It was a banner week for football on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Collectively, the area went 8-1, with the only loss coming at the hands of another area team (Forks beat Chimacum 27-8).
Even more impressive, the wins were all by 12 points or more, with most reaching the 20-or-more range.
The opposite was common last season, when only Neah Bay, Port Townsend and Quilcene posted winning records.
■ 1. Angevine is everywhere.
In Port Angeles’ season opener against Port Townsend, Nathan Angevine the quarterback hooked up with Taylor Millsap for the go-ahead touchdown with just over three minutes remaining.
A few minutes later, Angevine the linebacker made an interception at the goal line to preserve victory for
the Roughriders.
In Friday’s 42-8 routing of Vashon, Angevine the fullback had a 91-yard touchdown run.
Angevine, a senior captain, switched positions after Port Angeles lost Isiah Last to a leg injury early in the opening game.
This change was made possible not only because of Angevine’s experience playing running back as a sophomore in 2012, but also because the injury that forced him out of the last few games of the 2013 season gave Ryan Rodocker some valuable experience under center at the varsity level, including leading the Riders to a 37-21 victory over rival Sequim.
Angevine finished Friday’s game with eight carries for 137 yards and two touchdowns, while Rodocker was 4 of 5 for 45 yards and a touchdown.
■ 2. Morales is a beast.
Miguel Morales, all 5-foot-9, 245 pounds of him, is one of the most agile and versatile athletes on the Peninsula.
Morales, a senior who wrestles in the heavyweight 285-pound weight class, has placed second and third, respectively, at the last two state wrestling tournaments.
On Friday he made his presence felt in every aspect of Forks’ 27-8 victory against Chimacum.
He carried the ball 13 times for 146 yards and three touchdowns, 111 of those yards and all three touchdowns coming in the first half.
Morales was a force on defensive as well, sacking Cowboys quarterback Quinn Dowling on fourth-and-goal to prevent a possible Chimacum score and adding another sack and tackle for loss later in the game.
His second sack was a picture-perfect wrestling takedown, with Morales picking up and tossing another Cowboys quarterback, James Porter, to the ground for a 9-yard loss.
This time he didn’t need the two points he would have received on the wrestling mat. His three touchdowns had already earned the Spartans 18 of their 27 points.
The big man also punts and handles kickoffs for Forks.
■ 3. Neah Bay can play four quarters.
The past few seasons, the Red Devils have become more accustomed to running clocks than fourth-quarter stops.
However, when faced with the test of going the distance, Class 1B’s top-ranked team seemed to have all the answers, holding No. 4 Lummi scoreless over the final 20 minutes of the game to claim a 38-26 win Friday.
After the game, Neah Bay coach Tony McCaulley said his team’s conditioning had a lot to do with its late-game superiority.
McCaulley came into the season assuming there would be games like this.
“We tell theses guys, we don’t have to win games by 30 or 40 like our team did last year,” McCaulley said the week before the season started. “No, we’ve just got to win.
“I expect close games all year from everybody we play. I expect maybe 6-point, something like that, wins in a lot of our games.”
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“Three things learned in high school football last week” appears in the PDN every Monday.
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.