PREP FOOTBALL: Port Angeles defense stout in opening win

PORT ANGELES — It’s not even Labor Day yet and Port Angeles Roughriders head football coach Dustin Clark got his first Gatorade soaking.

Clark’s exuberant players couldn’t be helped after beating Blaine 33-19 to open the 2022 season with a victory. The Riders rode a stout defense that caused a couple of huge turnovers in the second half, a variety of misdirection runs, inside running by Kason Albaugh and a huge play by wide receiver Blake Sohlberg to blow away the Borderites in the second half.

The Riders scored 20 straight points in the second half, including two touchdowns in less than 20 seconds, to take control of what had been a close game.

“We ran the ball really, really well,” Clark said. “Our entire line played well. We can’t do what we do without them. Our offensive lines and defensive lines are studs.”

Port Angeles ran a bunch of misdirections, with a primary running back handing off to a secondary running back going in the opposite direction. It was a play that worked time and again.

“Our guys executed that really well,” Clark said.

“It’s a whole new offense, it’s completely new,” said Ezra Townsend, who had a spectacular one-handed catch in the first half. “It’s awesome.

There were a variety of stars for the Riders. Kason Albaugh ran the ball more than 20 times for 101 yards, with much of his yardage coming inside. He had a 1-yard plunge for a touchdown and a 2-yard touchdown.

Landyn Jones had 82 yards rushing, erupting for several big runs on the misdirection. He had a 10-yard TD on one of the Riders’ misdirection plays.

Townsend had two catches total for 58 yards, while quarterback Parker Nickerson threw for over 155 yards with seven completions. He had one touchdown pass and an interception.

In all, the Riders had 262 yards rushing and 417 yards of total offense.

Port Angeles entered the half up 13-6, but Blaine came back to tie it 13-13 after a long drive midway through the third quarter.

Then the Riders used a big play and a pair of turnovers to score 20 straight points in about 4½ minutes. On a third-and-one from the 40-yard line with 6:24 left in the third, Nickerson ran out of the pocket and forced two defenders to pinch in his direction.

That left Sohlberg completely undefended on the sideline. Nickerson threw a short pass to him and Sohlberg did the rest, rumbling down the sideline for a 60-yard TD.

“I turned around and I saw no one there and I just ran,” Sohlberg said. “I started cramping down the sideline.”

A couple of minutes later, the defensive line got a big push, causing a fumble and Thomas Arand recovered the ball at the 40. Jason Hawes, who had a spectacular game on defense and offense, had a 20-yard run and Jones followed with a 26-yard run to put the ball at the 2-yard line. Albaugh scored his second touchdown at 1:58 left in the third.

Just 18 seconds later, the defensive line got another big push, sacking Blaine quarterback Kael Evinger and causing a fumble. Hawes scooped up the loose ball and sprinted 10 yards for a touchdown to make it 33-13 with 1:40 left in the third. Clark thought it was Tanner Flores that caused the fumble on Hawes’ touchdown.

It seemed like the Borderites were never able to recover from that sequence. Blaine did score a touchdown with 1:30 left in the game.

Hawes had 76 yards rushing to go with a number of tackles and his fumble recovery on defense. Solberg ended up with 85 yards total receiving. Josiah Long also had three extra points for the Riders.

Clark thought one down side to the game was a lot of penalties on the Riders, especially holding calls that negated some big plays.

“Way too many penalties. We hurt ourselves a lot more than anything they [Blaine] made us do,” Clark said.

Port Angeles (0-0, 1-0) has another nonleague game at 6 p.m. next Friday against Anacortes at Civic Field.

Port Angeles 33, Blaine 19

PA 7 6 20 0 — 33

Blaine 6 0 7 6 — 19

Scoring

First Quarter

Blaine — Creasey 5 run, 7:06 (PAT no good)

PA — Albaugh 1 run, 0:23 (Long kick)

Second Quarter

PA — Jones 10 run, 4:31 (Long kick)

Third Quarter

Blaine — Evinger 1 run, 8:07 (Kick good)

PA — Sohlberg 60 pass from Nickerson, 6:24 (Long kick)

PA — Albaugh 2 run, 1:58 (Long kick)

PA — Hawes 10 fumble recovery, 1:40 (PAT no good)

Fourth Quarter

Blaine — Shipp 35 run, 1:32 (PAT no good)