PORT TOWNSEND — Mel Thornton scored on fourth-and-goal from the 12-yard line in the fifth overtime and Derek Ajax ran in the two-point conversion to give Chimacum a 27-25 win over Port Townsend in the Quimper Quarrel rivalry game at Memorial Field on Friday night.
“That was a tough one. I thought we had it right there in the end,” Port Townsend coach Nick Snyder said.
“These guys really, really wanted it. This is their archrival, and so it’s tough. We only live nine miles apart, so you know everybody. We share this field.
“Rips your heart out. Just rips your heart out.
“That was a gutsy call, calling a toss sweep from the 10-yard line, on fourth down. I thought we had them at that point, and the kids thought they did, too.”
Thornton’s game-winning touchdown run was one of the few times the standout running back was able to gain significant yardage against a stingy Redskins defense.
He was averaging 135 rushing yard per game, but was held to just 44 on 23 carries.
But the Cowboys still went to their big-play back when they needed a huge play.
“Well, he’s a great runner. I called timeout, we put it on him,” Chimacum coach Shawn Meacham said.
“We ran fake reverse, tried to hold the defense a little bit — they played great, Port Townsend’s defense played great the entire night, and they really keyed on Mel — so we had to do something to try to free him up a little bit, just hold them in their tracks a little bit and get a little bit of downhill motion on them.
“Our line pulled out and blocked well, and Mel just made a great play. Play of the year, right there for us.”
Thornton said the Redskins defense was the best Chimacum (1-2, 4-5) has faced this season and credited his offensive line with creating enough space for him to reach the end zone.
“That last scoring drive, it was all our line,” Thornton said.
“Our whole team was struggling, and they just came out and pushed it.
“The reason for all my success this year is definitely my line, 100 percent. Without them, I’m nothing.”
The Redskins (3-2, 4-5) had the ball first in the fifth overtime and scored a touchdown on a fourth down pass from Jacob King to Skyler Coppenrath to give them a 25-19 lead before Thornton’s touchdown.
Defense ruled for most of the game.
Each team could only put seven points on the scoreboard during the four quarters of regulation and neither scored in the first two overtime periods.
Daryl Settlemire, Gregg Shold, Seth Ham and Michael Nordberg consistently stuffed Port Townsend’s run at or behind the line of scrimmage.
When the Redskins got past the Cowboys’ defensive front, a defensive back, such as Drew Yackulic, usually stepped up and stopped the ball carrier.
“Drew Yackulic is a great player. He’s got to be one of the top defensive players in this league,” Meacham said.
“You can’t get by him. He’ll lay a lick on you. He’s the best tackler on this team. He puts a lid on our defense.”
Port Townsend’s defense focused on stopping Thornton.
Because most of Thornton’s runs are sweeps to the opposite side of where he lines up, the Redskins positioned three of their best defensive players — Coppenrath, Matt Cain and Alex Reierson — on the side away from him.
Both offenses finally broke through in the third overtime when the starting position of offensive possessions is moved up from the 25- to the 10-yard line, as the rules dictate.
Mitiku Little scored for Port Townsend on 1- and 10-yard runs in the third and fourth overtimes.
For Chimacum, Alex Morris threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Yackulic in the third overtime and scored on a 2-yard run in the fourth overtime.
Both of the touchdowns in regulation were scored early in the second quarter.
Morris and Yackulic hooked up on a 17-yard scoring play on the period’s first play.
Fitting for such an evenly matched game, though, the Redskins responded quickly. On their next possession Matt Cain broke through the line of scrimmage for a 46-yard touchdown run.
While the Redskins’ focus on slowing Thornton was effective, they struggled to contain senior running back Derek Ajax, who finished with 65 yards.
“He had to carry the load,” Meacham said.
“They were keying on Mel, so we had to be able to exploit the backside of their defense. He played incredibly well.”
The Cowboys also got 55 rushing yards from Trevor Hare.
Both teams will attempt to finish the season with 5-5 overall records when they play tri-district crossover games. They should know their opponents early next week.
NOTES: Nordberg was taken away in an ambulance toward the end of the game. He was playing for the first time since sustaining a concussion during the second game of the season, and Meacham said Nordberg was experiencing concussion symptoms again.
Port Townsend’s Jacob King played the entire game at safety, but didn’t play quarterback until the second half. King suffered a deep thigh bruise earlier this month.
Starting fullback Tim Russell was also limited, but the Redskins got a nice performance from freshman David Sua in his place.
Chimacum 27, Port Townsend 25
Chimacum 0 7 0 0 0 0 6 6 8— 27
Port Townsend 0 7 0 0 0 0 6 6 6— 25
Second Quarter
C—Drew Yackulic 17 pass from Alex Morris (Morris kick)
PT—Matt Cain 46 run (Dillon Ralls kick)
Third Overtime
PT—Mitiku Little 1 run (kick failed)
C—Yackulic 6 pass from Alex Morris (kick failed)
Fourth Overtime
C—Morris 2 run (kick failed)
PT—Little 10 run (kick failed)
Fifth Overtime
PT—Skyler Coppenrath 3 pass from Jacob King (kick failed)
C—Mel Thornton 12 run (Derek Ajax run)
Individual Stats
Rushing— C: Ajax 18-65, Trevor Hare 11-55, Thornton 23-44, Morris 4-0. PT: Cain 11-87, Little 12-72, David Sua 10-44, King 6-8, Jeff Seton 2-1, Tim Russell 2-0.
Passing—C: Morris 4-12, 23; Thornton 0-1; PT: King 3-6, 18; Seton 1-4, 8.
Receiving—C: Yackulic 2-23, Hare 1-2, Thornton 1-(-2). PT: Sua 2-17, Coppenrath 2-9.