KINGSTON HEAD FOOTBALL coach Dan Novick didn’t need any help finding his way around Civic Field.
As leader of the Port Angeles program for three seasons in 2001-03, he was well-acquainted with the surroundings.
He just had to get used to patrolling the sidelines on the other side of the field.
Novick visited Civic Field for the first time Friday night since walking away from Rider football in 2003 for a job at Heritage in Vancouver, Wash.
And while he expected his Buccaneers to put up a little bit more of a fight in the 34-14 loss, he wasn’t surprised to see what the Roughriders had to offer in the Olympic League tilt.
“The kids are good kids, obviously,” said Novick, who was 12-16 in his three years at Port Angeles.
“They played how I expected how they would play, which is one thing that I remember very fondly in Port Angeles.
“We had coaches who worked really hard, and we had kids who worked really hard, too. They certainly showed that on the field tonight.”
Port Angeles’ domination of the Buccaneers was a far cry from a season ago when the Riders were out-gained 283 yards to 69 but still managed to win 14-9 in Kingston.
The power-run game Novick has emphasized at each of his coaching stops, including PA, failed to materialize Friday night.
Much of that, of course, could be attributed to an aggressive, hard-hitting Rider defense that came up with nine tackles for a loss.
It also helped that Kingston’s game plan had quarterback Sam Byers throwing the ball 31 times, or one less attempt than he had in the Bucs’ three previous games combined.
Added all together, it led to a second straight defeat for Novick at the hands of his former team.
“They had a nice scheme against us,” said Novick, whose team was held to 59 yards rushing, 169 below its per-game average for the season.
“We didn’t fire off the football tonight, we didn’t finish blocks. Some of that was our own guys, but a lot of it was the scheme that they had.
“They had us back on our heels early, and it was tough to regain any kind of momentum on the line of scrimmage.”
Novick took over the Kingston football program from scratch when the school first opened in 2007 while also serving as athletic director.
After a few lean years to begin his tenure — Kingston was 2-26 from 2007-09 — he’s turned the Buccaneers into one of the more competitive teams in the Olympic League.
Last year, the Bucs finished third in the league standings, and this year league coaches picked them to finish fourth.
That would mean a second straight playoff appearance for Novick, something his teams were never quite able to achieve during his time on the North Olympic Peninsula.
His best season in Port Angeles was his first, a 6-3 year that fell one win shy of the Class 4A playoffs out of the Narrows League.
For what it’s worth, Novick said he still cheers for the Roughriders . . . just not when they face Kingston.
“I like to see them do well every week that they don’t play us, having coached here, but I wish we could have come out on top tonight,” said Novick, who also had a brief coaching stint in Texas.
“I saw some people that I knew [Friday] when I coached here that came up and said ‘hi’ that were very cordial. There’s a mutual respect, I think.
“I certainly loved my time here.”
Central recruit
Port Angeles volleyball senior Kiah Jones recently made a verbal commitment to play for Central Washington University next fall.
The 5-foot-11 outside hitter attended the Division II school’s prospect camp this past summer and made a good enough impression that she was invited to visit Ellensburg last week.
Central extended a formal offer to her during the visit, and Jones plans on signing her National Letter of Intent on Nov. 9.
Jones is a two-time All-Olympic League player and is in the early running for league MVP honors after leading her team to 4-0 start to the season.
The daughter of former NFL offensive lineman Scott Jones, Kiah also starts at forward for the girls basketball team and is a 4.0 student.
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.
