SEQUIM — The Sequim football team took a while to get rolling Friday night in the Rainshadow Rumble against Port Angeles, but in the second half, they rode a heavy dose of Zeke Schmadeke to wear down the Roughriders in a 27-7 victory.
The Wolves had a pair of costly penalties in the first half, both of which cost them touchdowns. They also had a costly fumble and an interception. Their defense held the Riders scoreless in the half, but Sequim went into the halftime break up just 7-0.
In the second half, Sequim cut down on the mistakes and used its running game to chew up both yardage and the clock. The Wolves held the ball for more than eight minutes in the third quarter in a long 13-play drive that ended in a touchdown.
It was first-year head coach Ian Henley’s first Rainshadow Rumble with the Wolves.
“It was fun,” he said. “I love the atmosphere. It’s awesome to have a rival. You see a lot of that any more in high school football.”
Henley thought his team bounced back well from the first-half mistakes.
“We’ve talked all year about responding to adversity,” he said. “The kids did a great job of staying together.”
“I thought we actually played really well,” said Port Angeles coach Dustin Clark. “Three or four mistakes cost us big time. Offensively, we ran the ball extremely well. We tackled well
The game got off to a rough start for Sequim as Liam Wiker fumbled on the Wolves’ first possession. The Riders put together a nice drive, moving 30 yards downfield on a series of runs by Brayden Wopperer and Dylan Mann, but the drive stalled with a turnover on downs at the 30.
On the Wolves’ next series, Schmadeke, who finished with 148 yards on 24 carries but could have had a lot more without the penalties, used his speed burst to break out for a 69-yard touchdown run, but it was called back on a holding penalty.
The teams each had a possession that didn’t go anywhere, then on the final play of the first quarter, Schmadeke again burst into the open field and rumbled for a 47-yard touchdown. This time, there were no flags and the play stood up.
Sequim lost another touchdown in the second quarter when Schmadeke threw a pass to Malachi Hampton for an apparent score. The play was called back for illegal men downfield. On that same drive, Port Angeles’ Oliver Martinez broke up two potential touchdown passes in the end zone. Martinez would later be part of a huge play in the second half that seemed to turn the tide for the Wolves.
On Sequim’s next possession, Schmadeke hit Charlie Grider with a 32-yard pass down to the 11-yard-line, but that drive ended with a Martinez interception.
The third quarter was all Sequim. After a three-and-out by the Riders to open the second half, the Wolves marched down the field 69 yards on a 13-play drive, converting a pair of fourth-down plays that ended with a Liam Wiker 1-yard plunge with 2:52 left on the clock. On that drive alone, Schmadeke ran the ball 10 times for 45 yards, with most of his going right up the middle.
On their next possession, the Riders got a 35-yard run from Ricky Peterson, their biggest play of the game, but lost the ball on a fumble. In the end, Port Angeles only ran six plays in the third quarter. Sequim finished the game with 70 plays to Port Angeles’ 51.
Henley said the Wolves made adjustments at halftime and that he personally settled down in his play-calling. “We saw some things at halftime,” Henley said. “It took me about a half to get my play-calling down. The kids responded well.”
Linebacker Simon Skribner who had seven tackles said the win meant a lot to him as a senior.
“This rivalry has been going on for a really long time. Last year was really upsetting” when Port Angeles beat Sequim in the Rumble, the first time in a decade the Riders had beaten the Wolves.
“3-1 is the best record I’ve ever had,” Skribner said.
Skribner said there was a lot of chirping between the two rivals. “I was surprised there weren’t more penalties, but I’m not complaining,” he said.
In the fourth quarter, with Sequim clinging to a 13-0 lead and Port Angeles still very much in the game, Adrian Aragon made the play of the game. On a long pass down the sideline, Port Angeles’ Martinez had a chance for an interception, but the ball bounced off his hands into the air and Aragon caught the ball flat on his back for a 33-yard gain down to the 14-yard-line. Schmadeke ran it in from 11 yards out with 10:21 left to make it 20-0.
Clark said that play didn’t reflect Martinez’s great game with the two breakups in the end zone and the INT in the first half.
“Oliver was incredible last night,” Clark said. “Nine times out of 10, he picks that ball off. That was just a football play that didn’t go our way.”
The Riders rose up with a their only scoring drive of the game, marching downfield with Wopperer scoring from four yards out to make it 20-7 with 5:04 left, still time for Port Angeles to engineer a comeback.
Sequim recovered Port Angeles’ onside kick and drove down the field for a final touchdown on a 7-yard run by Wiker with 44 seconds left.
Wiker finished with 87 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns. Schmadeke and Wiker combined to throw for 123 yards.
Peterson had seven carries for 45 yards and also had a 45-yard kick return for the Riders. Dylan Mann ran 12 times for 46 yards. For Sequim, Malachi Hampton had an interception and Johnny Prorok had a fumble recovery for the Wolves.
Sequim (1-0, 3-1) finds itself on top of the Olympic League standings along with Bainbridge. The Wolves go on the road Friday to play Bremerton (0-1, 0-4), which was one of the toughest teams in the league last year, but is struggling this season.
Port Angeles (0-1, 0-4) plays at North Kitsap (1-1, 1-3) on Friday. The Vikings appear to be somewhat down this season after dominating the Olympic League for years.
Sequim 27, Port Angeles 7
PA 0 0 0 7 — 7
Seq. 7 0 6 14 — 27
First Quarter
Sequim — Schmadeke 47 run (Henninger kick)
Third Quarter
Sequim — Wiker 1 run (PAT no good)
Fourth Quarter
Sequim — Schmadeke 12 run (Henninger kick)
PA — Wopperer 4 run (Sohlberg kick)
Sequim — Wiker 7 run (Henninger kick)
Individual statistics
Rushing
Sequim — Schmadeke 24-148, 2 TDs; Wiker 17-87, 2 TDs.
Port Angeles — Mann 12-46, Peterson 7-45, Wopperer 12-38, Sohlberg 1-(-2).
Passing
Sequim — Schmadeke 11-16, 79 yards, INT; Wiker 2-2, 43 yards.
Port Angeles — Sohlberg 2-for-13, 32 yards, INT.
Receiving
Sequim — Melnick 3-36, Grider 3-33, Aragon 1-33, Wiker 3-10, Hampton 3-10.
Port Angeles — Point 1-20, Fisher 1-12.
Port Angeles’ Brayden Wopperer runs against Sequim’s James Mason on Friday night in Sequim. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
