GOOD LUCK FINDING a tougher bunch of football players on the North Olympic Peninsula than the Clallam Bay Bruins.
They had little business beating Neah Bay in the opening round of the 8-man football state playoffs.
And they didn’t. The Bruins’ season ended with a 68-0 loss to the Red Devils on Friday at North Kitsap High School.
They were heavily outmanned, suiting up 11 players while Neah Bay’s roster lists three times that many.
They were making their first state appearance since 2007. Neah Bay is there for the eighth straight season and has won three of the past four 1B state championships.
And Clallam Bay hasn’t defeated the Red Devils since 2007.
But the Bruins were conceding nothing. They were going to try to win Friday night’s game. Just like Neah Bay’s trip to Poulsbo passed through Clallam Bay, so would its road to a fifth straight 1B state title game.
The plan to win was to try to keep the game close by controlling the clock and limiting Neah Bay’s chances.
The Bruins formed a fortress of seven blockers, and then either quarterback Alan Greene or running back Clayton Willis would take the snap and run straight up the middle. Three yards at a time was enough.
It worked at first.
Clallam Bay opened the game with a 6-minute, 30-second drive that moved the ball to the Red Devils’ 27-yard line.
But fumbles and penalties stalled the drive there, and the Bruins turned the ball over on downs.
Two plays later, Neah Bay receiver Cameron Buzzell took a counter and ran 71 yards for a touchdown.
“The first quarter, we came out and moved the ball right down the field,” Clallam Bay coach Cal Ritter said.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times, fumbled some snaps, couple of penalties, but the first quarter we came out and we did what we wanted to do. We were just going to hit the middle, hit the middle, hit the middle.
“And we did that successfully until they stopped us, and they got the quick score. All their scores were quick scores. They are fast and they are deep. We’ve got no depth, as you can see.”
Until the fourth quarter, Neah Bay didn’t have a drive last longer than three plays.
By halftime, the Red Devils led 46-0.
“So after that, halftime, we just played for pride,” Ritter said.
“I told them, you know, as much as I hate to say it, we’re not going to win this, so we might as well just go out there and play for pride. Keep your heads up and have some fun.
“I told the seniors, ‘You guys are going to remember these last two quarters for the rest of your life, so go out there and play,’ and they finished the game pretty well.
“It looked like they were smiling, so with this big of a butt-kicking, if you can smile and say you’ve had fun a little bit then, hey, it’s a win.”
The Bruins finish the season with a 4-6 record and finished fourth in the Northwest Football League — which Ritter said is the “toughest league in the state” — to earn a postseason berth.
They reached state by travelling all the way to Lyle last week and, with only nine players, beating Lyle-Wishram.
And just making it to back to state is a big deal.
“It’s too bad we did draw Neah Bay, you know, our rivals in the first round of the playoffs. But for the kids, it’s huge,” Ritter said.
“It’s the first time in [eight] years, so that itself is something to be proud of.
“I’ve probably had 20 or 30 guys come up to me — I always get guys coming up to me, the chain crews, the guys from the other teams — and say how tough those kids are, how physically tough Clallam Bay’s kids are, and I’m proud of that, and they should be, too.
“Like I’ve always said, if we had a little bench, if we had a couple of subs, boy, we’d be a lot better, we’d get these guys some breaks.”
But the Bruins don’t have a “couple of subs,” and haven’t had much of a bench for the past few years. Yet they keep coming back and have remained competitive.
It’s kind of a Clallam Bay thing. In January 2014, the boys basketball team beat Quilcene with only five players.
“Well, we’re used to being outnumbered, so they’ve got to play tough,” Ritter said.
“In August, we work them really hard. And we preach that from the first game on, I say, ‘Hey, you guys, turn around and look at the sidelines,’ and there’s nobody standing there, so I tell them, ‘Hey, that’s what you got.’
“And they realize that. Those eight out there know that they’ve got to toughen up, they’ve got to play hard because there’s nobody to come in for them.”
The Bruins lose four seniors to graduation — Alan Greene, Martin Cummings, Kyle Keys and Jordan Simpson — and Clallam Bay, with the smallest enrollment of any school on the Peninsula, currently doesn’t have many sixth- and seventh-grade boys to boost the team’s numbers.
There’s talent returning, highlighted by Willis, only a freshman, who scored 27 touchdowns this season. But will there be enough bodies?
Ritter is optimistic. There’s a few kids who had injuries this season, a few more who didn’t play and even a new kid who moved into the school within the past few weeks.
“I think we’ll be all right,” Ritter said.
“I’m really hoping, because I’d hate to see — you know, once a program goes away, it’s hard to bring it back.
“But I think, right now, we can put it right back at 10 or 11 [players] again for next year, hopefully, so we’ll do what we can.
“I’d hate to not have a team.”
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
