A PREP FOOTBALL season can be brutal.
Evidence of that will be readily available when Port Angeles and Sequim meet in Dungeness Valley for next Friday’s heavily anticipated rivalry game.
Undoubtedly, the sidelines for each team will feature a handful of walking wounded.
This year, even the game’s marquee stars — quarterbacks Keenen Walker of Port Angeles and Frank Catelli of Sequim — are major question marks to suit up.
Chalk it up to the attrition of a two-month grind that often leaves teams looking a whole lot different from the one that originally took the field in mid-August.
“I was telling [team doctor] Dirk [Gouge] last night that he can pretty much write a book on sports medicine for all the things we’ve had,” Port Angeles coach Tom Wahl said.
Indeed, the Roughriders have seen injuries befell each of their top five offensive contributors this season.
Sequim has had several starters miss time as well this fall, most notably Catelli, who re-aggravated a groin injury suffered the week before.
Without either team carrying a roster heavily stocked with experienced seniors and juniors, such losses add up, especially when players go both ways like Walker and Catelli
It’s even worse for teams like Chimacum and Port Townsend, both of which had less than 30 players on its entire roster this year.
There’s a reason why football coaches almost always list “health” as the key factor in their team’s success each fall.
In a physical game like football, it’s the one thing you can’t guard against.
Stretch run
Last week, I gave you a rundown of the playoff situation for each of the North Olympic Peninsula’s football teams.
Now, it’s the girls’ turn.
Here’s a breakdown of each of the area’s volleyball and girls soccer teams’ playoff hopes with one week to go in the regular season:
Volleyball
■ Who’s in — Port Angeles, Sequim, Crescent.
■ Who’s out — Chimacum, Port Townsend.
■ Who’s got work to do — Forks, Clallam Bay, Neah Bay, Quilcene.
■ What happens this week: A whole lot, beginning with Port Angeles’ shot at its first unbeaten regular season in 23 years.
The Roughriders can claim the Olympic League title if they knock off North Kitsap in Poulsbo on Tuesday night, earning with it the top seed into Class 2A sub-districts.
Rival Sequim is already locked in as the Olympic League’s fourth seed into the 2A sub-district. Thus, it will have to win a loser-out match in order to make the bi-district tourney.
Forks would clinch a playoff berth out of the SWL-Evergreen if it wins Tuesday night’s home finale against Hoquiam.
That win would likely also lead to the Evergreen’s third seed since the team Forks is currently tied for third with, Tenino, plays first-place teams Onalaska and Montesano in its final two matches.
Quilcene, winless this fall, still has an outside shot at the playoffs if it can finish in the top four at this week’s 1B Sea-Tac League tournament.
The Clallam Bay-Neah Bay playoff scenarios are as simple as it gets.
Whoever wins Tuesday night’s rivalry clash in Neah Bay gets the North Olympic League’s second and final playoff berth into the 1A tri-district.
Crescent, on the other hand, has already wrapped up the NOL’s top seed with its first league title since 2008.
Girls soccer
■ Who’s in: Port Angeles
■ Who’s out: Sequim, Port Townsend, Chimacum, Forks.
■ Who’s got work to do: Nobody
■ What happens this week: Sequim, Port Townsend and Chimacum all saw its playoff hopes dashed with last week’s results.
Now it’s up to Port Angeles to carry the Peninsula banner.
The Roughriders can assure themselves of the Olympic League’s third seed in the 2A bi-district if they tie or beat North Kitsap on the road Tuesday.
If the Riders lose, they’ll finish tied with the Olympic Trojans for third among the 2As and get the No. 4 seed to bi-districts via a confusing tie-breaker system I’d rather not explain.
Either way, they will be in a loser-out pigtail playoff to get to a loser-out, winner-to-state match.
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.