SEQUIM — Sequim came close to clinching a postseason berth, but fell to Bremerton 14-13 at home on senior night.
Now the Wolves must vie for the Olympic League’s fourth and final district berth with rival Port Angeles and Kingston at Silverdale Stadium on Tuesday, starting at 5:30 p.m.
Sequim and Port Angeles will play first. The team leading after two eight-minute quarters will advance to play the Buccaneers.
In Thursday’s game with Bremerton, the Wolves looked poised to tie the score at 14-14 after Miguel Moroles connected with Bailey Earley on a fade route for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 2:02 left in the game.
However, a delay of game penalty pushed the extra point attempt back, adding distance to the difficulty of kicking in the downpour that began in the latter portion of the fourth quarter.
Adrian Espinoza’s kick was high enough, but it fell short of the crossbar.
After the game Moroles, who also is the holder, took the blame, telling his teammates that he called for the snap before Espinoza was ready.
Sequim wasn’t done.
The Wolves’ onside kick was unsuccessful, but the defense forced the Knights to punt, and Moroles and the offense got the ball back at their own 14-yard line with 1:01 remaining.
On the first play, Moroles hooked up with Earley over the top for a 43-yard gain.
Early had nothing but grass in front of him, but he was taken down from behind at the Bremerton 43.
“I heard that guy coming from behind, so I was just trying to run as fast as I could, but it just wasn’t fast enough,” Earley said.
As was often the case for Sequim in Thursday’s game, success was followed by a gaffe.
This time, a 6-yard loss by Moroles was compounded by a chop block penalty that moved the Wolves back to their own 36.
But, still, Sequim was not done.
Moroles threw two incompletion passes, and then found Gavin Velarde for a 44-yard gain to put the Wolves at the Bremerton 20 with 20 second left.
Moroles threw toward the end zone, but Earley slipped. He managed to get back to his feet and almost made a play on the ball, but the pass fell incomplete.
Following another incompletion, another penalty pushed Sequim back to the 30-yard line with time ticking down.
Espinoza came out for a 47-yard field goal attempt.
The rain was falling even harder than on his previous kick, and Espinoza slipped while setting his plant foot and his kick was wide and short.
It was the first Olympic League win of the season for the Knights (1-5, 3-6).
“It’s been a rough year,” Bremerton coach Nate Gillam said.
“This is prototypical for us, coming down to the last wire there. We only lost by a touchdown or so in a couple of those games.
“Sequim did a great job, man. They gave us everything they got and scared me there at the end.”
The Knights led at halftime 7-0 when Calvin Cardwell scored from 3 yards out a few plays after Sequim fumbled at their own 5.
They should have extended the lead when quarterback Connor Mahoney faked a handoff and ran nearly untouched for a 32-yard touchdown with just more than two minutes to play in the second quarter.
The fake to Cardwell also faked out one of the officials, who blew his whistle when Cardwell was tackled without the ball.
The inadvertent whistle brought the play back, and Sequim eventually forced a punt.
The Wolves tied the game with 1:55 to play in the third when Moroles threw to Earley, who jumped over the defensive back and caught the ball in the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown catch.
“That corner on the first touchdown, that guy was playing some good coverage, but I just jumped up and reached over him,” Earley said.
Bremerton took the lead back on the next drive.
Facing a third-and-13 at the Sequim 38, Mahoney dropped back and bought time before lobbing a pass to the middle of the field that was caught by Ty Haley, who then danced around a few Wolves for a touchdown with 10:44 remaining in the game.
The teams exchanged punts before Earley’s second touchdown of the game.
The sophomore finished with four catches for 97 yards.
Noah Christiansen caught seven balls for 57 yards. He has played primarily on defense this season but was forced to play receiver due to the Wolves’ rash of injuries.
Moroles completed 14 of 23 passes for 210 yards, 139 of those coming in the fourth quarter.
For Bremerton, Cardwell, the Olympic League’s leading rusher, had 26 carries for 175 yards.
After Thursday’s game the Wolves had four days to get ready to face not one, but two teams.
“For the most part, it’s, we first have to play PA we have to prepare to beat PA,” Wiker said.
“But we do what we do [defensively]. They have general rules that help them against any formation.”
Wiker has never coached a three-team tiebreaker, but he has scouted them.
He said Kingston probably has the advantage because they only have to play one half.
But, he added that Kingston has to prepare for Sequim and Port Angeles — two vastly different offenses — without knowing which they will play.
Bremerton 14, Sequim 13
Bremerton 0 7 0 7— 14
Sequim 0 0 7 6— 13
Second Quarter
B—Cardwell 3 run (Boekenoogen kick)
Third Quarter
S—Earley 35 pass from Moroles (Espinoza kick)
Fourth Quarter
B—Haley 38 pass from Mahoney (Boekenoogen kick)
S—Earley 5 pass from Moroles (kick no good)
Individual Stats
Rushing—B: Cardwell 26-175, Mahoney 3-11, Circulado 4-5. S: Stamper 16-56, Moroles 11-21, Richmond 3-13, Velarde 3-2, Feeney 1-(-3).
Passing—B: Mahoney 4-8-0, 49. S: Moroles 14-23-0, 210.
Receiving—B: Haley 1-38, McClain 1-7, Neyman 1-6, 1-(-2). S: Christiansen 7-57, Earley 4-97, Velarde 1-44, Richmond 1-14, Stamper 1-0.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
