PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Roughriders came in to Friday’s game flying high after an Olympic League win over Sequim last week, but turnovers doomed their chances against a good North Kitsap team in a 31-7 loss at Civic Field on Friday night.
The Riders threw five interceptions. It seemed like any time Port Angeles got some momentum, the Vikings would come up with a turnover to kill it.
“We played hard. Just one of those games. We have some things to clean up. We’ll be all right,” said coach Dustin Clark.
Clark said that while Carson Waddell had a tough game at quarterback with the turnovers, he kept at it and kept his composure, throwing for 148 yards total. Clark also said that some untimely penalties and missed assignments hurt the Riders.
The Riders generated their share of offense, gaining 250 yards on the Vikings. The Port Angeles defense also held North Kitsap scoreless through the second half, but the offense could only manage one score.
North Kitsap got off to an extremely fast start, scoring just 20 seconds into the game on a 40-yard run by Kyree McGlinty, who had a great overall game. On defense, McGlinty had three out of North Kitsap’s five interceptions.
The Riders did make some good plays all game long and at times drove the ball, but drive after drive was killed by turnovers.
One of the best plays of the game was by Jagger Hjelmseth in the second quarter. The Vikings completed a long pass to a receiver that got behind the Riders’ defensive backs and seemed to be going in for a touchdown, but Hjelmseth ran down the receiver, stripped the ball before he could score, then recovered it on the 1-yard line.
Unfortunately, the momentum was short-lived as North Kitsap quickly got the ball back with an interception, scoring a touchdown after a short drive.
Another great play was by quarterback Carson Waddell and receiver Oliver Martinez. Martinez got wide open behind the North Kitsap defense in the third quarter and Waddell was able to hit him with a long pass. Martinez might have had a chance for a score, but he stumbled, nearly went down to the ground but managed to keep his feet. His stumble allowed the Vikings defenders to catch up to him, but then he faked out a couple of defenders to gain another 10 yards or so. In all, it was a 50-yard play. Waddell finished off that drive with a four-yard touchdown run.
With the defense playing better in the second half and not allowing the Vikings to mount any big drives, Port Angeles still had life down 31-7 with 4:49 left in the third quarter after Waddell’s touchdown run. However, after the defense held North Kitsap and forced a punt, another third-quarter drive ended in an interception, again taking away the momentum. It was the story all night.
River Flores and Lane Wilson each had quarterback sacks, while Hunter Flores had 3 sacks. Waddell also had a tackle for a big loss.
Waddell passed 12-for-27 and 148 yards. Martinez finished with two catches for 70 yards, while Jude Wallace had five catches for 35 yards.
Dylan Mann ran tough all game, gaining 53 yards on 16 carries. The Riders finished with 101 rushing yards.
Port Angeles (1-2, 2-3) plays at Bainbridge (0-2, 0-4) on Saturday, looking to get back to .500 both in the league and overall.
North Kistap 31, Port Angeles 7
NK 14 17 0 0 — 31
PA 0 0 7 0 — 7
First Quarter
NK — McGlinty 40 run (kick good)
NK — Anderson 1 pass from Weible (kick good)
Second Quarter
NK — Anderson 5 pass from Weible (kick good)
NK —Walker 10 pass from Weible (kick good)
NK — Dixon 30 field goal
Third Quarter
PA — Waddell 4 run (Royack kick)
Individual statistics
Passing
PA —Waddell 12-27, 148 yards, 5 INTs
Rushing
PA — Mann 16-53, Wilson 4-14, Wallace 3-6, Waddell 4-19.
Receiving
PA —Martinez 2-70, Wallace 5-35, Smithson 3-27, Mann 1-2, Easton 1-13.
Bremerton 34, Sequim 12
SEQUIM — Sequim’s defense struggled against Bremerton’s running game in a 34-12 home loss.
The Knights rushed for more than 400 yards with two players, Kenneth Najera and Marquise Allen, both rushing for more than 135 yards. Sequim had 312 yards of offense, 119 passing and 193 rushing. The Wolves’ highlight was a 51-yard catch and run by Liam Wiker on a screen pass by quarterback Kaden Miller to set the Wolves up inside the 10-yard line.
Wiker had a good overall game with 126 yards rushing on 17 carries and a pair of 2-yard touchdown runs. He also finished with two catches for 60 yards. But the Wolves were hurt by Bremerton touchdown runs of 74, 42 and 35 yards.
Bremerton got off to an 0-3 start, but is now leading the Olympic League with two league wins. The Wolves are still looking for their first Olympic League win after getting off to a 3-0 start.
Sequim (0-2, 3-2) hosts North Kitsap (2-1, 3-2) at 7 p.m. Friday.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Port Angeles quarterback Carson Waddell, left, hands off to running back Dylan Mann during Friday’s conference game against North Kitsap at Port Angeles Civic Field.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Port Angeles’ Dylan Mann breaks through the North Kitsap defensive line, including Viking lineman Andrew Knott with assistance from Mann’s teammate, Lane Wilson, right, on Friday in Port Angeles.
