SEQUIM — The Sequim Wolves were forced to play a Friday scheduled game against Olympic on Saturday afternoon because of power outages from a powerful autumn storm that wreaked havoc all over the Olympic Peninsula.
Once the game got going, the Wolves struggled with mistakes and turnovers as the Trojans won 28-7. Olympic had already traveled to Sequim Friday night but it didn’t affect the Trojans’ play as they controlled much of the game.
“We shot ourselves in the foot all day long,” said coach Ian Henley in an interview after the game. “All their touchdowns were on busted coverages.”
The Wolves were first hurt by a fumble deep in the red zone, then had a bad snap on a punt. Sequim was able to recover the ball, but lost a ton of yardage on the play.
Sequim’s Dylan Bowen got an interception early in the second quarter but Sequim couldn’t capitalize and turned the ball over on downs.
The Trojans scored on an 80-yard run at 5:02 in the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead. Sequim was able to drive the ball deep into Olympic territory again at the end of the first half, but the Trojans got an interception with 30 seconds left in the half to end the threat.
In the second half, Olympic controlled the ball much of the half. The Trojans’ Jonny Mack caught a touchdown pass to go up 14-0 with 3:25 left in the third. Less than a minute later, the Trojans recovered a Sequim fumble and were able to quickly capitalize with a touchdown pass.
Sequim again fumbled in the red zone, this time at the three-yard line, to kill another drive. Olympic got its final score on a 65-yard reception by Donovan Weaver to take a 28-0 lead.
The Wolves were able to score late in the fourth quarter after five straight running plays from Tommy Reandeau, who scored with 35 seconds left.
Henley wouldn’t blame the power outage and delay in the game for the loss. He pointed out Olympic had to deal with it, as well.
“We gotta figure out how to get one percent better every day,” he said.
Sequim (2-2, 4-3) next hosts Bainbridge (4-1, 5-2) at 7 p.m. Friday. The Spartans lost to North Kitsap 14-7 this weekend.
Squalicum 22, Port Angeles 0
PORT ANGELES — Ironically enough, the mascot for the Squalicum football team is “the Storm.”
It was fitting, as playing in soggy conditions and at times heavy rain, Port Angeles’ game against Squalicum featured a lot of turnovers in the first half and was marred by a lot of penalties in the second half, most of them against Squalicum.
Throughout the typhoon, the Roughriders’ defense played strong, allowing only two touchdowns, but Port Angeles struggled to generate much of offense, as well, and fell 22-0 to the Storm. The Riders defense held Squalicum scoreless through the second and third quarters and most of the fourth quarter when the Storm scored an insurance touchdown late in the game.
“Our kids played their hearts out. I told they ‘we’ve got nothing to lose, play with reckless abandon’,” said coach Dustin Clark.
Clark said a couple of big plays didn’t go the Riders’ way (one a touchdown run, the other a scoop and score on a fumble), and that’s been the story of Port Angeles’ season. He was proud that his defense only allowed one touchdown for the first 45 minutes of the game.
Squalicum had two lost fumbles and an interception in the first half while Port Angeles also had two lost fumbles and an interception.
Oliver Martinez got a pick early in the game to give the Riders the momentum, but Port Angeles was forced to punt. Squalicum’s Marcus Nixon responded with a 48-yard touchdown run. It was the only big play Port Angeles’ defense gave up all night.
Just 30 seconds later, on a Lane Wilson run, it appeared the play was over, but the whistle never blew and Squalicum’s Anthony Reyna picked up the ball and ran 57 yards for a quick TD.
That was all the scoring until the final three minutes of the game as both defense dominated in the wet conditions.
Port Angeles did have one golden opportunity to score in the first half. Using a lot of misdirection plays to fool the Squalicum defense, Brayden Wopperer had a 10-yard run followed by a 12-yard run. The Riders had a first-and-goal at the 10, but a fumble on the snap, a five-yard penalty and a quarterback sack pushed them all the way back to the 33-yard line. The drive ended with an interception.
The third quarter bogged down into a flurry of penalties. The referees called 11 penalties in the quarter, nine of them against Squalicum and six of them for unsportsmanlike conduct or unnecessary roughness. The quarter took 43 minutes. Port Angeles caught a big break when game-breaker Nixon was tossed from the game.
The game settled down in the fourth quarter with only a couple of penalties. The Riders’ best chance for a big play came on a near-blocked punt with 8:23 to play. A few inches closer and it might have been a one-score game.
With the Port Angeles defense on the field most of the game, Squalicum was finally able to mount a drive, scoring on a 7-yard run with 2:54 to play to ice the contest.
Quinn Messersmith and Conner Martin each had quarterback sacks while Hunter Flores recovered a fumble. Martin also had several booming punts which were important in what turned into a game of field position much of the night. Wopperer led the Riders with 25 yards rushing on nine carries, while Wilson had 21 yards on 18 tough carries.
The Riders (0-4, 0-7) look to pick up a “W” on the road Friday against Bremerton (1-3, 1-6), which just won its first game of the year 35-14 over North Mason.
“If we play hard, we’ll be OK” against Bremerton, Clark said
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The Sequim Gazette’s Matthew Nash contributed to this article.
