PORT ANGELES — An already difficult season took an even more frustrating turn for the Port Angeles football team on Friday night.
The Bremerton Knights ended a 15-game losing streak to the Roughriders, as well as a 45-game skid in league, with a flurry of big plays in the second half that vaulted them to a 32-14 win on homecoming night at Civic Field.
The Riders (0-6 in league, 0-8 overall) now have just two chances left to avoid the program’s first winless season in recent memory.
That starts with next Friday’s Olympic/Western Cascade League finale at North Kitsap (2-4, 3-5).
“It’s a tough season,” first-year Port Angeles coach Dick Abrams said. “If you want to start something and build it, you have to kind of go through growing pains.
“And this is definitely a season of growing pains. It’s very difficult for everybody . . . players, coaches, parents and fans.”
“It bothers me that we had a chance to win [on Friday] and we didn’t come through on it.”
Bremerton (1-5, 2-6) scored all five of its touchdowns in the second half, erasing a 7-0 Port Angeles halftime lead that was its first of the season.
Knights quarterback Billy Davenport hooked up with receiver Sabian Perrigo on touchdown passes of 26 and 29 yards and ran another in, as Bremerton out-gained Port Angeles 166 yards to 94 in the second half.
Davenport matched the Riders’ total offensive output with 214 yards of offense operating out of Bremerton’s shotgun set.
The elusive 5-foot-8 senior threw for 122 yards on 7-of-15 passing, while running for 92 yards on 13 carries.
His 26-yard strike to Perrigo put Bremerton ahead 19-14 with seven minutes to go in the third quarter, while the 29-yard hookup put the game away at 32-14 late in the fourth.
Perrigo also added a 56-yard interception return for a touchdown, while teammate Charles Wilson returned a punt 53 yards for a score.
“It’s a tough loss for [Port Angeles], but we’ve been on the other side of that many more times,” fifth-year Bremerton coach Nate Gillam said.
“I almost feel bad beating [Port Angeles], because I’ve been there. But it feels good because we lost one last year to those guys that we should have won.”
Senior all-purpose threat Cameron Moon nearly carried the Riders to their first home victory since 2007, a period that’s seen them go 0-10 at Civic Field.
Moon gashed the Knights for a game-high 113 yards rushing on 16 carries. He also caught two passes for 31 yards and racked up more than 100 yards in kickoff returns.
He ran for 44 yards on the Riders’ lone first quarter scoring drive of the season, an 11-play, 83-yard march capped by a 7-yard Trevor Lee sweep.
After Bremerton scored a pair of touchdown in the first two minutes of the second half, Moon responded with an 88-yard kickoff return that helped give the Riders a 14-13 edge.
“We had really good blocking, and I found the hole,” Moon said of his return. “They were just over-pursuing. It was really the blocking. I just ran it.”
Bremerton came back with a four-play, 61-yard scoring drive on the following possession, and Port Angeles didn’t have an answer.
The Riders were able to get into Bremerton territory on two of their next three drives, but penalties and missed assignments did them in.
Fullback Nathan Cristion ran for 57 yards on 10 carries for the Riders, while Lee added 42 yards on just three carries.
“We kept kicking ourselves in the butt,” Abrams said. “Penalties killed us. We had some things going offensively and then all of the sudden you get a 15-yard penalty . . . so it’s hard to get any consistency going.”
Port Angeles quarterback Keenan Walker was sacked four times in the second half and six total in the game.
He completed just 3-of-11 pass attempts for 46 yards under heavy pressure from the Knights. His lone interception, coming early in the fourth quarter, was returned 56 yards the other way by Perrigo for a back-breaking score.
“It hurts,” Moon said of losing what will likely be his final home game.
“I can’t describe it.”
Bremerton 32, PA 14
Bremerton 0 0 19 13– 32
Port Angeles 7 0 7 0 — 14
First Quarter
PA–Lee 7 run (Hurd kick)
Third Quarter
B–Davenport 6 run (Sawyer kick)
B–Wilson 53 punt return (Kick no good)
P–Moon 88 kick return (Hurd kick)
B–Perrigo 26 pass from Davenport (Run failed)
Fourth Quarter
B–Perrigo 56 interception return (Sawyer kick)
B–Perrigo 29 pass from Davenport (Kick no good)
Individual Stats
Rushing– PA: Moon 16-113, Cristion 10-57, Lee 3-42, Walker 7-(minus 40), Brewer 4-(minus 4). BR: Davenport 13-92, Jordan 1-(minus 1), Thomas 4-(minus 18), Wilson 1-(minus 3), Shadle 6-7, Lawrence 2-4.
Passing–PA: Walker 3-11-1, 46. BR: Davenport 7-15-0, 122.
Receiving–PA: Moon 2-31, Adamich 1-15. BR: Jordan 1-12, Wilson 3-46, McGhee 1-9, Perrigo 2-55.