PORT ANGELES — People could be forgiven if they were shocked by the outcome of Friday night’s Rainshadow Rumble.
The Port Angeles Roughriders were the least shocked people in Civic Stadium.
Coming in to Friday’s clash with Sequim, it felt like Port Angeles was an underdog. The Wolves had looked very solid early this season, going 3-0 while riding a stifling defense and some big games from Zeke Schmadeke, Kaden Miller and Liam Wiker. Other than a couple of late meaningless touchdowns given up to Elma last week, the Wolves had allowed just 34 points through 11 quarters.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Sequim’s Patrick Elias, left, expresses disbelief after Port Angeles’ Jude Wallace, right, completed a pass reception near the Sequim goal line while teammate Taylor Abold celebrates during Friday night’s game in Port Angeles.
Port Angeles, meanwhile, was crushed last week by North Mason 48-14 and lost its season opener to Mount Baker 47-12.
None of that mattered Friday. The Riders dominated on both sides of the ball, never allowing Schmadeke and Wiker to break free for any huge plays. Sequim’s dynamic duo combined for less than 100 yards on the ground.
On offense, Port Angeles completely dominated the clock, consistently chewing up nice chunks of yardage with running backs Dylan Mann and Jude Wallace and repeatedly converting third and fourth downs. Port Angeles ran 72 plays to Sequim’s 40 and was 9-for-18 on converting third and fourth downs. Quarterback Carson Waddell also hit some big pass plays, several of them to Wallace.
And it was Port Angeles on the field after the game celebrating a 27-14 win over its Olympic Peninsula rival. Dylan Mann scored all four touchdowns for the Riders, rushing 33 times for 142 yards. He also had two catches for 35 yards, including a crucial catch and run on a fourth down that helped seal the victory in the fourth quarter.
“We had to go through some adversity to come together as a brotherhood,” Mann said. “We gave up on ourselves [against North Mason]. We came back, watched film and came back with our ‘next play’ mentality.”
Mann, who is also the all-important middle linebacker for the Riders, said Port Angeles talked all week swarming to the ball to keep Schmadeke and Wiker under control.
“We just rallied to the ball and just made tackles,” he said.
Port Angeles Coach Dustin Clark said the Riders were not themselves against North Mason.
“We’re a lot better team than what we showed. We didn’t show up to play. We had a tough week of practice and were dialed in all week. Really, it comes down to blocking and tackling.
“There were tears with some of the guys. Tears of joy,” Clark said.
Waddell finished 11-for-17 for 193 yards. Wallace had 95 yards receiving and 79 rushing as Port Angeles ran 61 offensive plays and gained 418 yards of offense.
Fast start
The Riders showed right off the bat that they had shaken off the bad taste from the North Mason game by marching down the field on their opening drive, helped by a 30-yard pass from Waddell to Wallace. A fourth-down pass to Easton Fisher in the end zone looked like it might have been a touchdown, but the referees ruled it was not a catch. Still, the Riders held the ball for 7½ minutes on that drive, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
On Sequim’s drive, the Wolves couldn’t move the ball, then fumbled the punt snap and punter Wiker nearly ran for the first down, but came up a yard short, giving the ball right back to the Riders deep in Sequim’s territory. Waddell again hit Wallace with a 17-yard pass and then Mann scored his first TD with a 14-yard scamper with 53 seconds left in the quarter.
Again, the Wolves went three-and-out, forcing a punt. The Riders drove down the field again, converting a fourth-and-five at Sequim’s 37 with an 18-yard Mann run. Wallace made an incredible catch literally lying on his back on the ground to gain 20 yards and give the Riders a first-and-goal. Mann capped off the drive with a two-yard run with 6:22 to play.
Eighteen minutes into the game and Sequim had run just six offensive plays. Port Angeles held the ball for about 13 out of those 18 minutes.
Wolves fight back
Sequim wasn’t about to quit however, and finally got its offense going, driving the ball quickly down the field. Miller hit Patrick Elias with a 17-yard pass and followed up with a 16-yard TD pass also to Elias with 2:34 to play to get Sequim right back in the game at 14-7 at halftime.
In the second half, the Riders’ Wallace forced a turnover when he tipped a Miller pass. Ian Smithson came up with the ball and made a good run back to set up Port Angeles in good field position. Mann converted a third-and-one with a 14-yard run, then pounded the ball into the end zone from one yard out to make it 20-7 with 5:12 left in the third.
Sequim again fought back. After fumbling the snap, Miller recovered and hit Adrian Aragon with a 21-yard pass, then followed up with a beautiful 32-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Hampton with 2:13 left. After a Frederick Wilhelm extra point, the Wolves were very much in the thick of the game at 20-14 with 2:13 left in the third.
Port Angeles responded when it had to. On the next drive, the Riders again converted a fourth down, this time a fourth-and-nine at Sequim’s 36, with a pass to Mann. Mann bulled right through a tackle in the flat and rumbled for 27 yards. He capped off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to make it 27-14 with 7:54 left in the game.
The Wolves’ next drive was killed by penalties. After the Riders turned the ball over on downs, Sequim had a last chance to rally in the final two minutes, but Port Angeles’ Lane Wilson came up with a pair of quarterback sacks to slow down the Wolves and Wallace ended Sequim’s last chance with an interception at midfield.
Oliver Martinez also recovered a fumble for the Riders, while Aragon had an interception for Sequim.
Port Angeles (1-1, 2-2) will host North Kitsap (1-1, 2-2) at 7 p.m. Friday, while Sequim (0-1, 3-1) hosts Bremerton (1-0, 1-3) at 7 p.m.
This story will be updated.
Port Angeles 27, Sequim 14
Sequim 0 7 7 0 — 14
PA 7 7 6 7 —27
Scoring
First Quarter
PA — Mann 14 run, (Royack PAT) 0:53.
Second Quarter
PA — Mann 2 run (Royack PAT), 6:22.
Sequim — Elias 16 pass from Miller (Wilhelm PAT), 2:34.
Third Quarter
PA — Mann 1 run (PAT no good), 5:12
Sequim —Hampton 32 pass from Miller (Wilhelm PAT), 2:13.
Fourth Quarter
PA — Mann 10 run (Royack PAT), 7:54.
Individual Stats
Passing
PA — Waddell 11-for-17, 193 yards; Seq. — Miller 4-for-10, 87 yards.
Rushing
PA — Mann 33-142, Wallace 10-79, Smithson 1-4; Seq. — Schmadeke 5-48, Wiker 9-43, Miller 9-24.
Receiving
PA — Wallace 3-95, Martinez 3-25, Mann 2-35, Fisher 2-30, Smithson 1-8. Seq. — Elias 2-34, TD; Hampton 1-32, TD, Aragon 1-21.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Port Angeles’ Dylan Mann, center, squeezes past the Sequim defense on Friday in Port Angeles.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Sequim quarterback Kaden Miller prepares to hand off to teammate Liam Wiker, left, protected by Zeke Schmadeke as Port Angeles’ Taylor Abold closes in during Friday’s game in Port Angeles.
