Several seasons are on the line this weekend with the state preliminary football playoffs set to begin.
Two of those, of course, are the same teams that faced off last Friday in Civic Field in the biggest game the area has seen in decades: the Sequim Wolves and Port Angeles Roughriders.
Now, with both playing back-to-back at North Kitsap High School in Poulsbo on Saturday night, their fans have the chance to cheer for each other on the same field.
Just not at the same time.
Port Angeles hosts Class 2A South Puget Sound League No. 3 Sumner (7-2 overall) at 4 p.m., with Sequim taking on SPSL No. 4 Washington (4-5) after that at 7 p.m.
Both are loser-out, winner-to-state contests.
Across the water, Chimacum (5-4) faces Nooksack Valley (6-3) today at 4:30 p.m. in Bellingham’s Civic Field.
The winner of the 1A preliminary playoff goes on to state, while the other stays home.
Here’s a breakdown of each playoff matchup:
Port Angeles vs. Sumner
POULSBO — The Riders (8-1) hope to have short memories when they line up to play the Spartans on Saturday.
Port Angeles head coach Tom Wahl and his staff worked all week to move their team forward after last Friday’s disappointing 41-0 loss to rival Sequim before approximately 4,200 at Civic Field.
With a suddenly hot Sumner team waiting for the them at North Kitsap High School on Saturday, the Riders need all the focus they can get.
“It’s been a challenge this week to recover from that,” said Wahl, whose Riders are going for their first state trip in 18 years.
“It’s taken most of the week, but I think the kids are finally back. They looked good [Thursday night]. They looked sharp, so I think they are over it.”
Sumner (7-2) comes into Saturday’s tilt riding a three-game win streak, including a 25-14 upset of Eatonville.
The Spartans’ run-first veer offense features two backs with more than 700 yards rushing in Cody Haavik (980 yards, 11 TDs) and Tyler Salisbury (712 yards, 8 TDs).
Quarterbacks Aaron Clark and Cody Brennan combined to throw for just 327 yards on the season.
That would seem to play into the Riders’ hands given that the only offense to score consistently on Port Angeles’ 4-4 defense was Sequim’s pass-happy spread attack.
“It’s always kind of hard to tell on film but they look good. They look aggressive,” Wahl said of Sumner.
“I’m very optimistic, but you just never know.”
Port Angeles’ offense must rebound from its only shutout of the season.
The Riders will face a 4-4 Sumner defense that is extremely disciplined, according to Wahl.
“They just kind of sit there and take it as it comes,” Wahl said.
“They don’t seem to be too nervous about what’s in front of them. They just sit in their 4-4 and come up and hit you.”
The Riders spent a good deal of time this week working the blocking sled.
The focus has been setting and maintaining blocks, something Wahl felt the Riders didn’t do when they were held to 165 yards by Sequim last week.
“Against a good team like we’re going to face in the playoffs, you’ve got to have some polished plays that you can always depend on, and we just didn’t have anything like that,” Wahl said.
“That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Sequim vs. Washington
POULSBO — The Wolves (8-1) have been here before.
Going into their fifth state preliminary playoff in seven years — Sequim went straight to state in 2008-09 — the Wolves face a familiar opponent in Washington (4-5).
Sequim beat the Patriots 45-16 when the two teams met in the 2A preliminary playoffs in 2007, then spent the next two years taking the wood to them in Nisqually League play.
Yet Wolves head coach Erik Wiker insists the past will have nothing to do with the present when the two teams meet Saturday.
“I think that’s kind of the hard part. The game is treated like, well it’s just Washington,” said Wiker, who is going for his fifth straight state appearance.
“They are a different team. We’re a different team. It doesn’t matter what’s happened [in the past]. Whoever wins this weekend moves on.”
Still, the seventh-ranked Wolves come into Saturday’s game as clear favorites.
The Olympic League champions have won seven straight since their humbling 54-16 loss to Meridian in Week 2, including last week’s 41-0 thrashing of rival Port Angeles.
Quarterback Drew Rickerson has thrown for 198 yards or more in six straight games, tossing 18 touchdowns passes to just five interceptions during that time.
“We are peaking at the end of the season,” Wiker said after last week’s win.
“I think that we’re utilizing all of our talents and all of our kids and I couldn’t feel better going into the playoffs.”
The Patriots’ Wing-T attack is focused around Servey Yevchev (747 yards, 5 TDs) and Ramsey Davis (622 yards, 5 TDs).
Washington went 4-2 over is final six games to make the playoffs, scoring wins against Fife, Steilacoom, Franklin Pierce and White River.
The teams’ one common opponent, North Mason, beat the Patriots 28-20 on Week 2. A few weeks later, the Wolves stomped the Bulldogs 49-20.
Washington has also been outscored by the Wolves 91-40 the past two years.
“At the end of last year when we played them they were pretty depleted,” Wiker said. “I think this year they’ve kept a lot of their athletes.
“They’ve got a couple of game breakers that do things . . . but, you know, I think we’re a better team.”
Chimacum vs. Nooksack Valley
BELLINGHAM — The Cowboys’ backs are against the wall . . . again.
After closing out the regular season with four straight wins to clinch their first playoff appearance since 2005, Chimacum (5-4) finds itself in a loser-out, winner-to-state game against 1A Northwest Conference power Nooksack Valley (6-3) tonight.
Chimacum head coach Shawn Meacham likes his chances.
“Having must-wins the last four weeks just to get to this point has helped,” said Meacham, whose team had outscored opponents 156-73 its past four games.
“I think it’s prepared us a great deal to be able to deal with the pressure.
“[The kids] are definitely playing with a lot of confidence to be able to get four straight wins. We’re definitely going in knowing we can advance.”
Of course, it won’t be easy against the Northwest Conference’s second-best 1A team.
The Pioneers’ only three losses of the season came against 1A No. 1 Cascade Christian and No. 2 Meridian. They have outscored teams 224-49 in six other games.
Like much of the Nisqually League, Nooksack runs its own version of the spread offense.
The Pioneers have two different quarterbacks with more than 700 yards passing in Tyler Perry (793) and Trevon Myhre (742).
They also have four different runners with 200-plus yards on the ground, led by Myhre’s 476 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“They are big and physical,” Meacham said.
“It’s hard to really judge how quick they actually are until you get onto the field, but definitely they have a lot of size on their offensive line.”
The Cowboys received a boost earlier this week when they learned leading rusher Devin Manix would be in the lineup.
Manix has run for 516 yards and seven touchdowns on 122 carries this season.
He went down with a shoulder injury in the Cowboys’ 38-6 win over Port Townsend, allowing Daryn Settlemire to have his biggest game of the season (156 yards, 3 TDs on 18 carries).
Controlling the ball with those two backs, as well as Austin McConnell, will be key for the Cowboys against Nooksack.
“The biggest thing is we can’t beat ourselves by turning the ball over or making mental mistakes at the wrong times,” Meacham said.
“If we play smart and bring energy I’m sure we can compete.”