By Michael Carman and Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend raced out to a 30-7 halftime lead and withstood a 20-point Charles Wright onslaught in the second half before scoring a late touchdown in a 36-27 win over the Tarriers.
Friday’s homecoming victory was the first for the Redhawks (1-0, 1-3) and first-year head coach Patrick Gaffney.
“It was a fun night,” Gaffney said.
“With our [flexbone] offense we have four guys in the backfield [in Dylan Tracer, Nico Winegar, Noa Montoya and Jerome Reaux Jr.] and we have to make [opponents] figure out which one of us has the ball. All four guys scored tonight, so we were doing our jobs.”
Big plays propelled Port Townsend in the first half.
Finnish exchange student Emil Makkula opened the scoring on a 25-yard TD run on a reverse
“”We call him E-Makk,” Gaffney said. “And that was the first time he’s ever touched the ball in a game.”
Nico Winegar added a 23-yard field goal to put the Redhawks up 10-0 after one quarter.
After Charles Wright got on the board with a short TD run, Port Townsend junior Dylan Tracer returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a score.
“He actually dropped the ball right away but that turned out to be a good thing because it gave us more time to set up,” Gaffney said. “Once he got through that first wave, he made the kicker miss and outran everybody else.”
The Redhawks made it 24-7 when freshman Jerome Reaux Jr. busted loose for a 90-yard TD run.
“He hit a counter for a 90 yard touchdown,” Gaffney said. “He picked up a great block by freshman Murphy Klemann that turned probably a 15-yard run into a 90-yard TD.”
And Port Townsend made it 30-7 when Tanner Woodley forced a fumble that was recovered and returned into Charles Wright territory and Winegar followed with a 13-yard TD run.
Charles Wright pulled close, scoring late in the third quarter and recovering the ensuing onside kick before hitting on a 35-yard TD pass to make it 30-20.
A Port Townsend fumble set the Tarriers up with good field position and they took advantage to pull within 30-27 late.
The Redhawks recovered the ensuing onside kick with just over two minutes to play and made a slight, but pivotal change offensively.
“They started to guess our snap count, so we changed up the count and Noa ran four QB sneaks in a row and on the last one he went through from about 18 yards out,” Gaffney said. “He dragged bout eight guys with him into the end zone.”
Montoya missed the first two games with a back injury and was limited in his return last week against Forks.
“With the way he was able to pull those guys in with him and score, I think [his back] is pretty good now,” Gaffney joked.
Port Townsend will look for another win against Vashon (0-3) on Friday.
Port Townsend 36, Charles Wright 27
Charles Wright 0 7 6 14— 27
Port Townsend 10 20 0 6— 36
First Quarter
PT—Makkula 25 TD run (Cowan kick)
PT— Winegar 23 field goal
Second Quarter
CW — 1 run (kick good)
PT— Tracer 96 kick return (Winegar kick)
PT — Reaux Jr. 90 run (Winegar kick)
PT — Winegar 13 run (kick failed)
Third Quarter
CW — Short run (extra point failed)
Fourth Quarter
CW — 35 pass (kick good)
CW — TD (kick good)
PT—Montoya 18 run (kick failed)
Neah Bay 40, Lummi 34
NEAH BAY — The Red Devils rallied from a 12-0 deficit holding on in the fourth quarter to fend off the rival Blackhawks.
Neah Bay didn’t have a lot of offense, but the Red Devils got a great performance from their defense, forcing six Lummi fumbles. The Red Devils saw the return of Billy Parkin III from injury at linebacker, who chipped in with 10 tackles, six of them solo, on defense. Parkin also had a fumble recovery and a touchdown. Josey Tyree had two fumble recoveries, an interception, three touchdowns and eight tackles, while Jay Brunk had two fumble recoveries, including a 52-yarder for a touchdown, a crucial 71-yard kickoff return and a 19-yard TD reception.
“That was quite a game,” said head coach TJ Greene. “A lot of those kids are friends. It’s a not so friendly competition, but afterward, people are still friends.”
Greene liked the fight that his players showed after getting down 12-0, especially coming off a 48-22 loss to Quilcene last week.
“We certainly put in a hard week of week. The kids battled back and made plays when they counted,” Greene said. “That game could have gone either way.”
After getting down 12-0, the Red Devils roared back thanks to Brunk, who had a 71-yard kickoff return to set up Neah Bay at the 9-yard line. Parkin quickly scored on a pass from Tyree. The Blackhawks outgained the Red Devils 111-3 in the first quarter, but held just a 6-point lead at 12-6.
Brunk kept up his excellent play in the second quarter with a 52-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown as the half ended with a tie score at 20-20 despite the Blackhawks gaining 219 yards on offense to the Red Devils’ 89.
Greene said both Tyree and Brunk had great games. Brunk was a difference maker with his big plays all over the field.
“That guy has a motor,” Greene said.
Neah Bay pulled ahead in the third quarter, scoring touchdowns from a 2-yard Tyree run and a Brunk 19-yard catch to make it 34-20 entering the fourth. But, the Blackhawks came roaring right back.
Lummi scored a touchdown, forced a safety and scored again with 8 minutes left in the game to tie it 34-34. Tyree scored his third touchdown of the game to make it 40-34 with 5:47 left. Lummi had a couple of chances late. A dropped pass on a 4th-and-7 ended one Blackhawks’ drive. They had once last gasp with the ball at their own 43 with 40 seconds left, but Parkin ended the game by grabbing a Blackhawks lateral.
Neah Bay (1-0 2-2) makes a 6-hour journey Friday to play new league rival Darrington (0-1, 2-2) on the road at 6 p.m. Friday.
Neah Bay 40, Lummi 34
Lummi 12 8 6 8 — 34
NB 6 14 14 6 — 40
First Quarter
L—Mahle 23 pass from Revey (PAT failed)
L—Kiley 26 pass from Reveny (PAT failed)
NB—Parkin 9 pass from Tyree (PAT failed)
Second Quarter
NB—Jay Brunk 52 fumble recovery (Johnson pass from Tyree)
NB—Tyree 3 run (PAT failed)
L—Revey 5 run (Ortez pass from Revey)
Third Quarter
NB—Tyree 2 run (PAT failed)
NB—Jay Brunk from Tyree (Johnson from Tyree)
L—Leighton 36 pass from Revey (PAT failed)
Fourth Quarter
L—Safety
L—Revey 34 run (PAT failed)
NB—Tyree 2 run (PAT failed)
Individual Stats
Rushing—NB: Croy 12-18, Jay Brunk 8-11, Tinoco 1-4, Parkin 7-40, Tyree 31-89.
Passing—NB: Tyree 6-13-57 2TD.
Receiving—NB: Johnson 2-11, Jay Brunk 2-27, Parkin 2-19.
Crescent 30, Taholah 26
TAHOLAH — Brayden Emery scored three touchdowns as the Loggers held on in the fourth quarter to beat the Chitwhins.
Emery had TD runs of 32 and 2 yards and a 14-yard TD catch. Eric Emery threw the touchdown pass, while Noah Leonard had a 60-yard touchdown run and 167 yards rushing on 25 carries. Leonard and Eric Emery also had two-point conversions, which ended up being the difference. Brayden Emery ended with 90 yards rushing on 11 carries and 47 yards receiving on six catches.
Coach Brian Shimko said it was nice to have Eric Emery back, who missed last week’s game against Lyle/Wishram due to injury.
“We worked on our defense all week,” Shimko said. “We made some defensive changes and they stepped up.”
Shimko said heavy rain made both offenses struggle..
“It was a monsoon rain. Overall the team is upbeat, it was our first league win,” he said.
Shimko said the game got closer than it should have. After Crescent built up a 30-6 lead in the fourth quarter, he rested his starters. The Chitwhins scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to make the final score close.
Crescent (1-0, 2-2) hosts Wishkah Valley (0-1, 0-2), another new league opponent, at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Crescent 30, Taholah 26
Crescent 0 22 0 8 — 30
Taholah 6 0 0 20 — 26
Second Quarter
C—B. Emery 32 run (E. Emery PAT)
C—B. Emery 2 run (Leonard PAT)
C—Leonard 60 run (PAT failed)
Fourth Quarter
C—B. Emery 14 pass from E. Emery (Leonard PAT)
Individual Stats
Rushing—C: Leonard 25-167, B. Emery 11-90, E. Emery 6-21.
Passing—C: E. Emery 7-14-59 2INTs, TD.
Receiving—C: B. Emery 6-47, Dalton 1-12.
Klahowya 41, Chimacum 14
SILVERDALE — The Cowboys lost a penalty-marred Olympic League 1A game to the Eagles in a game that left both coaches frustrated with the officiating.
“There were a lot of penalties, it wasn’t a very good game,” said Chimacum coach Chris Storm. He said there were at least 25 penalties. Klahowya coach Dan Ericson told the Kitsap Sun that it was an “ugly game” and that “too many penalties were called.”
“You can blame it on the refs, but we need to play better,” said Storm. He said the Cowboys were also battling illness.
Cole Doston and Ben Preston scored touchdowns for Chimacum, with Logan Storm adding a two-point conversion.
Chimacum (0-1, 1-3) next plays at Charles Wright (0-1, 1-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Klahowya 41, Chimacum 14
Chimacum 0 6 0 8 — 14
Klahowya 13 8 14 6 — 41
First Quarter
K—Templeton 4 pass from Hartford (Dickson kick)
K—Keppert 27 pass from Hartford (kick missed)
Second quarter
K—Hartford 4 run (Hartford run)
C—Dotson 4 run (kick missed)
Third quarter
K—Wallis 54 run (Dickson kick)
K—Wallis 1 run (Dickson kick)
Fourth quarter
K—Dickson 20 pass from Hartford (kick missed)
C—Preston 13 run (Storm run)
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