SEQUIM — Sequim took a few early jabs from revved-up Port Angeles, but the resilient Wolves delivered the knockout in a 49-6 defeat of the Roughriders.
The win provided Sequim (3-1, 5-1) its first chance to hoist the Rainshadow Rumble trophy in three seasons and, most importantly, clinched a playoff berth.
The Wolves are ahead of Kingston (2-3, 2-5), which has just one Olympic League game remaining, and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Buccaneers after a 13-10 early season victory.
“I have to say, it feels pretty good,” Wolves senior linebacker Chris Whitaker said of beating the Riders.
“Port Angeles always talks a lot of garbage after these games, and I don’t think we’ll hear
anything now.
“The only thing, I was a little disappointed that coach put in the JV and we couldn’t score a few more [TDs].”
Port Angeles came out fired up, forcing a quick three-and-out on Sequim’s first series and showing something new on offense to open the game.
The Riders started junior Tyrus Beckett at quarterback and employed the zone read out of a shotgun spread formation in a successful eight-play, 52-yard scoring drive.
Beckett also found freshman Rudy Valdez for a 22-yard pass down to the Wolves’ 1-yard line.
The drive was capped by a 1-yard TD run from Taylor Millsap.
“We’ve talked about using the zone read for a while, trying to evolve a little bit offensively and change things up,” Port Angeles coach Bret Curtis said.
“Teams are stacking things up in the box and sending linebackers, and we just wanted to make something happen.”
Sequim coach Erik Wiker said his team was surprised by what the Riders showed offensively at the start.
“Oh, for sure. You hear some Port Angeles rumors, somebody might be injured and they might have to switch things up,” Wiker said.
“But we didn’t see this until pregame [warmups].
“We just had a couple of guys out of position and we had to get them in the right spots.
“I think that’s a good thing about our defense, it’s an amoeba-like thing and can shift and take a lot of forms.”
Whitaker agreed with his coach.
“We didn’t make any big adjustments,” Whitaker said.
“We just needed to be lined up correctly, be in the right gaps and make the right reads.”
The Riders made something happen defensively when Kellen Landry picked off the first of his three first-half interceptions of Sequim’s freshman QB Riley Cowan.
But the Port Angeles offense went three-and-out, hurting its shot at sustaining momentum.
On their next possession, the Wolves drove into the Riders’ red zone but another Landry interception kept them off the board.
Beckett couldn’t corral a shotgun snap on Port Angeles’ next play from scrimmage and Matthew Schock scooped up the ball, returning it 20 yards to the Riders’ 7-yard line.
Two plays later, Arnold Black bulled his way in for a 2-yard TD run.
“A couple of those interceptions we gave right back with our own turnovers,” Curtis said.
“If we wanted to win tonight, those turnovers we made had to be nonexistent and we needed to capitalize on what we did.”
Sequim took advantage of the Port Angeles miscue on its next offensive possession.
Cowan rolled right and found Velarde on the right side of the field. Velarde leaped over a Port Angeles defender, shrugged off a tackle and turned on the jets, zooming for a 64-yard TD.
“You can’t coach the plays he made today,” Wiker said.
“As a coach you just feel lucky to have him on your team.
“Hurdles, whatever that crazy catch was, get hit by three guys but land on his feet and keep running, that’s next-level ability right there.”
Cowan threw another red zone interception, this one hauled in by Ryan Rodocker, but the Riders gave the ball right back on the next play.
Velarde stepping in front of a Beckett pass and returned it 15 yards to the Port Angeles 8-yard line.
“That was good stuff to give them the ball but pick it and take it back, or get them to fumble,” Wiker said.
“So being able to take advantage of their mistakes and not hang our heads about our own, that was good to see.”
Black scored on the next play to put Sequim in the driver’s seat.
He added another score after Sequim put together a drive aided by tough running from Mark Feeney and a 21-yard scramble by Cowan, and the Wolves led 28-6 at halftime.
Feeney led a balanced Wolves rushing attack that accounted for 186 rushing yards with seven carries for 71 yards and a TD.
Black had nine carries for 52 yards, and Brandon Stamper rushed four times for 39 yards, all in the first half.
“They were all running north and south tonight and really hitting the holes like I’ve told them to,” Wiker said.
“Plus, when we do a jet [sweep] with Gavin, everybody wants to stop him, so that leaves everyone [on defense] moving one step over and that means a play going the other way is one more step for them to make.
“So what we didn’t get from the jet rushes we got from power today because they were trying to stop the jet.
“And we can counter them, too, so it was more like having to worry about three plays at once.”
Cowan found Noah Christiansen for a 22-yard TD pass on the Wolves first drive of the second half.
James Thayer picked off a Beckett pass and took it back 25 yards for another score before Feeney closed out the rout with a 14-yard rumble up the middle and through two Port Angeles defenders for the TD.
Curtis was more upbeat than one might expect after a 43-point loss.
“We saw glimpses, not enough to win, not enough to beat a team like Sequim, but we saw some flashes of the potential we have and how we feel we should play,” Curtis said.
“If we could extend that out for a full game we’d be in business. Now we have to figure out how to do that.”
Port Angeles (0-4, 1-6) visits North Kitsap (4-0, 5-2) on Friday.
Wiker was pleased with the big win, but was realistic about his team’s less-than-crisp performance.
“I told them emotion is a big part of it, and execution,” Wiker said.
“We can’t play like that against the really good teams. We can’t have 15 penalties and four picks and expect to beat a good team.”
The Wolves take on a very good team, Olympic League-leading and No. 7-ranked Olympic (4-0, 7-0) on Friday.
________
Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
