PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Roughriders football team got its offense moving after a sluggish start and kept the game within striking distance until early in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t overcome some big first-half plays by the Bremerton Knights in a 28-9 loss during its homecoming game.
Bremerton came into the game 4-1 on the season but certainly didn’t dominate the rdas Port Angeles actually held the ball the majority of the game.
“They had some big plays. It’s hard to come back from that when you have guys hurt,” said coach Dustin Clark. “What I liked the most is they played hard. I enjoyed seeing that.”
The Riders had some opportunities and actually held the ball most of the game, generating plenty of first downs, especially in the second half. They had trouble converting those drives into points.
Bremerton, meanwhile, did almost all of its scoring with quick strikes.
The Roughriders keyed on Bremerton’s running back tandem of Jayden Quenga, a speedster, and Jalin Littleraven-Oliver, more of a bruiser. Neither had a lot of big runs, but they each had one big play in the first half. The pair ended up with about 200 yards rushing and that was pretty much Bremerton’s entire offense.
The Riders got a huge break early as Quenga had a 36-yard run and then the Knights thought they had a 20-yard touchdown reception. The touchdown got called back on an obvious hold of a Riders’ defensive lineman that pretty much everyone in Civic Field saw.
The Riders were able to force a turnover on downs after that penalty and they got the lead a few minutes later when Thomas Arand and Tanner Flores pressured Bremerton quarterback Aiga Logova into an ill-advised throw to the sideline. James Browning picked off the ball and ran 52 yards untouchdown for a pick six to give Port Angeles a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter.
The Port Angeles lead didn’t last long, however, as only 58 seconds later, Quenga got loose through a big hole in the line and ran 42 yards for a touchdown.
Just two minutes later, early in the second quarter, Bremerton struck again from midfield, this time with a 47-yard run by Littleraven-Oliver up the gut for a touchdown.
The Knights only had one real drive all night midway through the second quarter. Littleraven-Oliver had 12- and 20-yard runs, while Quenga had a 12-yard run. Littleraven-Oliver finished the drive with a 1-yard plunge to make it 20-6. That was about the last of the damage Quenga and Littleraven-Oliver did all night as the Port Angeles defense keyed on them and bottled them up for most of the second half.
The Riders bounced back with a drive of their own. Brandt Perry, continuing to sub at quarterback for injured Parker Nickerson, hit Kaiden Point for a 36-yard gain. He hit Point again for an apparent spectacular catch at the 2-yard line, but he was ruled out of bounds.
Kason Albaugh converted a fourth-and-one at the 24-yard line and Perry hit Blake Sohlberg on a 10-yard slant. Ezra Townsend nearly made a great juggling catch at the 3-yard line, but Port Angeles had to settle for a 29-yard Josiah Long field goal with 44 seconds left in the half to make 21-9 at the break.
The Riders caught a break at the end of the half, but didn’t have enough time to turn it into points. With only a few seconds left in the half, Bremerton for some reason was still throwing the ball from deep in its own territory and Point made an interception and quickly ran out of bounds at the 27 with 10 seconds left. After a couple of incompletions, rather than attempt a Hail Mary into the end zone, the Riders tried a 44-yard field goal with 2 seconds left and it was blocked.
In the second half, neither team scored any offensive touchdowns and Port Angeles kept the Bremerton offense off the field most of the half. Kason Albaugh finally got going with some tough, physical runs for the Roughriders.
“We made some little adjustments and the kids did a good job understanding what we wanted to do,” Clark said.
The Riders’ defense also came up big when a punt was muffed, giving Bremerton the ball at the 15-yard line. Jason Hawes, who played his usual great game on defense, had a tackle for a 10-yard loss. The Knights eventually turned the ball over on downs.
Bremerton’s only points of the half came on a pick six for 20 yards early in the fourth quarter.
Albaugh finished with 69 yards rushing while Hawes ran for 25 yards and Landyn Jones 11. Brandt Perry had 10 completions for 119 yards.
Sohlberg finished the game with six catches for 68 yards, including a pretty leaping catch for a 16-yard gain late in the game. Point had 37 yards receiving and Albaugh 14.
Hawes also had 14 tackles, including several for losses, while Ezra Townsend had 5½ tackles.
After the game, Clark said it continued to be “little things” that his young team is still having to learn.
“We’re getting there,” he said.
Port Angeles (0-4, 1-5) next plays at Bainbridge (2-2, 2-4) next Friday.
Other games
Other Olympic Peninsula games Friday night:
East Jefferson 20, Vashon 7
Neah Bay 70, Darrington 7
Olympic 35, Sequim 21
For more details on these games, keep checking www.peninsuladailynews.com this weekend.
Port Angeles’ Kason Albaugh, front, is followed by teammate Trevor Martin while looking for a gap in the defense of Bremerton’s Jayden Quenga, left, and Trenton Bulmer on Friday in Port Angeles. (KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS)
Port Angeles’ Cole Beeman, left, looks for a way around the defense of Bremerton’s D’shawn Harvision on Friday at Port Angeles Civic Field. (KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS)
Port Angeles quarterback Brandt Perry, left, makes the handoff to teammate Kason Albaugh during Friday’s game against Bremerton in Port Angeles. (KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS)
