PORT ANGELES — The “What May Have Been Bowl” kicks off tonight as the perennial Class 1A powerhouse Montesano Bulldogs and former Forks head coach Terry Jensen, a Washington State Coaches Association Hall of Famer, pay a visit to the Port Angeles Roughriders.
Montesano (3-0) enters the game as the No. 2 ranked 1A team in the most recent Associated Press poll.
In his time in Forks, Jensen guided the Spartans to five league titles, nine playoff appearances and one state semifinal trip in 16 seasons out west in his first head coaching gig.
After taking Forks to its third state quarterfinal in 2000, Jensen stepped away from the Spartans and sat out a season – but his coaching career could have continued in Port Angeles.
“It was time,” Jensen told the Peninsula Daily News’ Matt Schubert in 2011. “I sat out a year and I just didn’t feel like I was getting the commitment that we needed.
“For me it was a matter of buy-in and commitment. I wasn’t seeing it a the time, so I felt it was time to step away for a year.
“That was when the whole thing came open at PA.”
Jensen actually interviewed for the Port Angeles football job on two different occasions — once when it opened up in the mid 1990s and again in 2001.
Yet it was the second interview that really felt like the one that got away for Jensen.
Making a pitch to stick around for a long time and build a program from the ground up, his application was denied in favor of Dan Novick, a first-year coach who lasted three seasons in Port Angeles before leaving for Heritage in Vancouver. Novick also coached at Kingston, but is now a middle school principal in Port Orchard.
At Montesano, meanwhile, Jensen won the Class 1A state championship in 2013 and his Bulldogs teams have made five state semifinal appearances.
As for Port Angeles? In first-year head coach Troy Mann, the Roughriders (1-2) are on their eighth different head coach since 2001.
•Prediction: Montesano 45, Port Angeles 6
North Mason at Sequim
SEQUIM — First-place is on the line in a matchup of conflicting offensive styles — Sequim’s spread no-huddle and the Bulldogs’ Wing-T attack.
North Mason (1-0, 3-0) has size in burly running backs Dylan Tupolo and Ryan Smelcer, and a 6-foot-6, 300-pound center in Grady Durbin.
The Bulldogs also have some fancy new facilities — a beautiful new turf field at Phil Pugh Stadium and a brand-new fieldhouse with locker rooms, an officials room, a training room, an equipment storage room, a coffee bar and a concessions stand. The school also bought and will install a new video scoreboard.
But none of those goodies can come on the road with North Mason.
Both teams have pulled off impressive comebacks this season. Sequim (1-0, 3-0) scored three second-half touchdowns in a 20-16 win over Forks and North Mason put up 30 points, including the final 23 points, in a 51-47 win over Olympic.
•Prediction: Sequim 28, North Mason 20
Charles Wright at Port Townsend
PORT TOWNSEND — Homecoming at Memorial Field as the Redhawks (0-3) host the Tarriers (1-2). Charles Wright has scored just 14 points in three games, so tonight’s Olympic-Nisqually League opener is a prime opportunity for Port Townsend to pick up a win.
•Prediction: Port Townsend 20, Charles Wright 18
Chimacum at Klahowya
SILVERDALE — The Cowboys’ ground game led Chimacum (1-2) to a 30-28 win over La Conner last week.
The Eagles (2-1) are off to a strong start, blasting Kingston 49-16 and Granite Falls 37-7 and playing a solid 2A North Mason tough in a 20-14 defeat.
•Prediction: Klahowya 35, Chimacum 18
Crescent at Taholah
TAHOLAH — The Loggers open Northwest Football League South Division play against the Chitwins.
•Prediction: Crescent 36, Taholah 32
Lummi at Neah Bay
•Prediction: Lummi 40, Neah Bay 18
Saturday’s Games Forks at Granite Falls
GRANITE FALLS — The Spartans (2-1) should feast against an underpowered Tigers (0-3) offense which has totaled just 13 points in three games. Granite Falls, the lone Class 2A team in the new North Sound Conference, has allowed 42, 50 and 37 points in losses to Shorewood, Nooksack Valley and Klahowya.
•Prediction: Forks 43, Granite Falls 0
Quilcene at Evergreen Lutheran
TACOMA — Comparing common opponents, the Rangers (3-0) beat Mary M. Knight by 16 points in their season opener, while the Eagles (0-2) lost to the same Owls team by 16 points in their first contest.
Quilcene needs to avoid looking ahead to its matchup with Tacoma Baptist next week, otherwise the Rangers should roll.
•Prediction: Quilcene 50, Evergreen Lutheran 18
•Last Week: 4-2.
•Season to date: 11-8.
