PREP FOOTBALL: Riders tough early against Mount Baker, but mistakes costly

PORT ANGELES — The final score won’t show it, but the Port Angeles Roughriders football team gave the Mount Baker Mountaineers everything it could handle for all but the final minute of the first half.

Then, unfortunately, the wheels came off the cart with a pair of turnovers and quick-strike touchdowns by the Mountaineers, who went on to win 47-12 in the Riders’ season-opener at Civic Field.

For the first 23 minutes of the game, it was a battle as the Riders were effective on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. It appeared the game was going to come down to the wire.

With the score 7-6 for Mount Baker, Port Angeles got possession of the ball on its 19-yard-line with about a minute left in the half after forcing the Mountaineers to punt. Quarterback Jude Wallace, who had played well up to that point, threw an interception at midfield trying to go deep. Mount Baker ran the ball back to the 39-yard line. Two plays later, Mount Baker quarterback Setoga Tigilau hit 6-foot-2 Jet Ross with a jump ball pass for a 33-yard touchdown.

After getting the ball back on the kickoff, the Riders immediately turned the ball over again with another interception. Tigilau hit Ross again with another touchdown pass, this one from 32 yards out, with 34 seconds left. In just 14 seconds, the score had gone from 7-6 to 20-6.

Coach Dustin Clark said the turnovers might have hurt the Riders, but the real story was too many missed tackles.

“They hurt us but they didn’t kill us. They damaged us,” he said. “For us, it was about blocking and tackling. We missed a lot of tackles.”

Mount Baker found it could gash the Riders with quick trap plays up the middle in the second half as the Mountaineers scored 20 points just over 10 minutes with Kamden Moa running for 46 yards, 18 yards, then finally 32 yards for a touchdown all in the third quarter, putting the game out of reach at 40-6 entering the fourth. Mount Baker scored 33 of those points in roughly 11 minutes of clock time. Again, Clark said those successful plays up the middle came down to missed tackles.

“We need to be more disciplined. We’re going to be just fine,” he said.

Good start for PA

Mount Baker got off to a quick start in the first quarter, scoring a touchdown after a six-play drive that lasted just 2 minutes, 44 seconds.

However, the Riders showed they weren’t going to bowl over for the Mountaineers. After a Riders’ drive stalled, the Port Angeles defense held on Mount Baker’s next possession, as Ian Smithson made a good play to break up a pass on a third-and-4 play. That forced a Mount Baker punt.

In the second quarter, Mount Baker drove again and had a first and goal at the 9-yard line. Carson Waddell pressured Tigilau to force an incomplete pass on third down. On fourth down, the Mountaineers fumbled and Riley Arnold recovered the ball, giving the Riders the ball at the 15-yard line.

Easton Fisher shined on the next drive. Wallace hit Fisher for a 35-yard pass play as Fisher got wide open. Dylan Mann had a pair of nice runs and Wallace made a nifty spin move to avoid a tackle on a four-yard run and third-down and two to earn a first down at the 27-yard line.

On a fourth-and-16 from the 34-yard line, Wallace hit Fisher again in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown with 3:09 left in the half, making it 7-6. Suddenly, it was very much a game.

Mount Baker also beat Port Angeles 49-22 last year. This game was different, however, as the Mountaineers dominated the Riders right out the gate last year.

Clark said Mount Baker’s coach told him “the score was not what the game was. It was very different from the game last year.”

Near the end of the game with just 14 seconds left, Fisher had another 34-yard catch for a touchdown, this time on a pass by Waddell. Fisher finished with three catches for 107 yards and two TDs. Dylan Mann led the team with 42 rushing yards on 12 carries, which included a 20-yard run. Waddell and Wallace combined for 167 yards passing. Hunter Flores had a quarterback sack for a 7-yard loss.

Port Angeles (0-1) hosts another nonleague game Friday against the Forks Spartans (0-1), who were beaten by Sequim 18-14 this week. The game is listed for a 7 p.m. start.

Mount Baker 47, Port Angeles 6

MB 7 13 20 7 — 47

PA 0 6 0 6 —12

First Quarter

MB — Moa 11 run, PAT good, 9:16.

Second Quarter

PA — Fisher 34 pass from Wallace, PAT no good, 3:09.

MB — Ross 33 pass from Tigilau, PAT good, 0:48.

MB — Ross 32 pass from Tigilau, PAT no good, 0:34.

Third Quarter

MB — Cooper 6 run, PAT no good, 8:54.

MB — Tigilau 1 run, PAT good, 7:05.

MB — Moa 32 run, PAT good, 1:30.

Fourth Quarter

MB — Nicol-Mills 7 run, PAT good, 5:25.

PA — Fisher 34 pass from Waddell, PAT no good, 0:14.

Individual stats

Passing

PA — Wallace 7-17, 93 yards, TD, 3 INT; Waddell 4-8, 74 yards, TD.

Rushing

PA — Mann 12-42, Wallace 8-26, Wilson 10-19, Waddell 1-7, Smithson 1-(-1).

Receiving

PA — Fisher 3-107, 2 TDs; Wallace 3-37, Martinez 3-14, Smithson 1-3, Zelenka 1-6.