Sequoia flies to Washington, comes home with win

In previous seasons, Sequoia has traveled to San Marcos in 2010; Klamath Falls, Oregon in 2011; Cedar City, Utah in 2013; Valley Center in 2014; Rainer, Oregon in 2016; and Newport Harbor in 2018. Sequoia has also hosted teams from Lewiston, Idaho in 2012; Vancouver, British Columbia in 2015; and Orange in 2017.

“Most of our kids aren’t going to play college ball, so let’s give them one weekend where they know what it feels like to be a college athlete,” Poulos said. “And the other thing is, we want this to be a builder for the other school.”

Sequoia has traditionally tried to set up two-year contracts with its opponents — with hopes of traveling to a school, then hosting that same school the following year — but has never been able to do so because of the difficulty in coordinating the same date on which to play.

“Every time we book this game, we always invite them to come to us the following year,” Poulos said. “But we understand the logistics, and if it doesn’t work it doesn’t work. And every year, it doesn’t work.”

That almost changed this year as Newport Harbor had originally agreed to travel to Redwood City this season. But when the Central Coast Section moved its 2019 football start date, it meant Newport Harbor and Sequoia’s scheduled date of Aug. 30 didn’t line up. Newport Beach instead traveled to Aptos that week.

This left Poulos scrambling to find a travel game when he was trying to finish his 2019 non-league schedule last November. Monitoring various open game websites out of the realm of Northern California — Southern California, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Washington state, among others — he was able to find a match with North Central.

“We only have one or two weeks available and they have to be open to us just playing varsity and there has to be a matchup,” Poulos said. “So, there has to be all these little details in place in order for it to work.”

Total expense ranges between $10,000-$15,000, which the team raises via fundraisers and contributions from the players’ families. Out-of-state trips tend to range on the more expensive side because the team takes a commercial flight. This year, 35 players along with the team’s coaches flew to Spokane International Airport, then flew back Sunday afternoon.

“Usually I like the charter bus because that means we’re covered on everything,” Poulos said. “Not just the trip, but we always tour at least two colleges.”

The Ravens visited Gonzaga University and Eastern Washington prior to Saturday’s game. They then got the opportunity to play on the striking red turf with black end zones at Roos Field, where North Central agreed to move the game from its traditional home field its campus in Spokane.

“Not only were we playing on a college field, but it was a very distinctive field,” Poulos said.

Sequoia scored all its points in the first half. Junior quarterback Kyle Parker got the Ravens on the board with a QB keeper for a score. Senior running back Simon Talauati then rushed for a touchdown to make the lead 13-0 at the end of the first quarter. Sophomore receiver Jamison Howard added a touchdown catch in the second quarter and Steven Stone later took a kickoff return from inside the Sequoia 20 for a score.

“That was one of the nicest things about the game was seeing all these different guys making plays,” Poulos said.

With the Ravens departing from Spokane on Sunday afternoon, every member of the team is slated to be back in school for Monday morning classes — but go easy on them, teachers, as some may be contending with their first case of jetlag.

“Some of the kids, this was their first flight ever,” Poulos said. “This is part of the fun of this trip is we know for some kids this is their first flight ever, or the first time they’ve been out of state — that kind of thing.”