PORT ANGELES — A league champion will be crowned and postseason seeding finalized during a busy weekend slate of football for North Olympic Peninsula teams.
Another game, No. 4 Neah Bay’s road clash at No. 1 Lummi to determine the Northwest League champion, won’t be played.
“There was a death in the Lummi community and out of respect the two schools have decided not to play [tonight],” Red Devils head coach Tony McCaulley said.
“If it’s not played by Monday, then it won’t be played with the quad-district] playoffs coming up next weekend.”
McCaulley did not know the particulars on how the league championship and the accompanying bye in the first round of the playoffs would be determined Thursday afternoon.
Rescheduling the game could be difficult, according to Lummi athletic director/head coach Jim Sandusky.
Funeral services may be scheduled for Monday or Tuesday, and the loser of the game will have to play in the Class 1B quad-district playoffs either Nov. 4 or 5.
“If we can’t reschedule it, we may need to go to a coin flip to see who gets the higher seed,” Sandusky said.
The higher seed receives an automatic berth into the first round of the Class 1B state playoffs and will host a game either Nov. 11 or 12. The lower seed will host the Southwest District No. 4 seed in the quad-district playoffs.
Lummi beat Neah Bay 36-30 in a nonleague game earlier this season.
Hoquiam at Forks
FORKS — The Spartans host the Grizzlies with the Evergreen League 1A’s second seed to the Southwest District 4 playoffs on the line.
Both teams earned big comeback wins last week, as Forks rallied from a 22-8 halftime deficit to clinch a postseason berth in a 46-38 triple overtime victory against Elma.
Hoquiam came from 20 points down at halftime to knock off Class 2A Hockinson 48-40 in a nonleague game last Friday.
Grizzlies quarterback Gregory Dick threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
“Their quarterback is as good as it gets at this level of high school football,” Forks head coach Emil West said.
“And their defense is up there with Monte[sano]. They are a very tough team, but we’ve got them at home.”
A win by the Spartans would mean a home playoff game for Forks, the first on the school’s newly installed FieldTurf surface.
Prediction: Hoquiam 34, Forks 16
Olympic at Port Angeles
PORT ANGELES — A shorthanded Roughriders squad will wrap Olympic League play with a home game against the Trojans.
Port Angeles (0-5, 0-8) had just 12 players available for practice earlier this week.
Olympic (3-2, 4-4) made headlines this week for playing 2A No. 1 Archbishop Murphy last Saturday. The Trojans lost 48-0 to the Wildcats in Archbishop Murphy’s first game after a series of opponents forfeited contests against the private, Everett-area school.
Prediction: Olympic 42, Port Angeles 6
Coupeville at Chimacum
PORT TOWNSEND — The Cowboys will honor their seniors tonight in a 5:30 p.m. kickoff against the Wolves.
Chimacum (0-5, 1-7) is still searching for its first Nisqually-Olympic League win of the season
Prediction: Chimacum 23, Coupeville 20
Sequim at Kingston
KINGSTON — The Wolves are on a three-game winning streak with the Olympic League 2A Division’s second playoff berth already sewn up.
Sequim (4-1, 6-2) has scored 47, 48 and 49 points in those victories, so how about a 50-point game against the Buccaneers (2-3, 2-6)?
Prediction: Sequim 50, Kingston 12
Rainier Christian at Quilcene
QUILCENE — The Rangers look to lock up the Sea-Tac League’s No. 2 seed to the quad-district playoffs with a homecoming win over the Mustangs at 1 p.m. Saturday.
A win would also earn Quilcene (3-1, 6-1) a bye to the second round of district play.
Prediction: Quilcene 34, Rainier Christian 12
Crescent at Tulalip Heritage
MARYSVILLE — The Loggers (0-2, 3-4) and Hawks (0-2, 1-3) face off with the the winner earning the Northwest League’s third seed to the quad-district playoffs and the loser taking the fourth seed to the postseason.
Saturday’s game kicks off at 1 p.m.
Prediction: Crescent 36, Tulalip 14
Port Townsend at Cascade Christian
SUMNER — The Nisqually-Olympic League title is up for grabs at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Sunset Chev Stadium.
A victory would give the Redhawks (5-0, 6-2) their third straight league title, after the team dominated Olympic League 1A play in 2014 and 2015.
Port Townsend will face a formidable foe in the fifth-ranked, unbeaten Cougars (5-0, 8-0).
Cascade Christian can run and pass offensively, having racked up just under 1,300 passing yards and 1,897 rushing yards.
The Cougars are led by two standout backs, senior Zackery Bartolome (614 yards rushing) and junior Tyquan Coleman (618).
Prediction: Cascade Christian 44, Port Townsend 14
Last Week: 6-0
Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News Forks’ Jack Dahlgren (99) runs through Neah Bay defenders Curtis LaChester (39) Cole Svec (16) and Logan Halttunen (8) and Josey Tyree (18) on his way to a big gain earlier this season. The Spartans host Hoquiam tonight with a shot at the Evergreen League’s second seed to the district playoffs.
