TAHOLAH — The Neah Bay Red Devils couldn’t ask for a better beginning to their state title defense than their 66-26 win over Taholah on Friday night.
Well, depending on who you ask.
“We started slow, which is kind of what we do,” Red Devils coach Tony McCaulley said, despite outscoring the Chitwhins 22-6 in the first quarter.
“We’re trying to get away from that.”
McCaulley was happy with how his team played in the second and third quarters.
The Red Devils deviated from their power-run offense and worked on their passing game.
“[Quarterback] Josiah Greene played great,” McCaulley said.
“He threw the ball to nine or 10 different receivers.”
Greene completed 18 of 22 passes for 257 yards and four touchdowns.
He also ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns, and returned a kickoff 85 yards for another score.
McCaulley was especially pleased with the effort on the other side of the ball.
“The defense looked pretty good,” he said, singling out the performances of Tyler McCaulley and Zeke Greene.
Despite the lopsided score, the Neah Bay coach said the Chitwhins provided a challenge for the Red Devils.
“Taholah’s a good team,” McCaulley said. “They put up a fight. They hit hard.”
Neah Bay 66, Taholah 26
Neah Bay 22 22 14 8— 66
Taholah 6 6 0 14— 26
First Quarter
NB—Josiah Greene 25 run (run failed)
TAH—Wayne Purdy 37 run (run failed)
NB—Greene 85 kickoff return (Leyton Doherty pass from Josiah Greene)
NB—Doherty 47 pass from Greene (Zeke Greene pass from Josiah Greene)
Second Quarter
NB—Joey Monje 1 run (run failed)
TAH—Justin Curleybear 43 run (run failed)
NB—Tyler McCaulley 14 pass from Josiah Greene (run failed)
NB—Monje 33 pass from Josiah Greene (Zeke Greene pass from Josiah Greene)
Third Quarter
NB—Zeke Greene 16 pass from Josiah Greene (Elijah Winck pass from Josiah Greene)
NB—Josiah Greene 47 run (pass failed)
Fourth Quarter
TAH—Wayne Purdy 75 run (Austin Rojas run)
NB—Cole Svec 11 pass from Josiah Greene (Josiah Greene run)
TAH—Wayne Purdy 37 run (run failed)
Individual Stats
Rushing— NB: Josiah Greene 7-114, Monje 6-29, Tyler McCaulley 4-32, Cole Svec 3-8. TAH: Justin Curleybear 26-105, Wayne Purdy 6-147.
Passing—NB: Josiah Greene 18-22, 257; Kenrick Doherty 0-1. TAH: Jeff Capoeman 0-4, 0.
Receiving—NB: Leyton Doherty 3-65, Zeke Greene 5-37, Monje 3-76, Tyler McCaulley 1-14, Elijah Winck 1-3, Cole Svec 2-21.
Klahowya 26,
Port Townsend 20
SILVERDALE — The Redskins’ fourth quarter rally came up short on Friday night.
“With 8 minutes left, we got fired up,” Port Townsend coach Nick Snyder said.
Trailing 26-7, quarterback Jacob King led the Redskins down the field on a drive that ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by King.
Port Townsend successfully executed an onside kick.
King capped the ensuing drive with a 3-yard run to cut Klahowya’s lead to 26-20 with two minutes left.
The Redskins attempted another onside kick that was unsuccessful, thereby ending the comeback bid and extending Port Townsend’s losing streak to 20 games.
Port Townsend was doomed by earlier mistakes.
After taking a 7-0 lead on Matt Cain’s 9-yard run, the Redskins continued to move the ball behind King, who finished with 111 yards rushing and 75 yards passing.
Port Townsend drove to the Eagles’ 10-yard line, before fumbling.
Later in the first half, the Redskins reached the Eagles’ 18, but then threw an interception.
They also gave up a 78-yard touchdown run by Latrell Simpson near the end of the first half that put Klahowya ahead 20-7.
“We made a lot of mental errors,” Snyder said.
“When we were disciplined, we played really well.”
Along with King’s play, Snyder praised the offensive line’s and the pass-catching of Skyler Coppenrath and Layne Zack.
Klahowya 26, Port Townsend 20
Port Townsend 7 0 0 13— 20
Klahowya 6 14 0 6— 26
First Quarter
PT—Matt Cain 9 run (Dillon Ralls kick)
Kla—Jonatahan Harris 6 run (kick failed)
Second Quarter
Kla—Harris 9 run (pass failed)
Kla—Latrell Simpson 78 run (Jacob Sheets run)
Fourth Quarter
Kla—Sheets 3 run (kick failed)
PT—Jacob King 7 run (Ralls kick)
PT—King 3 run (run failed)
Individual Stats
Rushing— PT: Jacob King 17-111, Wesley Wheeler 11-37, Matt Cain 4-42, Mitiku Little 7-4, Layne Zack 1-15. KLA: Latrell Simpson 12-124, Jacob Sheets 7-15, Jonathan Harris 3-23, Christian Olson 2-58.
Passing—PT: Jacob King 7-17-1, 75. KLA: Sheets 3-11, 49.
Receiving—PT: Layne Zack 3-40, Skyler Coppenrath 2-17, Dillon Ralls 1-11, Little 1-7. KLA: Josh Ganowswki 2-46, Olson 1-3.
W.F. West 33,
Port Angeles 0
CHEHALIS — After falling behind 33-0 in the first half, the Roughriders played the Bearcats to a scoreless tie in the third and fourth quarters.
“They’re a good team, they take advantage of mistakes,” Port Angeles coach Tom Wahl said.
“That was the tale of the first half.”
The Roughriders’ tackling improved in the second half, but their offense still struggled.
“We had moments, but one good play and two bad plays doesn’t make first down very well,” Wahl said.
He hopes that facing a quality team like W.F. West will pay dividends for the Roughriders down the road.
“We’re going against a couple of the best teams [W.F. West and King’s] in the state our first two games,” Wahl said.
“The challenge is to rise to that level.”
W.F. West 33, Port Angeles 0
Port Angeles 0 0 0 0— 0
W.F. West 19 14 0 0— 33
First Quarter
WFW—Cox 10 pass from Gueller (kick good)
WFW—Steem 5 run (kick blocked)
WFW—Cox 20 pass from Gueller (conversion failed)
Second Quarter
WFW—Moon 30 pass from Gueller (kick good)
WFW—Cox 6 pass from Gueller (kick good)
Individual Stats
Rushing— PA: Andrus 10-9, Barnes 5-9, Chapman 1,-5, Lasorsa 5-17, Robbins 2-15.
Passing—PA: Andrus 1-2, 6; Chapman 1-7-1, -2.
Receiving—PA: Lasorsa 2-4.