PORT ANGELES — Kellen Landry got what he wanted.
After playing tight end last week, Landry moved to running back and helped Port Angeles pick up its first win of the football season, 27-18 over Vashon at Civic Field.
“I asked for it,” Landry said after Friday’s game. “I knew I could have a more vital part in the offense. I thought with the ball in my hands I could do a lot more.”
Landry, who played running back and receiver last year, gained 90 yards on 12 carries. He also caught one pass, which he took 21 yards in the first quarter for the Roughriders’ first score of the season.
“Kellen had run it quite a bit last year, so we thought, you know, we’ll give him a shot at it. So far, so good,” Port Angeles coach Bret Curtis said.
“He stepped up and said he wanted to run the ball a little bit. We’re not necessarily working on a by-request system, but you know, he’s a senior and he’s run the ball before, so it was a natural kind of [move].”
Even before Landry touched the ball, it was clear Port Angeles’ running game was different from the one that was held to minus-34 yards by Port Townsend in Week 1.
On the first play from scrimmage, Jace Bohman ran for 16 yards. He gained 2 more yards on the next play. Not great, but an improvement.
“Feels a lot better, I’ll tell you that, actually getting to go somewhere,” Bohman said.
“We put a lot of work in with blocking schemes and stuff, because last week we had a bunch of weakside blitzes and we finally picked that up and we got new schemes and everything, so we fixed that.”
Bohman gained 74 yards and scored one touchdown on 15 carries.
Fullback Jace Lausche carried six times for 53 yards, highlighted by a 38-yarder that set up Bohman’s 5-yard TD in the third quarter. Lausche also scored a touchdown.
For the second week in a row, Vashon turned the ball over six times.
The Pirates’ first five drives ended with fumbles, which kept the ball on their side of the field for the entire first quarter.
Bohman recovered the first fumble, setting up quarterback Ryan Rodocker’s TD pass to Landry.
A snap got past quarterback Connor Hoisington on Vashon’s next drive, and Port Angeles linebacker Cyler McBride recovered it and found nothing but 27 yards of space in front of him.
“I saw the ball, picked it up, and when I was running for the end zone, I was thinking to myself, ‘Wow, I’m actually running for a touchdown right now,’” McBride said.
That made it 14-0 for the Riders.
On Vashon’s next play, Hoisington’s pitch went too high and it was caught by Port Angeles’ Caleb Joslin at the Pirates’ 27-yard line.
Lausche later ran it in from the 4 to give Port Angeles a 21-0 lead with eight seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Vashon continued to drop the ball — Billy Minks and D.J. Delaney recovered fumbles for the Riders — but Port Angeles stopped capitalizing.
The Pirates finally held on to the ball and scored on a 5-yard run by Bryce Hoisington in the final minute of the second quarter to cut the Riders’ advantage to 21-6 at halftime.
Bryce Hoisington then scored on a 50-yard run on Vashon’s first drive of the second half to make it 21-12.
The Riders responded with a 55-yard drive that ended with Bohman’s TD run, which gave Port Angeles some breathing room at 27-12 midway through the third quarter.
The Riders maintained that distance when Delaney made his second takeaway of the game in the fourth quarter. Connor Hoisington, under pressure, forced an underhand pass near the goal line that Delaney caught and returned to the 13.
But the Riders also caught the turnover virus, fumbling the ball away three times in the fourth, including one at the Vashon 8 and another that was returned by Zachary Witherspoon 30 yards for a TD to bring the Pirates within nine points at 27-18.
But for the third time, the Riders stuffed the two-point conversion to keep it a two-score game.
The Pirates had similar luck on their third onside kick attempt of the game. Delaney recovered it and Port Angeles ran out the clock.
“It was a better game for us, obviously,” Curtis said, referencing to last week’s 49-0 loss to Port Townsend.
“We got a win, and that’s huge for the psyche. You know, you lose two in a row, that’s pretty tough out of the get-go.
“To get a win, especially at home, it’s just real good for the confidence. The boys are really feeling good, they’re happy.
“But you know coaches, there’s always things that we’re always going to want to improve on, and we saw a lot of things that need work.”
The Riders changed their defense after the Week 1 loss, but when the Pirates weren’t coughing up the ball, Port Angeles struggled to stop them.
Bryce Hoisington ran for 228 yards on 34 carries, and Vashon out-gained the Riders 351-212.
“They ran some stuff we didn’t really see on film,” Landry, a linebacker, said, “but some of that is we still aren’t doing our jobs properly.
“That’s what we’ve got to fix over the next week before North Mason.”
Curtis shared the blame between coaches and players for the breakdowns.
“Little things probably,” he said. “Some of it may have been . . . assignment issues, some of it we might not have had guys lined up the way we should’ve.”
Port Angeles (1-1) hosts North Mason (0-2) this Friday at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs are coming off a 45-12 loss to Elma.
The Riders will hope for some healing before opening their Olympic League 2A schedule.
They lost receiver Joe Danz early in the game, and he spent the rest of the game on crutches.
Kyle Fuller, who started on the line, also missed most of the game.
Rodocker cramped up and had to be replaced at quarterback by sophomore Matthew Warner for a few drives in the second half.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
