PORT ANGELES — Long after the game had ended — after the Port Angeles students stormed the field, the Rainshadow Rumble trophy had been hoisted, and parents, teammates and schoolmates had patted his shoulder pads and congratulated him — Kellen Landry stood on the football field at Civic Field holding his helmet with a football tucked inside.
“He’s carrying the game ball there,” Port Angeles coach Tom Wahl said. “I think he’s owning that or something.”
About 15 minutes earlier, Landry almost dropped that same ball.
On Port Angeles’ first offensive play of overtime, quarterback Ryan Rodocker launched a ball into the left corner of the end zone, right to an open Landry, but the wet football wasn’t easy to corral.
“It slipped but I slid under it and kept it on my body,” Landry said Friday night.
That’s when Port Angeles’ bench, and the student section, ran toward the south end zone to celebrate.
Landry’s 25-yard touchdown catch gave the Roughriders a 20-14 overtime win over Sequim in the Rainshadow Rumble rivalry showdown on Friday.
“It was a great feeling,” Landry said “It’s the best feeling I’ve had.”
The Roughriders stopped Sequim on its overtime possession, forcing the Wolves to attempt a 37-yard field goal. Adrian Espinoza’s kick had plenty of distance but went left of the goal post.
With nothing to lose, Port Angeles took a shot at gaining everything on its first play.
It didn’t quite go how the Riders planned it, though.
“The corner was playing up and didn’t even see me on the backside, so I ended up running a route that wasn’t planned but it worked out in the long run,” Landry said.
It was Landry’s second catch of the game — he had all 37 of Port Angeles’ receiving yards. He also ran the ball nine times for 70 yards.
“It wasn’t executed to perfection, but it was adequate,” a smiling Wahl said of the game-winning play.
“It was a great catch on his part. He just — wow, what great concentration.
“He’s really come along as a receiver for us, and he’s really making some great catches for us in some games — big, big plays.”
The catch gave Port Angeles its second consecutive win over the Wolves after losing five straight from 2008 to 2012.
“It feels awesome,” Rodocker said. “It’s like our Super Bowl, basically, so it’s awesome.”
That the Riders won on a long pass went against the script they had written in regulation.
From the opening drive, in which Port Angeles went 71 yards for a touchdown on 18 plays and chewed up 9 minutes of clock, the Riders stuck with the run.
Ball control
And it worked. They gained 244 yards on 50 carries, while only throwing the ball six times. They had drives that lasted 9:01, 6:18, 8:44 and 4:11.
“That’s kind of always or plan, but especially against a team that can be so . . . explosive as Sequim can,” Wahl said. “But, yeah, that’s exactly what we wanted to do, was to try and control the ball.
“A team like them can get momentum and get out of control, and then it’s a horse race and we’re donkeys. We’re not race horses, we’re plow horses.”
Port Angeles’ experienced, physical offensive line loosened up the earth so the Riders’ running backs could average 4.9 yards per carry.
“We just told ourselves this week we want to hit them, mano a mano, push them off the line. We did that,” Port Angeles senior lineman Roberto Coronel said.
On the other side of the ball, the Port Angeles defensive line was in charge of making Sequim quarterback Miguel Moroles as uncomfortable as possible.
But even when they did, Moroles worked his typical magic.
Following the Riders’ dominating opening drive, Moroles led the Wolves down the field, near the end zone in less than 3 minutes.
On the opening play of the second quarter, Moroles connected with Bailey Earley for a 9-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal.
Port Angeles brought out the plows again, going 51 yards on 11 plays in 6:18 for another score, this one a 5-yard run by Nathan Angevine on fourth-and-goal to give the Riders a 14-7 lead.
It was Angevine’s second touchdown of the game. He led Port Angeles with 86 yards on 18 carries.
Friday’s victory was especially special to the senior captain, who had to sit out last year’s rivalry win with an injury.
“This is the first time in four years I’ve beat Sequim. We won last year, but I wasn’t on the field, so for me this was the first time,” Angevine said.
“It was the game I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I know I will.”
Again, the Wolves responded.
On fourth-and-13, Moroles looked like he would be stopped behind the line of scrimmage, but he escaped and scampered 22 yards for a touchdown to tie the scores at 14-14.
“He’s a stud. He’s awesome,” Angevine said. “He can be stopped for a 5-yard loss, find his way out and gain 10. He’s just that spectacular of an athlete.
“We knew coming into this that No. 15 [Moroles], he’s going to move, he’s going to be wild.”
Moroles had 102 yards rushing on 13 carries and completed 9 of 20 passes for 109 yards.
Port Angeles had 20 seconds left before halftime and decided to be aggressive.
It backfired when Dylan Lott picked off Rodocker and returned the ball to the Port Angeles 32 with 10 second left.
Sequim took a few shots, but didn’t score, leaving the score tied at 14-14 at halftime.
The rain came in the second half. So did defense. The two combined to keep the teams scoreless.
Both teams had drives go into opposition territory, but neither capitalized and the rivalry went to overtime.
For the Wolves, it was their third overtime in as many weeks.
They picked up 5 yards on their first two plays, but an incomplete pass on third down brought up fourth down and Wiker sent in the field goal team.
Espinoza barely missed a 36-yarder in the fourth quarter, so Sequim coach Erik Wiker had no regrets about kicking the ball either time.
“No. Not at all. He makes them in practice all the time. It’s one of those things, I mean he missed it by 3 feet, if he makes it [the first kick] we win the game, why would we regret that?” Wiker said.
“I think that was our best shot and we missed it by 3 feet.
Using basketball as an analogy, Wiker added, “You have your best 3-point shooter out there shooting it, and if he misses it, it’s not a bad call.”
The loss might be tough for the Wolves to swallow, but Wiker was happy with his team’s effort.
“I think they did really well. They faced a lot of adversity in the past few weeks, losing lots of starters [to injuries],” he said.
“People have stepped up and responded and played really well.
“I mean, considering, if you look at our sidelines, how many kids are out, starters from last year and everything else, we can almost play another game with them.
“So, considering that at our size of school, there’s a lot of things to be proud of these kids, and how they battle and they don’t make excuses and they try to win games no matter who’s in there playing.”
The Wolves (2-2, 4-3) and Roughriders (2-2, 4-3) are now tied for third place in the Olympic League behind North Kitsap and Olympic.
Sequim’s loss adds a little bit of uncertainty to its postseason prospects, while winning put the Roughriders back in the chase.
“Most excited to still be alive in the playoffs,” Wahl said, “because our boys want to be in the playoffs and this was a must-win, and so that is more important, of course, than anything else.”
North Mason (2-3, 3-4) trails the Riders and Wolves by a half-game with only winless Bremerton (0-4, 2-4) left on the Bulldogs’ league schedule.
Port Angeles and Sequim, meanwhile, have tough games up next.
The Riders host seventh-ranked North Kitsap (4-0, 7-0) this Friday, while Sequim travels to face Olympic (4-0, 5-2) at Silverdale Stadium.
Port Angeles 20, Sequim 14, OT
Sequim 0 14 0 0 0— 14
Port Angeles 7 7 0 0 6— 20
First Quarter
PA—Angevine 1 run (Beck kick)
Second Quarter
S—Earley 9 pass from Moroles (Espinoza kick)
PA—Angevine 5 run (Beck kick)
S—Moroles 22 run (Espinoza kick)
Overtime
PA—Landry 25 pass from Rodocker (no PAT attempt)
Individual Stats
Rushing— S: Moroles 13-102, Whitaker 8-39, Richmond 4-7, Stamper 2-6, Frick 1-1. PA: Angevine 18-86, Landry 9-70, Lausche 5-31, Burton 5-27, Rodocker 3-15, Andrus 8-11, Coronel 2-4.
Passing—S: Moroles 9-20, 109; Velarde 0-1. PA: Rodocker 2-6-1, 37; Angevine 0-1.
Receiving—S: Earley 2-42, Dennis 3-24, Richmond 2-23, Faunce 1-13, Velarde 1-7. PA: Landry 2-37.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
