PREP FOOTBALL: Pair of mistakes cost Port Angeles in loss to North Mason

PORT ANGELES — In a game that seemed more evenly matched than the final score showed, the Port Angeles Roughriders were done in by two big mistakes, both of them at the same spot on the 5-yard line, in a 28-6 loss to the North Mason Bulldogs.

“We just gotta get back to work,” said coach Dustin Clark. “We’re a lot better than what we’ve show so far.”

Clark said the team has to clean up “the little things.”

“I liked their fight,” he said. “They kept fighting.”

Clark said he thought both Sohlberg and Brayden Martin did well at the quarterback position. Sohlberg had a 40-yard touchdown pass and Martin hit Sohlberg for a 40-yard gain late in the game.

The first mistake came in the first two minutes of the game and the second came in the fourth quarter. And they added to 14 total points, seven for North Mason and seven lost for Port Angeles. Despite the lopsided final score, this was nearly a one-score game with seven or eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Early in the game, North Mason blocked a punt at the 5-yard line and was able to recover the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.

The Roughriders bounced back from that, however, with a 66-yard drive near the end of the first quarter. Blake Sohlberg, normally a wide receiver on offense, started at quarterback and had a solid game, especially in the first half. He started the game 6-for-7 passing for 78 yards, though North Mason largely shut down the Port Angeles passing game in the second half.

Sohlberg hit Ricky Peterson with an 11-yard pass then Dylan Mann had a nine-yard run as the Riders moved to the 41-yard-line.

Sohlberg then threw a perfect 40-yard bomb to the sideline to a wide open Easton Fisher, who ran under the ball to haul it in for a touchdown. Sohlberg had two perfect deep passes in the game; on the second one later in the game, Fisher couldn’t quite hang on as a Bulldogs’ defensive back was able to break up the pass.

Port Angeles missed the point after. Both teams played tight defense through much of the rest of the first half. Oliver Martinez had an interception for the Riders while teammate Aiden Otis made a big tackle on a fourth-and-four to force a turnover on downs. Meanwhile, North Mason blocked its second punt of the game, though this time, the ball trickled forward for a few yards and it was not disastrous for Port Angeles.

Late in the first half, the Bulldogs had their first sustained drive of the game, going 12 plays for 69 yards for a touchdown. It was literally the first sustained drive for a score that the Riders’ defense had allowed in eight quarters going back to halftime of their season opener against Mount Baker.

In the second half, North Mason was able to put together another sustained drive, this time an eight-play, 66-yard drive, largely riding their workhorse running back Caden Atencio, to go up 21-6.

The Riders had a couple of chance to pull close. They drove down to the 26-yard-line, giving the ball several times to Brayden Wopperer, who ran four times for 22 yards on the drive. However, on a fourth-and-seven on the 26, Sohlberg ran for the first down and came up a yard short at the 20, creating a turnover on downs.

It appeared that the Riders got a massive break a couple of minutes later as Rylan Politika pounced on a loose ball at the 5-yard-line. However, the referees ruled that the North Mason runner was down in a bad break for Port Angeles.

Early in the fourth quarter, Port Angeles put together a big drive with a 13-yard run by Dylan Mann and an 8-yard run by Ricky Peterson. Sohlberg hit Rylan Politika with a 10-yard pass to set the Riders up with a first-and-goal at the 5-yard-line with plenty of time to get back in the game. However, on the next play, Port Angeles fumbled and North Mason recovered.

The Bulldogs held the ball for a few minutes and the Riders got the ball back on a turnover on downs. But Port Angeles quickly gave the ball up with an interception. Atencio, who had at least 25 carries, ran it in from 15 yards out to seal the game for North Mason at 28-6, locking up the win for the Bulldogs.

Port Angeles (0-1, 0-3) next plays at a revitalized Sequim team (0-0, 2-1) for the annual Rainshadow Rumble at 7 p.m. Friday in Sequim.

North Mason 28, Port Angeles 6

NM 7 7 7 7 — 28

PA 0 6 0 0 — 6

Scoring

First Quarter

NM — Atencio fumble recovery in end zone (PAT good)

Second Quarter

PA — Edwards 41 pass from Sohlberg

NM — Jones 3 run (PAT good)

Third Quarter

NM — Atencio 5 run (PAT good)

Fourth Quarter

NM — Atencio 15 run (PAT good)

Individual stats

Passing

Port Angeles — Sohlberg 7-for-15, 101 yards, TD, INT; Martin 1-5, 40 yards.

Rushing

Port Angeles — Sohlberg 7-41, Wopperer 7-29, Peterson 8-27, Mann 7-17, Lane 1-2.

Receiving

Port Angeles — Smithson 3-for-33; Fisher 1-41, TD; Sohlberg 1-40; Peterson 1-12, Wopperer 1-5, Politika 1-10.