NEAH BAY — The past few years, Neah Bay and Lummi met during the regular season knowing that they would likely face each other again in the postseason.
This year, the Red Devils and Blackhawks know that after tonight’s nonleague game they will meet again at least once more, and a possible playoffs matchup would be the teams’ third meeting.
This is how it used to be before the teams’ coaches decided to only schedule one matchup in the regular season a few years ago.
“Me and [Lummi coach] Jim [Sandusky] sat down and talked about it a couple of years ago and we felt like we were beating each other up by playing twice,” Neah Bay coach Tony McCaulley said before the season started.
“And now we’ve sat down again and said, ‘You know, we really make ourselves better by playing each other twice because of the competition level.’
“So we decided to play each other twice again.”
The teams meet again Oct. 17 for a Northwest Football League game in Bellingham.
McCaulley called Lummi “probably the front-runner in the west right now” before
the season.
He wasn’t the only won. The Blackhawks were ranked No. 1 in Class 1B in The Associated Press preseason poll.
But one week into the season, the defending champion Red Devils have reclaimed front-runner status.
Neah Bay opened the season with a 60-0 pounding of Ocosta in an 11-man football game.
Lummi, meanwhile, made a long journey to Adrian, Ore., where it lost 42-20.
This week, the Red Devils moved up to No. 1 in the 1B rankings, while Lummi dropped to fourth.
Neah Bay’s offense had a solid outing against Ocosta with 312 yards total yards, including 226 on the ground, led by sophomore Cole Svec’s 107 yards.
The Red Devils’ defense was even better, forcing five turnovers (three interceptions, two fumbles) and recording two sacks.
The defense also helped on the scoreboard: Michael McGee returned a fumble 25 yards for a score and John Reamer made a tackle in the end zone for a safety.
Lummi started well against Adrian, but was undone by allowing too many big plays on defense.
The Blackhawks’ new quarterback this season is former lineman Hank Hoskins, who hooked up with Dino Williams for a 30-yard passing score in the opener.
Tonight’s kickoff at Neah Bay High School has been moved up to 5 p.m. to help Lummi make the ferry for their return to Bellingham.
Forks at Chimacum
PORT TOWNSEND — Somebody’s coming home a winner tonight when the Spartans (0-1) and Cowboys (0-1) meet at 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.
It will be the first football game at Memorial Field since a May inspection turned up structural weaknesses that red-tagged the facility’s grandstand and closed it to public use.
Bids on removing the stadium’s roof in time for the fall sports season were too high, so the stands remain closed and things will look a bit different for tonight’s kickoff.
Jefferson County, the owner of the stadium, has secured the rental of portable seating for what has traditionally served as the visitor’s side of the field, across from the grandstand.
For this year only, the visitors side will actually host the home teams.
Chimacum athletic director Gary Coyan said the Cowboys will utilize that far sideline, while visiting teams will use the sideline nearest to Washington Street.
“The football team will be on the traditional visitors side, but whether the public follows them over . . . we will have to see,” Coyan said. “Those will hold about 300 people.
“They also installed some seating on either side of the grandstand; I believe those are the bleachers that used to be on the visitors side.”
Spectators can purchase tickets from the same main gate and access the field and bathrooms through a 32-foot-long wooden tunnel recently constructed to provide field access through the grandstand’s main entrance.
“The teams themselves are not allowed to use the outside doors to the locker room, so both teams will have to use the tunnel as well,” Coyan said.
“It will be a bit of a trick to make that work.”
More complicated is removing a potential bottleneck that may form when fans exit the tunnel at the field.
“The trickiest part from my perspective is the tunnel comes out pretty far,” Coyan said.
“They are painting a 4-foot coaches box, and a 5-foot players box from the sideline so it will be tight.
“We will have a person there directing traffic and making sure people do not linger.”
Port Angeles at Vashon
VASHON — After a stirring comeback win at home against Port Townsend last week, the Roughriders (1-0) will have to turn into road warriors.
Tonight’s nonleague contest with the Pirates (0-1), 47-8 losers last week to Rainier Beach, marks the first of three straight games away from the friendly confines of Civic Field.
Port Angeles will open Olympic League play at North Mason next Friday and then visits Bremerton on Sept. 26.
The Riders return for four straight home games, starting with a homecoming date with Olympic on Friday, Oct. 3.
For tonight’s game, which starts at 7 p.m., Port Angeles fans should make sure to catch the 5:05 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. ferries which travel directly from Southworth to Vashon, a 10-minute trip.
The ferries out of Vashon leave at 9:20 p.m., 10:45 p.m. and 12:05 a.m.
Sequim at Coupeville
COUPEVILLE — A week after dispatching Chimacum 47-21, the Wolves face the other new Olympic League program tonight at 5:30 p.m.
Coupeville (0-1), which also uses a Wolf mascot, won its opener last week against rival South Whidbey 35-28.
Josh Bayne had 17 carries for 218 rushing yards and senior classmate Joel Walstead was 20 for 29 passing for 252 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions for the Coupeville Wolves.
The Whidbey Island-school is tied with Columbia of Burbank for the lowest enrollment total in the state’s 1A classification.
The final outcome won’t count against Sequim (1-0) in the Olympic League standings, as Coupeville, Chimacum, Klahowya and Port Townsend, comprise the league’s 1A division.
Port Townsend at Bellevue Christian
KIRKLAND — The Redhawks and Vikings will meet for the third straight season in this nonleague contest.
If the past two seasons are any indication, expect points and plenty of them.
Port Townsend (0-1) won both contests, a 52-39 win last season and a 67-39 triumph in 2012.
Bellevue Christian (0-1) opened the season with a 36-14 loss at Granite Falls.
Rainier Christian at Clallam Bay
CLALLAM BAY — The Bruins will attempt to ride herd on a two-pronged Mustangs passing attack.
Rainier Christian (0-1) used two quarterbacks in last week’s 44-12 loss to Sunnyside Christian.
Senior Ben Littlefield was 4 for 7 for 144 yards and a touchdown and classmate Jordan Bruce was 6 for 9 for 96 yards, along with a touchdown and an interception in the Mustangs defeat.
Clallam Bay (0-1) is shorthanded, suiting up only 11 players for its 48-0 win over Crescent last week, but coach Cal Ritter likes the chemistry of his team.
“This group I’ve got seems to play real well together. They communicate well, they help each other out,” Ritter said.
“There’s no egos. They don’t get down on each other at all.”
The game kicks off tonight at 6 p.m., an hour earlier than previously scheduled.
Crescent at Muckleshoot
AUBURN — Fresh off a tough start to the season in a 49-0 loss to Clallam Bay, the Loggers (0-1) hope to catch some Kings (0-0) when things kick off at 7 p.m. tonight.
“Defensively, we felt good about our effort and execution most of the way,” Crescent coach Darrell Yount said of the Clallam Bay game.
The Loggers trailed 14-0 at halftime before the floodgates opened.
Crescent will look to extend drives on offense and avoid giving Muckleshoot the short fields it provided Clallam Bay.
Mary M. Knight at Quilcene
QUILCENE — The Rangers (0-1) home opener comes against the Owls, a school located in Matlock, a timber community 20 miles west of Shelton.
Mary M. Knight lost 28-6 to another Sea-Tac 1B League school, Seattle Lutheran, last week.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday.
