PORT ANGELES — It took the Port Angeles football team one game to trump its winless 2009 campaign.
Now, with a rebuilding Class 1A Forks Spartans squad coming to Civic Field tonight at 7, the Roughriders have a chance to match their best start in seven years.
“It would be a great momentum booster,” first-year Port Angeles coach Tom Wahl said of a possible 2-0 start, which would be the Riders’ first since 2003.
“Forks has a good program. They always have. They have great pride and tradition, so we’re not taking anything for granted.
“We have to play our best game, better than last week I think, to give these guys a go.”
The Riders blanked 3A Chief Sealth 41-0 in last Friday’s season opener in Seattle, ending a 12-game losing streak.
Port Angeles (1-0 overall) took advantage of six Seahawks interceptions to claim the victory and their first shutout since 2004 (a 43-0 win over Bremerton).
“They just played exceptional last Friday,” coach Wahl said of his defense. “As a unit they are doing really well. [Defensive coordinator Vic] Reykdal is doing a great job with them.”
Despite the two schools’ close proximity, Port Angeles and Forks haven’t met for several years because of a massive disparity in enrollment.
Port Angeles had been a 4A school as recently as 2005. Forks (0-1) has been either a 2A or 1A school for decades.
While the Riders are now 2A, their enrollment figures (1,066.38 students) still dwarf that of the Spartans (296.88).
That should translate over to the football field tonight, with Port Angeles suiting up as many as 18 seniors to Forks’ six.
First-year Spartans coach Andrew Peterson knows he’s got an uphill battle, especially given last week’s result against Sequim at home, a 58-7 loss.
“We have a lot of room to improve,” Peterson said after last week’s loss. “We’re going to need to see some improvement [with a game at Port Angeles].”
Port Townsend at Charles Wright (7 p.m.)
TACOMA — The Redskins (0-1) open up their Nisqually League schedule with a game against the quirky Tarriers (1-0) tonight.
Charles Wright runs a spread A-11 offense that can confuse some defenses. The attack didn’t account for many points in the team’s opening game against Tacoma Baptist, but the Tarriers did come out with a 13-0 win.
Port Townsend, on the other hand, is coming off a 33-6 loss to Coupeville in its first game of the season.
Quilcene at Highland Christian (7 p.m.)
ARLINGTON — The Rangers resume varsity play after a one-year hiatus when they take on the Knights in an eight-man Northwest Football League contest tonight.
Quilcene was forced to field a junior varsity squad only last season after failing to play enough varsity games in 2008.
Now the 1B Rangers are back in eight-man football for the first time in years.
Clallam Bay at Crescent (1 p.m.)
JOYCE — A pair of old eight-man rivals begin the season with a Northwest Football League affair on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams are young and rebuilding, meaning a win in this game will be worth a lot of momentum.
Neah Bay at Evergreen Luth. (1 p.m.)
DES MOINES — The Red Devils (0-1) open their Northwest Football League schedule with a game against an unfamiliar foe.
The Eagles are one of Neah Bay’s new league rivals after dropping down from 2B to 1B in the offseason.
They will face a Neah Bay team looking to bounce back from a 45-0 loss to Lummi last week.
It was Neah Bay’s first mercy rule loss in nearly two years.
Meridian at Sequim (5 p.m.)
SEQUIM — The Wolves (1-0) host a rare Saturday night home game with the 1A Trojans (1-0).
The Northwest Conference powers are currently ranked No. 7 in 1A by The News Tribune and are state playoff regulars with nine visits in the last 11 years and three state titles under legendary head coach Bob Ames (241-113 in 36 seasons).
So despite the drop in classification, the 2A Wolves should be in for a stiff challenge against the Trojans.
Translation: Another 58-7 blowout like the one Sequim handed to 1A Forks last week is probably not in the offing.
