PORT ANGELES — The passing tandem of Jacob Sheets and Josh Ganowski hooked up for three touchdowns as Klahowya beat Port Angeles 19-8 in the Roughriders’ homecoming game Friday night at Civic Field.
The win is the Eagles’ first Olympic League road victory since head coach Dan Ericson took over a team that had lost more than 20 consecutive games in 2011.
“It was a big game for us,” Ericson said.
“We’re technically back in the playoff race now. It feels good for our kids to come up and compete and be successful.”
Sheets tossed touchdown passes of 45, 31 and 13 yards to Ganowski.
The third scoring strike gave the Eagles a commanding 19-0 lead with 4:30 remaining in the game.
Port Angeles responded with a passing display of its own.
Larsson Chapman and Jonathan Newlin did their best Sheets-to-Ganowski impression on a drive that covered 77 yards — all but 4 yards were gained through the air — in just under three minutes.
Newlin gained 65 of those yards on three receptions.
Running back Nathan Angevine finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run and Wesley Gidding ran in the two-point conversion to cut Klahowya’s lead to 19-8 with 1:34 remaining in the game.
That was as far as the Port Angeles rally would go, though, as the Eagles recovered the Riders’ onside kick attempt on the ensuing kickoff.
But in its desperate comeback attempt, the Port Angeles offense learned something about itself.
“The thing that gets me most excited tonight is what I saw that we could do in that last drive,” Riders head coach Tom Wahl said.
“We can pass the ball, and pass it effectively.
“Passing the ball is really a lot about confidence. I think there’s been a lot of doubt — even in the coaches’ minds — this season so far, and we were forced to be in a situation where we had to do it, and the guys performed really well.
“So, I’m really excited. Like I told the guys, I’m ready to go [play again] right now.”
The Riders also learned the hard way how dangerous a passing game can be by watching Klahowya produce nearly 300 yards in the air.
Sheets was 15 of 23 with 278 yards in the game, with 10 of those completions and 220 of the yards going to Ganowski.
Many of their connections came on what seemed like broken plays in which Sheets evaded the Port Angeles pass rush until Ganowski was able to get open.
“They do have a good connection. They have good rapport and good football smarts,” Ericson said.
“Our offense is kind of like backyard football, and so they have a lot of freedom to kind of improvise a little bit.
“It’s kind of like, ‘Hey, you just run down to the oak tree and turn around,’ and that kind of stuff.
“It’s a good play for us with Jacob rolling to his right and Josh running around, getting open.
“The less thinking we do, the better off [we are].”
Those spontaneous plays were responsible for a large majority of the Eagles’ offense.
The Port Angeles defense put a lot of pressure on Sheets and kept Klahowya running back Latrell Simpson in check for most of the game.
“Port Angeles played hard,” Ericson said.
“Their front seven, especially their front four, are tough. I knew that on film, and they just worked our guys over up front.”
Things could have gone worse for the Riders’ pass defense due to the absence of starting defensive backs Joey Barnes and Miki Andrus, who missed the game with injuries.
“These guys aren’t bad passing the ball, and we had to throw two new cornerbacks in there tonight,” Wahl said.
“So, I’m actually really surprised that we didn’t get picked on worse there without Miki and Joey.”
The Riders had also had one of their best offensive performances of the season with 324 yards of total offense, including 231 rushing yards.
They came away empty-handed on three drives into the red zone and had other drives undone by fumbles and penalties.
“I think we did everything but put it in in the red zone tonight,” Wahl said.
Port Angeles plays at Bremerton (3-0, 4-1) on Friday.
The Knights are the lone undefeated team in Olympic League play after defeating North Kitsap 37-27.
All of Klahowya’s (1-2, 3-2) wins have come against North Olympic Peninsula teams.
They also beat Port Townsend and Chimacum earlier this season. The Eagles will have a chance for a Peninsula sweep on Oct. 12 when they play at Sequim.
Klahowya 19, Port Angeles 8
Klahowya 0 7 6 6— 19
Port Angeles 0 0 0 8— 8
Second Quarter
KLA—Josh Ganowski 45 pass from Jacob Sheets (Kasey Trask kick)
Third Quarter
KLA—Ganowski 31 pass from Sheets (kick blocked)
Fourth Quarter
KLA—Ganowski 13 pass from Sheets (run failed)
PA—Nathan Angevine 3 run (Wesley Gidding run)
Individual Stats
Rushing— KLA: Latrell Simpson 14-70, Jacob Sheets 6-22, Christian Olson 4-12. PA: Nathan Angevine 10-74, Wesley Gidding 19-52, Matt Robbins 11-51, Nick Lasorsa 5-34, Larsson Chapman 3-10.
Passing—KLA: Sheets 15-23, 278. PA: Chapman 5-12, 93.
Receiving—KLA: Josh Ganowski 10-220, Grady Bashore 3-41. PA: Jonathan Newlin 3-65, Gidding 2-28.