PORT TOWNSEND — It’s better to be lucky than good.
Port Townsend’s defense was quite good against seventh-ranked Vashon Island in Friday night’s Class 1A Nisqually League football opener.
And the offense?
Well, it was just good enough . . . not to mention a little opportunistic.
The Redskins (1-0 in league, 3-1 overall) rode two long pass plays between quarterback Eric Thomas and receiver Cameron Robinson — one calling to mind the “Immaculate Reception” — and a stifling defense to a 14-10 upset of the Pirates (0-1, 3-1) on Friday night.
“We said that if we’re going to compete in the Nisqually League, we’re going to have to begin with a team like Vashon,” Port Townsend coach Brian O’Hara said.
“All of our games are going to be tough, but this is the first [league game], and we wanted to get out and set the tone and get it.”
The win was sweet revenge for the Redskins, who lost 26-25 to Vashon a year ago after Thomas was knocked out of the game with a 19-6 lead.
The defeat ultimately kept the Redskins out of the playoffs, and the hit on Thomas left a bad taste in many players’ mouths.
“That was one of the things that motivated us to play our hearts out,” said Robinson, who caught seven balls for 116 yards and two touchdowns. “I’m pretty sure everybody on the team knew we had to come stick it to these guys from day one.”
Thomas completed 12-of-30 passes for 153 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in an up-and-down performance.
The ups — a pair of long touchdown passes to Robinson — just happened to be really big.
The first, coming on fourth-and-17 at the Pirates’ 32-yard line in the first quarter, was picture perfect: A lofted spiral that hit Robinson in the end zone for a touchdown and 7-0 lead.
While the second wasn’t quite as pretty, it was equally effective.
Thomas was forced to scramble out of the pocket on second-and-long at the Vashon 48, throwing a wobbly pass to receiver Adrian Mallory in single coverage 20 yards down field.
The senior leaped to grab it, and — in a scuffle for the ball with Vashon’s defensive back — kicked it back up in the air as they fell to the ground.
Robinson burst onto it from out of nowhere as the ball fluttered in the air, caught it and ran down the sideline for a 48-yard touchdown and 14-0 edge.
“My route pretty much directed me toward that way,” Robinson said.
“I saw Eric throw it, and then I saw Adrian was covered, so I [thought], ‘You know what, if he drops this I might have a chance at it.’ So I just kept running.
“Sure enough, he kicked it right into my hands.
“I don’t even know how it happened.”
Few in the Memorial Field crowd did either.
“Really what made that play happen was [Adrian Mallory] coming back to the ball,” O’Hara said.
“He went up to the highest point and the ball started bouncing around, and Cameron was right there ready to go.
“It was just a great play. It ended up being the difference.”
Unorthodox front
That was due in large part to the performance of Port Townsend’s unorthodox 5-2 defensive front, led by linebackers C.J. Johnson and Mikhail Maduska.
The seniors split the gaps in Vashon’s offensive line all game, combining for 19 tackles.
Maduska collected nine and Johnson 10, which included two sacks and a tackle for a loss.
All together, Port Townsend dropped Vashon quarterbacks for a loss nine times in the game, holding the offense to 255 yards.
“We just slow-blitzed it,” Johnson said. “We’d see an opening and they’re passing the ball, and just go.”
The defensive effort more than made up for the Redskins’ start-and-stop offense, which amassed just 184 yards and two scores.
“Those kids never came out of the game,” O’Hara said. “We’ve got maybe 15 kids, a lot of them seniors, and they brought it today.
“I was really pleased with their performance, especially C.J. and our linebacking corps.”
Only Vashon running back Nathan Betz, who ran for 148 yards and the team’s lone touchdown on 26 carries, gave the Redskins trouble.
His rumbling 34-yard run put the score at 14-10 with three minutes left in the second quarter. But that was all the points Vashon would score.
The Pirates threatened to go ahead late in the fourth, driving down to the Port Townsend 6.
Yet quarterback Quinn Holert was stuffed on a rollout on third-and-4, and the Pirates were flagged for a personal foul (one of 10 penalties against the Pirates). That put Vashon into a fourth-and-20 situation, which it couldn’t convert.
“This is the first game we’ve had really any adversity or been behind and we didn’t respond well to it,” Vashon coach Clay Eastly said.
“I’ve got to hand it to PT. They came out and played hard, they did a great job.
“They deserved to win that game.”
Port Townsend 14, Vashon 10
Vashon 0 10 0 0 — 10
Port Townsend 7 7 0 0 — 14
First Quarter
PT — Robinson 32 pass from Thomas (Thomas kick)
Second Quarter
PT– Robinson 48 pass from Thomas (Thomas kick)
VA — Fox-Edele field goal
VA — Betz 34 run (Fox-Edele kick)
Individual Stats
Rushing–VA: Betz 26-148, Sohl 3-9, Holert 8-(-12), Rauma 5-(-12), Harvey 1-3. PT: Johnson 9-18, Thomas 8-(-22), Plouse 3-3, Mallory 1-1, Krabill 1-30, Unbedacht 1-2.
Passing–VA: Holert 5-9-1, 103; Rauma 2-5-0, 19. PT: Thomas 12-30-3, 153.
Receiving–VA: Fox-Edele 2-37, Betz 1-7, Sohl 1-3, Franks 3-68, Kerns 1-7. PT: Robinson 7-116, Mallory 1-6, Plouse 2-9, Johnson 2-22.
