlton also had a 3-yard TD run in the first quarter and finished with 82 yards on 19 carries.

The Knights’ leading receiver may not have got in the end zone, but was a workhorse nonetheless as Rylan Richter caught eight passes for 149 yards. Richter caught three consecutive passes to set up Charlton’s fourth-quarter score.

Defense was big for the Knights as well, holding Hoquiam to 107 yards. It also included three quarterback sacks, two by senior Grayson Bagley for minus 27 yards.

“We all did our part, and the linebackers had a great game,” Bagley said.

A 16-yard run by Radley Matson-Blighton and a 23-yard run by Kian Krueger capped King’s Way’s scoring in the fourth quarter.

The Knights dive into 1A Trico League play the rest of the way, starting with a trip to Kalama next Friday.

“I think we’ve already surprised some teams by going 2-0,” King’s Way coach Dale Rule said, crediting his players’ work ethic leading into the season.

KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 49, HOQUIAM 13

Hoquiam           0             7             6             0—13

King’s Way        7             7             14           21—49

First quarter

KW — Ryan Charlton 3 run (Rylan Richter kick)

Second quarter

H — Kingston Case 3 run (Ethan Byron kick)

KW — Asher Wyckoff 12 pass from Owen Paulsen (Richter kick)

Third quarter

KW — Cade Horrocks 33 pass from Paulsen (Richter kick)

KW — Wyckoff 67 pass from Paulsen (Richter kick)

H — Byron 25 pass from Joey Bozich (kick failed)

Fourth quarter

KW — Charlton 9 pass from Paulsen (Richter kick)

KW — Radley Matson-Blighton 16 run (Richter kick)

KW — Kian Krueger 23 run (Colin Hermes kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Hoquiam: Case 18-65, Winston Kaikaka 10-58, Bozich 5-(minus 36), Byron 1-(minus 6). King’s Way: Charlton 19-82, Krueger 2-40, Matson-Blighton 1-16, Paulsen 1-1.

PASSING — Hoquiam: Bozich 6-15-0-84; King’s Way: Paulsen 17-30-1-307.

RECEIVING — Hoquiam: Case 2-50, Tage Dayton 2-9, Byron 1-25, Kaikaka 1-0. King’s Way: Richter 8-149, Wyckoff 3-102, Cade Horrocks 3-37, Charlton 2-9, Sam Somarakis 1-10.