BAINBRIDGE — The Port Angeles football team gave Bainbridge all it could handle Friday night as the defensive battle came down to a successful Spartans’ two-point conversion in overtime.
Bainbridge won 14-13 when the Spartans scored a touchdown in overtime, then decided to go for two to end the game right there, successfully pounding the ball in from the 3-yard line.
It was a defensive struggle all game as Bainbridge didn’t score a single touchdown in regulation. In fact, the Spartans rarely even crossed midfield as the ball was in Bainbridge’s side of the field most of the game.
“The kids played hard, and that’s all I can ask of them,” said head coach Dustin Clark. “They left everything on the field.”
The Spartans opened up the scoring with a 25-yard field goal in the first quarter, converting after a short drive set up by a nice punt return.
A kick off the upright and an untimely holding penalty also cost the Roughriders. The game literally came down to inches.
Port Angeles appeared to have scored a go-ahead touchdown on a fourth-and-14 from the 25-yard line on a touchdown pass from Carson Waddell to Jude Wallace, but the play was nullified by a holding penalty. Penalties were a huge factor all game for both teams.
“We were pretty much doing whatever we wanted in the running game,” Clark said. But he said the penalties just kept killing the Riders. “We just kept getting behind the chains,” he said.
On the next play, Bainbridge picked the ball off in a massive swing of momentum. The score remain 3-0 going into the half.
In the third quarter, the Riders had another drive stall at the 28-yard line as Bainbridge could do nothing with the ball most of the half. Finally, in a drive that began late in the third quarter, Port Angeles hit paydirt. The drive was helped by two 15-yard pass interference penalties and a 15-yard face mask penalty against the Spartans.
Another 15-yard penalty, this one against Port Angeles, put the Riders and first-and-25 from the 28-yard line. Waddell hit Jagger Hjelmeseth down the left sideline for a 28-yard touchdown pass with 10:27 left in the game to give Port Angeles a 6-3 lead.
The refs called another 15-yard penalty against the Riders, the sixth major penalty of the half, for excessive celebration. In what turned out to be a crucial play, Bainbridge then blocked the extra point.
With the celebration penalty enforced, Bainbridge got good field position after the kickoff and after a short drive kicked a field goal to tie the game at 6-6 with 7:27 left.
Dylan Mann, who was a workhorse all game with 30 carries for 129 yards, had a huge play with a 28-yard run, followed by a 10-yard run, putting Port Angeles in business late in the fourth. The Riders were able to drive the ball all the way down to the 3-yard line for a potential go-ahead fourth-down field goal with 1:20 left to play. However, the snap was high on the kick, throwing off the timing and the Oliver Martinez’s kick banged off the upright.
Bainbridge drove quickly down the field as it appeared both defenses were finally tiring. The Spartans actually attempted a 52-yard field goal at the end of regulation, almost unheard of at the 2A level, to win the game. Port Angeles blocked the kick, sending the game to overtime.
The Riders got the ball first and disaster struck as again, the flags flew, putting Port Angeles on the 38-yard line for a second-and-23. After a short run to make it third-and-21, the Riders ran a flea flicker with the ball being pitched back to Wallace, who has played some quarterback for the Riders. Meanwhile, Waddell ran downfield uncovered and Wallace hit him perfectly in stride for a 42-yard touchdown.
Going first in overtime, Port Angeles had the tough decision of what to do with the extra point and with Bainbridge appearing to have a strong kicking game, they kicked the extra point to make it 13-6.
The Spartans responded with some short running plays to set themselves up at the 10-yard line. After a 10-yard touchdown run and after converting the two-pointer for the win, the Spartans fans stormed the field.
Wallace finished the game with a 20-yard catch and six runs for 28 yards and Lane Wilson ran four times for 30 yards as Port Angeles finished with 41 runs for 188 yards.
Port Angeles (1-3, 2-4) has a nonleague game against Squalicum (3-3, 3-3) in a rare Saturday game at Bellingham’s Civic Field at 5 p.m.
