BREMERTON — After a tight Rainshadow Rumble showdown last month, Sequim and Port Angeles will take another shot at each other today.
This time, though, they only have 16 minutes to determine a winner.
When they met Oct. 17, they played for more than 48 minutes, the Roughriders finally winning 20-14 when Kellen Landry caught a 25-yard pass from Ryan Rodocker in overtime.
And this time, the winners will have only a few minutes to celebrate beating their rival.
There won’t be time to linger and take selfies as Port Angeles did at Civic Field last month.
That’s because this time, the winner will have to play 16 more minutes against the Kingston Buccaneers.
The Riders, Wolves and Bucs meet today at Silverdale Stadium in a three-team tiebreaker playoff for the Olympic League’s last postseason berth.
Port Angeles (2-4, 4-5) and Sequim (2-4, 4-5) will start the royal rumble with two eight-minute quarters at 5:30 p.m.
The loser is eliminated and the winner faces Kingston (2-4, 2-7) for two more eight-minute quarters, beginning at approximately 6:15 p.m.
The winner of that second half, or game, will advance to the District 2/3 playoffs this Friday or Saturday, where it will face Franklin Pierce, the South Puget Sound League champion.
So, which team has the edge?
Tough to say.
Port Angeles was the highest scoring team of the three in Olympic League play, averaging 18 points over six games.
The Riders’ defense, though, allowed the most points, 26 points per game.
The Wolves were the lowest scoring in league play with 15.5 points per game, while allowing 24.2 points per game.
Kingston was by far the best of the three in scoring defense, giving up only 18.8 points per game, while scoring 16.8 points.
Not much to glean from that, other than Kingston should be the toughest to score on.
None of the three teams come into the game playing its best football of the season.
Sequim’s offense is averaging nine points over the past thee games, while its defense is allowing 24.3 points.
Port Angeles and Kingston are each averaging 12.3 points on offense in their last three contests.
Their defenses over the last three games are pretty even, too. The Riders have given up an average of 21 points, while the Buccaneers are giving up 21.7 points.
Port Angeles might seem to have the advantage there, but the Riders are coming off a 23-7 loss to Kingston last Thursday.
Sequim coach Erik Wiker hasn’t coached one of these three-team tiebreakers before, but he has scouted them.
“I think it would be an advantage for team that plays second half,” Wiker told the Peninsula Daily News on Saturday.
In this case, that is Kingston.
Wiker added, though, that the Buccaneers’ preparation has likely been split between the Wolves and Riders, while Sequim has been focused on Port Angeles.
Then again, Kingston spent last week preparing for the Riders, to it might have been spending a little more time since Thursday’s game preparing for Sequim.
But before Kingston even enters the picture, there must first be a winner between the Wolves and Riders.
Port Angeles came out in the rivals’ previous meeting and established the run from the start, chewing up nine minutes of clock and scoring a touchdown on the first drive of the game.
If the Riders are able to do that again today, then Sequim won’t see the ball until the second quarter begins.
But, if the Wolves do as they did last month and answer with a quick scoring drive, then Port Angeles will only have a few minutes to go for the go-ahead score.
Therefore, the format of two eight-minute quarters could put a premium on big plays.
Sequim has been more adept in that regard this season, usually with the legs or arm of quarterback Miguel Moroles.
If the Wolves win, they would face a team they beat 27-19 in September in a game that went down to the wire and required a fourth-down stop at their own 15-yard line.
The Riders lost by 16 to Kingston five days ago, but the score was 9-0 entering the fourth quarter.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
