Some call it a North Olympic Peninsula gridiron rivalry akin to the Super Bowl.
Will the Sequim Wolves leave the Port Angeles Roughriders bitten and bleeding, or will the Riders run roughshod over the Wolves?
A crowd of at least 3,000 football fans will find out tonight at Civic Field in Port Angeles.
Tonight’s clash of the No. 7 Roughriders (6-0 in league, 8-0 overall) and No. 10 Wolves (6-0, 7-1) sets up as the biggest football game in decades on the Peninsula. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
The rivalry showdown of Class 2A heavyweights will determine the Olympic League championship, not to mention bragging rights for a year and an untold number of friendly wages.
Among those are the principals of Port Angeles and Sequim high schools, who are putting their colors where their mouths are.
Both Garry Cameron, Port Angeles High School principal, and Shawn Langston, Sequim High School principal, are so convinced that their respective teams will prevail in tonight’s big football game that they are putting their pride on the line in a friendly wager.
“We’ve decided that at the first home basketball game, if PA wins, he will wear a PA sweatshirt and hat,” Cameron said of Langston.
But if the Wolves prevail at Civic Field tonight, Cameron will don Sequim attire when the Wolves host the Port Angeles Roughriders on the hardwood.
Asked if he was nervous about the gentleman’s bet, Cameron said: “Extremely.
“But I didn’t say I’d sit with them [Sequim fans],” he added.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Civic Field in Port Angeles.
“There’s a big buzz on campus right now,” Cameron said.
“Kids are saying they’re going to be there by 5:30. It’s going to be electric.”
Sequim High School Wolves football boosters and alumni, not surprisingly, are confident their boys will prevail.
“This is the game of the century,” said Sequim booster Janet McColl, referring to Sequim High’s 100th anniversary coming in 2011.
“A lot of these players have been playing against each other since they were in sixth grade.”
Tonight is the first league game between the geographical rivals since 1990. The last six showdowns, from 2004 to 2009, were non-league affairs.
Adding to the drama is the Roughriders’ remarkable turnaround. Port Angeles was winless in football just one season ago.
“Tomorrow will be Green and White Friday, for sure,” Cameron said.
“Everyone is encouraged to wear green and white. We haven’t called for a purple-free zone yet, but we’re getting close.”
Port Angeles boosters will watch the game unfold from the covered grandstand (capacity 2,500) on the west side of the gridiron.
City officials brought in extra bleachers to seat about 600 purple-clad Sequim fans along the east sideline.
The entire field will be roped off to accommodate overflow crowds.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early. Ticket gates will open on both sides at 5:30 p.m.
Bev Isley, a secretary at Port Angeles High, said there is “absolutely” a sense of excitement among staff and students in anticipation for tonight’s game.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “I’d imagine it’s the same way in Sequim.”
Isley and other staffers, some of whom wore green-and-white tights for Homecoming festivities last week, planned to don green-and-white “Gang Green” shirts today.
“Last year, all of the secretaries got together and thought it would be fun to dress up,” Isley said.
“We want to show our support for the team.”
Joe Politika, sales manager at Hi-Tech Electronics Inc., showed his Rider pride through a multi-image digital reader board outside the store at 723 E. Front St. It reads: “Go Roughriders! 8-0.”
Politika played baseball for Port Angeles and graduated in 1995.
“This is really cool for the community,” Politika said of tonight’s game.
“I can never remember any game being close to this big growing up.”
When asked to make a prediction for the game, the Port Angeles High School principal wouldn’t budge.
“No predictions,” Cameron said Thursday.
“This is uncharted territory for us. Our kids will play well. I’m sure Sequim will be up for it as well.
“We’re real excited. It will be electric tomorrow. I can tell you that.”
Lorie Forshaw, Sequim High School Football Boosters president who works for First Federal’s eastside branch, said she has helped promote the rivalry within Peninsula banking institutions.
Employees today are expected to dress up in Port Angeles green and white, and the purple and gold of Sequim.
“I have heard that Sequim fans believe that playing Port Angeles is a much more exciting challenge to them — more than a championship game,” Forshaw said.
Sequim boosters have lined Washington Street with purple-and-gold pennants for the past two weeks, and Forshaw said they will be moved to the visitors’ bleachers to add some Wolves spirit and color in Rider territory.
“We have the purple ponchos coming out,” said Forshaw, a Sequim alumnus who coached girls volleyball at Sequim for nine years.
“We’ve got everything coming out for the game Friday.”
Sequim Assistant Coach Mickey Starks, who quarterbacked for the Riders for three years during the 1980s, said he just wants to treat it like any other game, but he knows it is not, calling the game enormously important to win.
“I bleed both purple and green,” Starks said. “I’m split.”
“This is like PA’s Super Bowl to beat us.”
Randy Wellman, known as the “Wolfman” for his extreme boosterism, said with the economy as it is, this is a time when everyone in the region can get together to play and shake hands after a good game.
Rick Rickerson, father of Sequim quarterback Drew Rickerson, said he’s big on the Wolves no matter what.
“I’ve always been here,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re 10 and 0 or 0 and 20,” he said.
Tara Velardi, a 1992 Port Angeles High School graduate, on Thursday sported a purple-and-gold Sequim letterman’s jacket.
Her son is Sequim offensive and defensive lineman Tyler Gaumond, and she agrees with those who say the game is important.
“There’s some serious trash-talking,” she said. “This is going to be the battle of the century.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
ONLINE BONUS: Just how big is tonight’s Big Game? Here’s how the sports editor of the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton sees it: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/oct/28/chuck-stark-viewpoint-all-you-need-to-know-about/
