Port Angeles and Sequim have both moved their football games this week from Friday night to Thursday night because they might need to take the field again next Tuesday for a tiebreaker game to determine postseason berths.
“This is standard practice to give kids proper recovery time between games in the event of having to turn around and play on a Tuesday,” Sequim athletic director Dave Ditlefsen said Monday in an email.
The Wolves (2-3, 4-4) will host Bremerton (0-5, 2-6) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Roughriders (2-3, 4-4) will travel Thursday to play Kingston (1-4, 1-7), also at 7 p.m.
If Sequim and Port Angeles both win their games, then the two teams will face off with North Mason (3-3, 4-4) for the Olympic League’s third and fourth berths to the district playoffs.
If the Riders or Wolves win and the other loses, than the team that wins will claim a playoff berth, along with North Mason, and the team that loses will be eliminated.
Sequim holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over North Mason, but the Bulldogs hold the head-to-head advantage over Port Angeles. So if the Wolves win and the Riders lose, then the Wolves would the league’s third seed. If the Riders win and the Wolves lose, then North Mason would be the third seed and Port Angeles would be the fourth seed.
If Port Angeles and Sequim both lose, then North Mason would lock down the third seed and Kingston would force a three-team tiebreaker with the Riders and Wolves for the fourth seed.
North Mason’s game with Klahowya also has been moved up to Thursday. Since Klahowya is an Olympic League 1A team, the game will not affect the Bulldogs’ league record.
North Kitsap (5-0, 8-0) and Olympic (5-0, 6-2) have clinched the top two Olympic League seeds at districts. The Vikings and Trojans concluded their league schedule Friday in Poulsbo in a game that will decide the league champion and No. 1 seed.
According to an email sent to the Peninsula Daily News by Port Angeles athletic director Dwayne Johnson, below is how the three-way tiebreakers would work.
Postseason games need to be played on artificial turf, so these games likely would be played at Silverdale Stadium in Bremerton, but could be played at North Kitsap’s field.
The tiebreakers will be played out Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Each “game” in the two scenarios will consist of two eight-minute quarters (so each tiebreaker scenario will have a total of four eight-minute quarters).
■ Scenario No. 1 — Port Angeles/Sequim/North Mason.
Game 1 (6 p.m. kickoff): Sequim vs. North Mason, winner advances as No. 3 seed. Loser moves on to Game 2.
Game 2 (6:45 p.m.): Port Angels vs. Sequim-North Mason loser. Winner claims No. 4 seed, loser is out.
■ Scenario No. 2 — Sequim/Port Angeles/Kingston.
Game 1: Port Angeles vs. Sequim. Winner advances to Game 2, loser is eliminated.
Game 2: Port Angeles-Sequim winner vs. Kingston. Winner claims fourth seed at districts, loser is out.
In each scenario, Game 1 kicks off at 6 p.m. and Game 2 starts at 6:45 p.m.
Class 1B update
Clallam Bay’s game with Tulalip Heritage wasn’t the only one impacted by the shootings at Marysville Pilchuck High School last week.
Lummi’s (2-1, 4-3) showdown with Lopez (2-1, 6-1) for second and third place in the Northwest Football League, and for the second and third seeds at the Quad-District tournament, also was postponed.
Crescent athletic director Dave Bingham said Monday that the league is working together to sort out the schedule, and that a decision could come as soon as today.
Clallam Bay (1-2, 4-3) is hosting top-ranked Neah Bay (4-0, 8-0) on Friday night.
Crescent (0-4, 2-6) is scheduled to host Lopez in the Loggers’ homecoming game Saturday at noon.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.