Neah Bay played, and beat, Lummi three times last year on its way to its second consecutive Class 1B state championship, and third in four years.
So by the time the Red Devils faced Liberty Christian in December’s championship game, they were battle-tested.
This year, Neah Bay, currently ranked second in 1B by The Associated Press, might not be challenged until the postseason, and possibly not until the championship game.
A few weeks ago, Lummi, the Red Devils’ go-to measuring stick, canceled the first scheduled meeting between the 8-man powerhouses due to a lack of players.
The next showdown is slated for Oct. 19 in Bellingham, but will the Blackhawks be at full strength and able to pose the challenge Neah Bay is accustomed to?
Since nixing their game in Neah Bay, the Blackhawks barely survived a shootout with Seattle Lutheran, winning 72-64 in a game that was called after three quarters due to a lack of light (maybe because all available lighting was used to power the constantly changing scoreboard), and then last week lost to Entiat 40-24.
So far, Lummi isn’t the Lummi it usually is.
But the Blackhawks aren’t the only ones.
Small enrollments mean small teams, so 8-man football is no stranger to cancellations due to a lack of players.
But it seems to be happening a lot more this year on the westside of the state than in previous seasons.
Muckleshoot canceled its game against Clallam Bay on Saturday, and a few weeks ago it threw in the towel at halftime against Crescent.
Tulalip Heritage has a forfeit on its record.
Twin Valley, that combined team of players from Lake Quinault and Wishkah Valley, has only played one game and had to forfeit to Lyle-Wishram.
And, of course, Lopez had to cancel its season more than a week before it started because it didn’t have enough bodies (and this is why Neah Bay doesn’t have a game this week).
That was a big blow to Neah Bay, because other than Lummi, Lopez has been one of the better teams the Red Devils have faced during the regular season the past few seasons.
But not facing a full-strength Lummi might negatively affect Neah Bay the most when the postseason rolls around and it faces a team such as Liberty Christian that can hang with the Red Devils for four quarters.
In its two 8-man games this season, Neah Bay (3-0) has defeated Taholah 50-0 and Lyle-Wishram 70-16.
In both games, the starters didn’t see much more than one quarter of action together.
Of course, a lot can change, especially as many players become eligible in the fifth week. Also, Lummi is lacking numbers, not talent. (Quarterback Jonathan Casimir threw for 469 yards and eight touchdowns against Seattle Lutheran.)
But if it doesn’t change, Neah Bay’s best test might end up being its 44-36 win over Northwest Christian of Colbert in an 11-man game.
By the way, that win is looking better and better each week. Since losing to the Red Devils, Northwest Christian has defeated Kettle Falls 48-6 and Reardan and Colfax by identical 41-14 scores.
Reardan and Colfax have both spent time in the AP’s Class 2B poll this season, and have been fixtures in the rankings in recent seasons.
Here are two other things learned last week in North Olympic Peninsula high school football:
■ Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!
You’re 5-foot-nothin’, 100 and nothin’ . . .
In the 1993 movie “Rudy,” fictional Notre Dame groundskeeper Fortune’s next words to Rudy Ruettiger are “you have barely a speck of athletic ability.”
That last part doesn’t apply to Port Angeles’ Rudy Valdez, and “5-foot-nothin’, 100 and nothin’” would be an exaggeration, although the freshman wide receiver is listed at only 5-foot-6, 130 pounds on the Roughriders’ football roster.
Valdez, though, made some big plays for Port Angeles in its 23-7 loss to Bremerton on Friday.
That includes the Riders’ only touchdown, when he took a reverse handoff from running back Kellen Landry and outran the Knights to the other side of the field and up the sideline for a 23-yard touchdown.
Adding to the magnitude of the play is that it came on fourth-and-3 — yes, the Riders went to a freshman on fourth down.
At halftime, Port Angeles offensive coordinator Mike McMahan said he’s been waiting for a chance to give the ball to Valdez on a play like that.
In the fourth quarter, Valdez returned a kickoff 56 yards into Bremerton territory. The field was more cluttered than on his touchdown run, so Valdez had to use several specks of athletic ability to make his way up the field.
“He will be so much fun to watch in a couple of years,” Port Angeles senior quarterback Ryan Rodocker said.
“Even more than he is now.”
The Riders’ offense, which averages 12 points per game, the second lowest on the Peninsula, will take all it can get from Valez now.
■ McCabe Story is a beast.
Catching passes in the flat and stiff-arming would-be tacklers to pick up big chunks of yardage as a tight end, blowing through gaps in Quilcene’s offensive line for tackles for loss as a defensive lineman, and making his presence felt on kick returns, McCabe Story was a bright spot for Crescent in a 50-8 loss to Quilcene last Saturday.
“I wish I had eight more just like him,” Loggers coach Brian Shimko said of his team captain.
The crowd noticed, too, as Story was called “an animal” on more than one occasion after hauling in a pass or creating havoc in the Rangers’ backfield.
Story is listed at 6-foot-3 and 235-pounds, but he might be even bigger than that.
There is room for him to grow, though, particularly on the mental side of the game.
In the first half, Story was whistled for a late hit penalty after hitting a player who was already out of bounds.
Story disputed the call, and started to take his helmet off on the field, a no-no that requires sitting out a play for safety reasons.
Later, with Quilcene’s lead ballooning, he was called for another personal foul penalty.
Story’s day mirrored the Loggers’ play as a whole: moments of quality followed by mistakes (penalties, issues with execution) that curtailed their chances of hanging with the Rangers.
“We really beat ourselves in a lot of ways,” Shimko said after Saturday’s game.
“We are a really young team and we are trying to break some bad habits. It’s going to take a little more to get there, and Quilcene showed us that today.”
If Story, a junior, can channel his competitive nature and remain focused on the field, he stands to play a large role in the rebound of the Crescent football program this year and next.
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“Three things learned in high school football” appears each week during the football season in the PDN.
Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250, or at mcarman@peninsualdailynews.com.
