The biggest week of the North Olympic Peninsula high school football season has arrived.
Not only do rivals Sequim and Port Angeles meet for another round of the Rainshadow Rumble, but top-ranked Neah Bay travels to Bellingham to face fourth-ranked Lummi and Port Townsend faces Klahowya in what likely will determine the champion of the Olympic League’s 1A Division.
But before all that, here are three things learned last week in high school football:
■ Postseason hopes are fading.
Of the nine North Olympic Peninsula teams, only Neah Bay, Sequim, Port Townsend and Quilcene are currently in position to reach the postseason.
Of course, with three weeks remaining before districts start, a lot can change.
Port Angeles is hoping some things do change, while Forks, Clallam Bay and Crescent are hoping for miracles.
The Roughriders can help their own cause and mess up Sequim’s postseason plans by beating their rival Friday night at Civic Field.
Port Angeles (1-2, 3-3) would claim one of the Olympic League’s four playoff spots if it also wins its other two games against Kingston and North Kitsap.
Considering North Kitsap hasn’t lost a league game since 2012 and hasn’t come close to falling this season, winning out is a tough expectation to have of the Riders.
But they still have hopes that aren’t unreasonable.
If they beat Sequim (2-1, 4-2) and Kingston (1-3, 1-5), then a loss by the Wolves to Olympic or Bremerton would help the Riders’ cause, as would losses by North Mason (2-2, 3-3) to both Olympic and Bremerton.
Olympic (3-0, 4-2) is undefeated in league play so far, which could be helpful to Port Angeles, but Bremerton (0-4, 2-4) is winless and can’t be counted on.
Forks, meanwhile, needs win out and have Elma suffer multiple losses.
But with undefeated and ninth-ranked Eatonville (4-0, 6-0) still on the schedule, the Spartans (1-3, 2-4) will likely need to beat Hoquiam (2-2, 3-3) on Friday and have the Grizzlies lose once more and have Elma (2-2, 3-3) lose its remaining three games (Aberdeen, Eatonville and Montesano) in order to claim one of the Evergreen 1A/2A League’s three postseason berths.
Clallam Bay and Crescent are both long shots to earn one of the Northwest Football League’s three Quad-District playoff spots.
The Bruins and Loggers are each 0-2 in league and looking up at Neah Bay (2-0, 6-0), Lummi (2-0, 4-2), Lopez (1-1, 5-1) and Tulalip Heritage (1-1, 3-2).
At this point, Crescent’s main hope should probably be healing and being able to finish out its schedule.
The rebuilding Chimacum Cowboys (0-4, 0-6) are out of the Olympic League 1A playoff chase. However, the junior-heavy team can still gain some valuable experience in these final few weeks that could aid it next season.
■ Yes, Sequim is loaded.
Before the season started, Sequim coach Erik Wiker raved about the amount of skill players the Wolves had this season.
Before every season, almost every coach does that, but Wiker went as far as saying that Sequim has more depth at running back than it has in his previous 10 years at the helm.
The depth at receiver and in the backfield as been tested recently, and it turns out that Wiker wasn’t being overly optimistic in the preseason.
In Friday’s overtime win over North Mason, the Wolves were missing at least three wide receivers and two running backs. Another back, Ty Jones, left the game with a lower leg injury after his first carry in the first quarter and didn’t return.
Nevertheless, Sequim found plenty of playmakers. Seven players carried the ball and three players made catches as the Wolves racked up 459 yards of total offense.
That includes 304 yards on the ground, as the Sequim mixed quarterback runs by Miguel Moroles and the power running of Chris Whitaker with double handoffs and reverses to the athletic receiver and hybrid types on its roster.
On pass plays, the North Mason defense had to keep an eye on Moroles, a speedy and dangerous runner, while also guarding Bailey Earley (seven catches, 87 yards) and Ian Dennis (five catches, 58 yards).
Even better for the Wolves, who have put themselves in great position to secure a postseason berth, is that Moroles is the only weapon who is a senior.
■ Port Angeles remains sweet in defeat.
Amid the downbeat atmosphere after Friday’s disappointing loss to Black Hills, Port Angeles coach Tom Wahl and a group of the team’s seniors disappeared for a moment into the Roughriders’ locker room below Civic Field.
Were they leaving for a private heart-to-heart between the senior leaders and their coach? A chance for Wahl to deliver a message to these players before he spoke to the rest of the team assembled in the south end zone?
No, the answer is more sugary, although after tough home games like Friday’s, it isn’t so sweet for the Riders.
The Port Angeles players and Wahl soon emerged, carefully carrying a large sheet cake, and proceeded down the home sideline to deliver the tasty treat to the Black Hills locker room.
It’s something the team does for every home game. Either Port Angeles earns the right to put the frosting on victories with cake, or, if they are bested, the Riders respectfully offer the treat to the opposing team.
“We try to be the best sportsmen we can be out on the field,” Wahl said. “We do this because when we lose we want to show more respect than the postgame handshake.”
Wahl has borrowed the tradition from his father Jon, the former Raymond head coach who led the Seagulls to three straight 1A titles from 1973-75.
Wahl thanks the Port Angeles players’ moms for their baking skills, as the task is rotated through the parental ranks for each home game.
The Roughriders will host Sequim, another team with a baked goods tradition, in Friday’s rivalry showdown.
Sequim’s position groups lobby boisterously during the postgame meeting regarding which will bring doughnuts to the Saturday morning film session.
After a short debate following last Friday’s overtime win over North Mason, the Wolves coaching staff agreed to bring the doughnuts.
An unidentified Sequim players said, “That means we’ll actually have doughnuts this time.”
________
“Three things learned in high school football last week” appears each week in the PDN.
Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsualdailynews.com.