PORT ANGELES — A loss is a loss, but not all losses are created equal.
After losing to King’s of Seattle 43-7 last week, Port Angeles dropped an overtime heartbreaker to North Mason, 20-14, in Olympic League play.
“Last week’s loss, that’s a bit demoralizing,” Roughriders head coach Tom Wahl said after Friday’s game at Civic Field.
“Today, at least we were in the game. It’s clearly a big difference.”
Prior to the overtime session, the game was a tale of two halves.
The Riders (0-1 in Olympic League, 0-3) had their running game going for the first two quarters.
Following a North Mason fumble, senior Joey Barnes capped off a four-play, 40-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.
Nathan Angevine had carries of 21 and 15 yards to set up the score.
Angevine also set up Port Angeles’ next touchdown with a blocked punt that gave the Riders the ball at the North Mason 15 yard line with 1:08 remaining before halftime.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, quarterback Larsson Chapman found Jonathan Newlin open across the middle to put Port Angeles up 14-0.
The Riders had one more chance for points in the first half, thanks to an interception by Matt Robbins that he returned to the Bulldogs’ 12 yard line with 0:17 left, but they were unable to punch it in before time ran out.
The Port Angeles offense struggled to move the ball consistently in the second half, and the North Mason running attack wore down the Riders’ defense, which was stout in the first two quarters.
The Bulldogs (1-0, 2-1) scored at the end of the third quarter and early in the fourth to tie the game with 8:06 left.
“They seemed to be moving the ball overall better in the second half than we were,” Wahl said.
“They’re a big and powerful team, they have strong running game — they always do.”
North Mason continued to move the ball, but its drives were derailed by big plays from the Riders’ defense.
With just over three minutes remaining in the game, the Bulldogs had the ball on the Port Angeles 18 before Port Angeles senior Erik Wahl single-handedly halted the threat.
Wahl stuffed North Mason running back Tommy Marsh for a 7-yard loss on third down, and on fourth down he sacked quarterback Levi Rowland to give the Riders the ball.
On the second play of the Bulldogs’ next possession, Port Angeles sophomore Roberto Coronel jumped on a bad snap with 0:46 remaining.
The Riders failed to generate much offense after both turnovers, giving North Mason extra opportunities.
With 10 seconds remaining in the game, the nearly pulled off a trick play that likely would have ended the game in regulation.
Rowland pitched the ball to running back Tommy Renne, who faked the run and then heaved a pass to wide receiver C.J. Allen, who had worked his way past the Riders’ secondary.
But defensive back Miki Andrus caught up and intercepted the pass at the 4 yard line.
From there, Chapman then took a knee to send the game into overtime.
After Port Angeles was unable to move the ball in overtime, North Mason took seven plays to win the game on a 1-yard run by Brody Stromberg.
“That was an exciting game, 14-14 in overtime, so I don’t think you could ask for a more exciting game,” Tom Wahl said.
“You never like to lose a game, but it was a well-played game.”
Port Angeles received big contributions from its sophomores, including Coronel, who stopped a lot of plays on defense either at the line of scrimmage or behind it, Angevine and Robbins.
“We’ve got several young guys in there,” Tom Wahl said.
“They’re stepping up and doing a pretty good job.”
Despite the loss, Tom Wahl expressed pride in the way his players went toe-to-toe with the Bulldogs, who he expects to be a force in the Olympic League this season.
“I think North Mason’s one of the better teams in the league,” he said. “We felt that coming in.”
“Unless something dramatic happens to them, I expect they’ll be one of the top teams.”
Port Angeles next plays Olympic in Bremerton. Like the Riders, the Trojans are also off to an 0-3 start after losing to Kingston on Friday.
North Mason 20, Port Angeles 14 (overtime)
North Mason 0 0 8 6 6— 20
Port Angeles 6 8 0 0 0— 14
First Quarter
PA—Joey Barnes 5 run (run failed)
Second Quarter
PA—Jonathan Newlin 15 pass from Larsson Chapman (Name kick)
Third Quarter
NM—Levi Rowland 14 run (Tommy Renne run)
Fourth Quarter
NM—Renne 40 run (kick blocked)
Overtime
NM—Brody Stromberg 1 run
Individual Stats
Rushing— PA: Joey Barns 9-70, Nathan Angevine 9-53, Nick Lasorsa 13-38, Miki Andrus 4-29.
Passing—PA: Larsson Chapman 4-10-1, 42.
Receiving—PA: Jonathan Newlin 1-15, Hunter Hathaway 1-12, Garrett Payton 1-9, Camdin Sukert 1-6.
