SEQUIM — Sequim senior lineman Johnnie Young repeated a mantra as he marched along the sideline before the opening kickoff in Friday’s Rainshadow Rumble.
“This game was won six months ago,” Young kept saying, referring to the commitment level his team showed in offseason workouts in preparation for the fall.
“We had a better spring ball than we have had in three or four years,” Young said. “In the summer we worked out Monday through Thursday, we made it to every 7 on 7 [passing league game] and during two-a-day [practices] we busted our butts harder than ever, so I definitely think this game was won a long time ago.”
The hard work paid off for Young and the Wolves in a 46-6 pasting of Port Angeles that also sealed the Olympic League 2A Division championship for Sequim (5-0, 7-0,) the team’s first league title since a three-peat run from 2009-11.
“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised, but I wouldn’t say I would have predicted it,” Young said of claiming the Olympic League crown. “We knew we had a really good chance to compete coming into the season. And one thing our coaches stress is taking it week-by-week. So that’s been the motto.”
It also was the fourth straight rivalry win for the Wolves.
“Overall, really good, but that’s how I am, I see the little things we need to improve on more than the good things,” Sequim coach Erik Wiker said.
“My wife says, ‘you aren’t even happy when you win.’ And I say that’s because we could be doing these things better. I actually read former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden’s book and that’s the way he explained it and I understand. When a game is over and you win, it’s relief, not ‘Woo-hoo,’ and you move on.
“I’m trying to woo-hoo it, but league champs, that hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Port Angeles (2-2, 2-5) took the opening kick and marched downfield on a crisp, 7-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 12-yard TD pass to Anton Kathol from Brenden Roloson-Hines.
The Riders followed up with a 3-and-out defensively.
“We had great momentum, we showed that we could move the ball on them, we showed they were just high school football players,” Port Angeles coach Troy Mann said.
“It was great to see. I was really hoping we were going to have a game and show people what we are capable of, but the wheels came off again.”
Sequim’s balance offensively translated to a massive night yardage-wise.
The Wolves’ running game was massive, totaling 314 yards on 33 carries on the night, and Sequim quarterback Riley Cowan threw for 198 yards and three TDs, all in the first half.
He found sophomore Taig Wiker for an 11-yard swing pass, connected with classmate Kyler Rollness on an accurately placed 10-yard score in the corner of the end zone over a taller defender and hit a bulls-eye on his third score, splitting two Riders’ defenders in the end zone on a 25-yard TD to Joey Oliver to make it 27-6 Sequim at halftime.
“Sequim made some amazing plays,” Mann said. “That quarterback [Cowan], there’s a reason why he’s the No. 1.
“That pass right behind [Derek] Bowechop [on the Rollness TD], that pass in the end zone where the ball was placed where only the receiver can make the catch between our two guys, those were lights-out plays.
“We continued to move the ball on them effectively, but there’s something about it, we keep shooting ourselves in the foot and I have to find out how to fix that.”
Austin Leis led the Riders with 12 carries for 66 yards and Trevor Shumway caught two passes for 41 yards to pace Port Angeles.
The Riders will host surging North Kitsap (3-1, 6-1) next week, and will host North Mason (1-3, in a game that could decide the league’s fourth and final district playoff berth.
Sequim’s playoff path is secure: the Wolves will play the South Puget Sound League’s seventh seed in a winner-to-state game Nov. 2 or 3.
Before that, Sequim will visit Hoquiam for a nonleague game against the Grizzlies, the ninth-ranked team in Class 1A next week. The Grizzlies knocked off 1A No. 4 Montesano 37-35 Friday.
“They are really good and we can pretend it’s like a playoff game,” Wiker said. “We don’t know them at all, so we will treat it like we have a practice playoff game.”
Sequim 46, Port Angeles 6
Port Angeles 6 0 0 0— 6
Sequim 13 14 13 6— 46
First Quarter
PA—Kathol 12 pass from Roloson-Hines (kick failed)
S—Wiker 5 run (Cowan kick)
S—Wiker 11 pass from Cowan (pass failed)
Second Quarter
S—Rollness 10 pass from Cowan (conversion failed)
S—Oliver 25 pass from Cowan (Young run)
Third Quarter
S—Wiker 5 run (Cowan kick)
S—Cowan 16 run (Cowan kick)
Fourth Quarter
S—Whitney 18 run (conversion failed)
Individual Stats
Rushing—S: Wiker 14-124; Whitney 9-94, Cowan 7-82, Allen 3-12, Rollness 1-2. PA: Leis 12-66; Roloson-Hines 7-37, Edwards 5-25, Davis 2-17, Shumway 9-15, Guttormsen 2-11.
Passing—S: Cowan 11-21-198, 3TDs, INT. PA: Roloson-Hines 6-19-101, TD, 2INT; Guttormsen 0-3-0.
Receiving—S: Rollness 5-115; Wiker 4-52; Oliver 1-25; Langston 1-6. PA: Shumway 2-41, Kathol 2-30; Bowen 1-22, Leis 1-8.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Port Angeles quarterback Brenden Roloson-Hines, right, finds himself under pursuit by Sequim’s Taig Wiker, left, and Garret Hoesel on Friday in Sequim.
