PORT TOWNSEND — Not much was stopping David Sua.
Even a cleat to the face could only keep him down for about half of a quarter.
The junior racked up 146 yards and scored twice in Port Townsend’s 22-9 win over division foe Klahowya.
“Sua was a beast. Sua was a beast,” Redhawks coach Nick Snyder said following Friday’s game at Memorial Field.
“You can’t tackle him. He’s 220 pounds . . . and he’s strong as an ox.”
Sua, a junior, ran 15 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns and turned a pair of screens into 40 yards receiving.
“I wasn’t thinking at all. I wasn’t even thinking about getting in the end zone, I just tried to get as many yards as I could,” Sua said.
“Even if that meant cutting back and forth, which coach hates.
“I felt like I was in the zone.”
The win gets Port Townsend (1-0, 2-1) off to a nice start in Olympic League 1A Division play.
“I feel like this was a really big win for us,” Sua said.
“They are very good competition and I feel like that’s the best we’re going to face [in league play] — I don’t know that for sure, but I feel like that’s definitely a hard team to face.”
As a team, Port Townsend gained 224 yards on the ground, averaging nearly 5 yards per carry.
Besides Sua, the other 31 carries were split between six ball carriers, with sophomore Isaiah Mason running for 50 yards on five carries and senior Zach Wilson running seven times for 28 yards.
Klahowya coach Dan Ericson said his team struggled to match the Redhawks’ physical play on both sides of the ball.
That was evident on the three occasions the Eagles had the ball inside their own 10-yard line.
The first time Klahowya found itself in that predicament, quarterback Konner Langholff was tackled by a flock of Redhawks in the end zone for a safety that gave Port Townsend a 2-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
The second time, early in the third quarter, Langholff’s fumble was recovered by Port Townsend’s Jonathan Smith to set up Sua’s second touchdown run, a 12-yarder that extended the Redhawks’ lead from 16-9 to 22-9.
The third time only resulted in a punt, but the Eagles lost 2 yards on the three-play drive.
One one of those plays, Sua and Smith teamed up to stuff Langholff for no gain. Sua’s helmet popped off and his face clashed with Langholff’s cleat, earning Sua some stitches above his mouth, which kept him on the bench for part of the fourth quarter.
Port Townsend’s defense held an opponent under 15 points for the third time in three games this season.
The Eagles ran for only 23 yards on 22 carries, forcing them to rely on Langholff, who completed 16 of 36 passes for 201 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
“They’ve been playing well all year,” Snyder said of the Redhawks defense.
“They’re figuring it out. It’s not a complicated defense, it’s pretty simple and it’s based on being able to play fast and run to the football.”
Neither offense managed to do much for most of the first half.
Port Townsend finally found the end zone with 7:30 left in the second quarter on a well-placed 37-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Seton to Cameron Constantine.
Seton finished 6 of 10 for 109 yards with an interception and that one touchdown.
“I wish we would have thrown the ball a tad bit more,” Snyder said.
“My goal was to throw the ball 20 times and I fell way short of that. I probably should have, just to get in a rhythm of it.
“Sometimes I get back to that old-school, double-wing football where I want to eat clock and ground and pound, and I don’t think we’re built that way anymore. I think we’re built to throw the football, as you saw on that 37-yard bomb by Jeff.”
Sua scored his first touchdown less than 3 minutes later on a 3-yard run that came right after a 19-yard gain. That score was set up by 60-yard punt return by Jacob Ralls down to the Klahowya 24.
The Eagles opened the scoring in the second half with a 58-yard scoring strike from Langholff to Casey Trask. Trask’s PAT attempt was blocked by Port Townsend’s Liam Anderson.
Trask accounted for all nine of Klahowya’s points. He also kicked a 22-yard field goal in the second quarter.
The Redhawks went three-and-out, giving the ball back to Klahowya with only a seven-point lead.
Austin Khile’s punt was downed at the Klahwoya 6, setting up Langholff’s fumble that rolled forward before Smith recovered to set up Sua’s 12-yard run on the next play.
Klahowya fell to 0-3 on the season and a game down in the league standings, but Ericson said the Eagles aren’t focused on the big picture at this point.
“We’re just trying to win a game,” Ericson said. “So we’re just going to think about next week. That’s where we’re at.”
Klahowya returns to Memorial Field this Friday to play Chimacum (0-1, 0-3), which lost to Coupeville 48-24.
Port Townsend has another big league matchup Friday on the road against Coupeville (1-0, 2-1).
Port Townsend 22, Klahowya 9
Klahowya 0 3 7 0— 9
Port Townsend 2 14 6 0— 22
First Quarter
PT—Safety
Second Quarter
PT—Constantine 37 pass from Seton (A. Khile kick)
PT—Sua 3 run (Khile kick)
K—Trask 22 FG
Third Quarter
K—Trask 58 pass from Langholff (kick blocked)
PT—Sua 12 run (kick blocked)
Individual Stats
Rushing— K: A. Sargent 11-14, Zuber 1-6, Langholff 10-3. PT: Sua 15-126, Mason 5-50, Wilson 7-28, Kelsall 6-18, Easley 8-8, A. Khile 1-0, Seton 4-(-6).
Passing—K: Langholff 16-36-1, 201. PT: Seton 6-10-1, 109; Mason 0-1-1.
Receiving—K: Schnuit 7-74, Trask 3-74, Zuber 5-36, C. Sargent 1-17. PT: Sua 2-40, Constantine 1-37, A. Khile 1-12, Anderson 1-9, Mason 1-9.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
