By Michael Carman
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles made too many mistakes to overcome against a quality opponent and lost its homecoming football game to Bremerton 42-13 at Civic Field on Friday.
The Roughriders (2-2, 3-4) and Knights (2-2, 6-1) came into the game tied for second in the Olympic League 2A Division, but Bremerton’s misdirection-based inside running game proved superior.
Port Angeles’ loss, coupled with Sequim’s 31-18 victory over Olympic, moved the Riders into a tie with the Wolves (2-2, 4-3) for the league’s third and final district playoff berth.
The two area rivals will face off in the Rainshadow Rumble at Civic Field at 7 p.m. Friday.
Olympic (2-3, 3-4) also remains in the mix for that last playoff berth with a game remaining against Port Angeles.
Against Bremerton, the Riders trailed 14-0 after one quarter after allowing a 19-yard touchdown pass from Max Boekenoogen to Rasheed Joiner and a pile-driving 9-yard TD run by Semaj Cook.
But Port Angeles answered, as senior quarterback Easton Joslin bootleged left and threw deep to a crowd of Port Angeles and Bremerton players, including Garrett Edwards, who came charging across the field on the play, leaping high to nab the ball and score a 37-yard touchdown.
“I saw most of it, but I saw him go way up and get it,” Port Angeles coach Bret Curtis said of Edwards’ play on the ball.
Joslin was pressed into duty at quarterback due to an injury to Riders’ quarterback Chris Guttormsen. Normally a wide receiver on offense, Joslin managed the game well for the Riders offensively and provided a number of tackles and hard hits at defensive back.
“He did a very nice job for us tonight,” Curtis said. “He ran the offense really well. For a fill-in guy who’s only ran the offense for a week now he’s got good presence in the huddle and he’s one of our leaders.
The guys follow him, that’s all there is to it. He’s doing it on both sides of the ball for us and having a real nice season,” Curtis said.
Any momentum Port Angeles may have built with the Joslin to Edwards connection was erased when Bremerton’s Kelo Legova returned the ensuing kickoff for a 90-yard TD return.
The Knights made it 28-7 at halftime when Boekenoogen found Savante Perrigo for an 11-yard TD reception with 1:10 left in the second quarter.
Port Angeles came out of the locker room and put together an eight-play, 65-yard drive, highlighted by a 34-yard run by Joslin and capped by a 9-yard TD run by Jarrett Burns to trim the Knights’ lead to 28-13.
The Riders then stiffened on defense, forcing a Bremerton punt and taking over on offense near midfield.
That’s when a litany of mistakes shifted momentum right back to the Knights.
Port Angeles canceled out an encroachment penalty on Bremerton with a false start. A bad snap pushed the Riders back another 19 yards and Port Angeles’ punt on fourth down was partially blocked, gifting the Knights possession at the Riders’ 20-yard line.
“We seem to have that one drive, whether its a botched snap, a dropped ball, a couple of false starts that hurts us. And to be able to win you have to [avoid] that. “That [drive] was the one.”
Three plays later, Bremerton’s second-half weapon Brock Criss ended any Port Angeles comeback attempt by taking an inside reverse 17 yards to the end zone for a 35-13 lead as the third quarter ended. Criss rushed for 56 yards and two TDs on six carries, all of his numbers coming after halftime.
Cook rushed for 157 yards on 20 carries, 106 of those yards coming in the first half, as the Riders struggled to keep up with his speed and strength.
“That inside stuff, the buck sweep stuff, is tough to defend. You get upfield on them a little bit and the next thing you know they are chewing up the yards.
“A couple of those guys had some quicks, alright.”
Despite the disappointing defeat, Curtis said his team still controls its path to the playoffs.
“We have two winnable games left,” Curtis said of contests against Sequim and Olympic. “Sequim folks may not believe that, but we believe we can win that game.”
Bremerton 42, Port Angeles 13
Bremerton 14 14 7 7— 42
Port Angeles 0 7 6 0— 13
First Quarter
B—Joiner 19 pass from Boekenoogen (Moran kick)
B—Cook 9 run (Moran kick)
Second Quarter
PA—Edwards 37 pass from Joslin (kick failed)
B—Logova 90 kick return (kick blocked)
B—Perrigo 11 pass from Boekenoogen (Moran kick)
Third Quarter
PA—Burns 9 run (kick failed)
B—Criss 17 run (Moran kick)
Fourth Quarter
B—Criss 7 run (Moran kick)
Individual Stats
Rushing—B: Cook 20-157, Criss 6-56, Lopez 8-36, Cooper 2-11 PA: Burns 22-40, Joslin 9-34, Edwards 2-6, Allen 1-2.
Passing—B: Boekenoogen 4-9-42, 2 TD, 2 INT. PA: Joslin 2-5-43, TD, 2 INT.
Receiving—B: Perrigo 3-33, Joiner 1-19. PA: Edwards 2-43.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
