PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Roughriders football team got a huge monkey off its back, blowing open a rugged defensive battle in the second half to beat Forks 26-7 at Civic Field.
The win snapped an 11-game losing streaking going back to the postseason in 2023. The last time Port Angeles won was over Franklin Pierce in the district playoffs on Nov. 3, 2023.
“I’m excited for the seniors,” said Port Angeles coach Dustin Clark. “They put in a lot of work this summer to be better than last year.”
Port Angeles’ Carson Waddell passed for 245 yards and three touchdowns.
Forks quarterback Lane Helvey threw a beautiful 20-yard touchdown pass to Noah Foster to get the Spartans within a touchdown of the Riders in the third quarter.
But Waddell and Jude Wallace immediately responded with a 58-yard bomb for a touchdown to put Port Angeles up by two scores again. Wallace scored two touchdowns and had an interception that set up another touchdown drive. Port Angeles’ Easton Fisher caught a touchdown pass while teammate Dylan Mann had a touchdown run.
The Spartans were shorthanded, missing Landen Olson and Bubba Hernandez-Stansbury to injuries. They also lost Titus Rowley to a concussion. But they showed that they had no quit.
For Forks, Noah Foster had seven catches for 84 yards and a touchdown, adding 42 yards of punt returns and a 40-yard kick return.
Port Angeles (1-1) has a tough road game Friday, opening Olympic League play against North Mason (2-0), which crushed Kingston 40-8 this weekend. Forks (0-2), after two tough losses to physical 2A teams, plays Kittitas at 2 p.m. Saturday.
East Jefferson 14, Friday Harbor 13
PORT TOWNSEND — East Jefferson’s Luke O’Hara scored the game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter and the Rivals converted on the 2-point conversion and ultimately held on for a 14-13 win over Friday Harbor on Friday night at Memorial Field.
With the Wolverines driving in Rivals’ territory with under 3 minutes to play, East Jefferson senior Jameson Henery jumped a pass route for the team’s second interception of the final quarter. Ethan Perovich also had an interception, stopping a Friday Harbor drive with 8 minutes left.
East Jefferson (1-1) will visit Nisqually League power Cascade Christian on Saturday.
Sequim 17, Mariner 6
MUKILTEO —The Sequim football team’s defense came up big against 4A Mariner, allowing just 176 yards of offense and forcing three turnovers in a 17-6 road victory.
The Wolves ran 64 plays to just 35 for Mariner.
The Marauders scored a touchdown with six minutes to play to get within one score with a 38-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-6, but the Wolves responded with a drive of their own, chewing up the clock. Sequim clinched the victory with a 20-yard field goal by Fredrick Wilhelm, who also hit both his PATs, in the final minute of the game.
Zeke Schmadeke had another huge game, rushing 23 times for 126 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He also had four catches for 31 yards. Quarterback Kaden Miller had a 5-yard TD run in the third quarter. Miller also had a solid game, passing 11-for-16 for 96 yards and no turnovers. Liam Wiker added 41 yards on six carries and two catches for 16 yards.
Silas Hagar had an interception for the Wolves, while Malachi Hampton and Sam Shinkle each recovered fumbles.
Sequim (0-0, 2-0) will next play its first home game of the year, hosting 1A Elma (1-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.
Crescent 33, Easton 0
CLE ELUM — The Crescent Loggers football team improved to 2-0 in six-man play with a 33-0 shutout against Easton.
Starting quarterback Micah Love was attending a family event, so Jax Sprague got the start at quarterback and threw for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
One of his touchdowns was a 70-yarder to his brother Liam Sprague. Liam had three catches for 137 yards and ran 10 times for 155 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown.
Eighth-grader Wyatt Bauer had a 55-yard touchdown run on a reverse and also caught four passes for 40 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jax Sprague.
Loke Ellis also had an interception, while Aiden Thompsen had three sacks.
Next week, Crescent will have a much shorter road trip to Clallam Bay to play a night game at 7 p.m. against the Bruins.
In other games this weekend, Liberty Christian beat Neah Bay 52-0 in a game played at Everett Memorial Stadium and Concrete beat Quilcene 42-8.
