PREP FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: Port Angeles overwhelmed by big, fast Anacortes

The Port Angeles Roughriders football team was dominated early by a good Anacortes squad, but made an epic goal-line stand and finally got their offense going midway through the second quarter.

Down 14-0, the Riders had a fourth-and-one at the 35-yard-line late in the second quarter. If they converted, they had a good chance to score before the half. But Kason Albaugh got stuffed on a run inside, didn’t get a kind spot from the referees and Port Angeles turned the ball over on downs.

That play seemed to turn the game around. The Seahawks responded to their big break with a two-play drive, scoring 22 seconds later on a 39-yard run by Brock Beaner. Anacortes scored 77 seconds later on another two-play drive after the Riders failed to convert a fourth-and-two. Instead of going into the half down just 14-0 or 14-7, the Riders went into the break down 27-0.

The blowout was on as Anacortes went on to win 57-0.

“For us, we just had a lot of little mistakes that need to be cleaned up. Both the coaches and the kids,” said coach Dustin Clark.

Clark said he told the team after the tough loss, “We just have to get better and learn from this.” He felt the Riders were hurt for the second straight week by having a slow start. Port Angeles began the game with three straight three-and-out drives and didn’t have a first down until late in the second quarter.

“We’re still a young team,” he said.

Anacortes is a very good, big and fast team. The Seahawks went 9-1 last year and began this season by beating 3A Oak Harbor 35-7. Port Angeles never had an answer for quarterback Rex Larson, who was on target to his receivers all game and ended up with over 200 yards passing to go with Beaner’s 100-yard-plus rushing game.

Game close much of first half

Despite Port Angeles’ offensive struggles, the defense played tough early. Anacortes was up just 7-0 midway through the second quarter, partly because the Seahawks kept shooting themselves in the foot with penalties. Anacortes had a 32-yard touchdown run by Beaner called back on a holding penalty and the Seahawks had over 70 yards of penalties in the first half alone.

The high point of the game was a goal-line stand by Port Angeles in the second quarter. On a third-and-goal from the four, Albaugh and Parker Nickerson broke up a pass to the corner of the end zone. One the following play, linebacker Jason Hawes blitzed up the middle and sacked Larson to force a turnover on downs.

After the Seahawks stretched the lead to 14-0 later in the second quarter, the Riders mounted their first real drive of the night. They got a first down on a pass interference penalty on a fourth-and-17 and Nickerson completed a nine-yard pass to Blake Sohlberg and Hawes added a 10-yard game on a misdirection run. The drive ended when Albaugh was tackled for no gain on a fourth-and-one.

The Riders have an interesting game next Saturday against North Kitsap. That game will be played at Lumen Field in Seattle at 4:45 p.m. Saturday.

“They [North Kitsap] contacted us about playing there. It’s a great opportunity for us to play in that stadium. It’ll be fun,” Clark said.

Anacortes 57, Port Angeles 0

Anacortes 7 20 21 9 — 57

Port Angeles 0 0 0 0 — 0

First Quarter

Anacortes — Brock Beaner 1 run, 7:59 (PAT good)

Second Quarter

Anacortes — Lang 8 pass from Larson, 5:31 (PAT good)

Anacortes — Brock Beaner 39 run, 2:30 (PAT good)

Anacortes — John 22 pass from Larson, 1:17 (PAT failed)

Third Quarter

Anacortes — Brady Beaner 23 run, 9:19 (PAT good)

Anacortes — Valera 5 run, 6:44 (PAT good)

Anacortes — Valera 21 run, 0:10 (PAT good)

Fourth Quarter

Anacortes — Safety

Anacortes — Coutee 5 run (PAT good)

Tenino 52, Sequim 14

TENINO — The Wolves couldn’t contain the Beavers’ option run scheme, falling behind 22-0 at halftime after allowing scores on every Tenino drive in the first half.

Sequim allowed an 85-yard kickoff return to open the second half and went down by as much as 52-0 early in the fourth quarter.

The Wolves snapped the shutout late as Lars Wiker found Aiden Gockerell for touchdown receptions of 13 and 5 yards.

Sequim (0-2) returns home to host Bainbridge on Friday in the Wolves’ Olympic League opener.

At 4:45 p.m., school officials and representatives from the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe will celebrate the naming of the stadium and field.

The district stadium on West Fir Street will be named for a S’Klallam word pronounced “stah-chung” and meaning “wolf,” and the field to Myron Teterud’s Field, after the longtime late Sequim sports fan.