PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Redskins ended their Class 1A Nisqually League football finale quickly.
Good thing. With three more games in 10 days potentially awaiting them, the Redskins (4-2 in league, 7-3 overall) could use the rest.
Port Townsend clobbered winless Life Christian 55-0 in front of the hometown faithful at Memorial Field on Wednesday night.
The win, combined with the rest of Wednesday’s results, set up a three-way tie for second place in the 1A Nisqually between the Redskins, Orting and Vashon Island.
The three schools now must face off in a three-way playoff for the league’s second and third seeds on Saturday at 7p.m. at Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma.
Port Townsend faces Orting (4-2, 7-3) in an abbreviated elimination game, with the winner playing Vashon (5-2, 8-2).
“We’re very fortunate,” Port Townsend coach Brian O’Hara said. “We’re very happy to be a part of a three-way playoff. This is a great experience for our kids.
“I don’t think they’ve experienced this in quite some time, playing beyond the end of the season. We’re pretty pleased about that.”
It will be Port Townsend’s first trip to the postseason since 2005, when it lost to Orting 35-2 in the 2A preliminary playoffs.
The second seed from the three-way playoff will play the winner of tonight’s Coupeville-Meridian game at home next Tuesday in a winner-to-state contest.
The third seed faces the winner of tonight’s Nooksack Valley-Lynden Christian game on the road next Tuesday in a winner-to-state tilt as well.
And that state game? That will be just four days later on Nov. 14.
Given the amount of football ahead of the Redskins, Wednesday night’s result couldn’t have been much better.
Senior quarterback Eric Thomas completed 10-of-16 passes for 138 yards and three touchdowns, two going to Cameron Robinson (five catches, 47 yards) and one to Ryan Unbedacht (two receptions, 30 yards).
Robinson also returned an interception for a touchdown, Ryan Plouse had a one-yard scoring run and Adrian Mallory returned a punt 50 yards for a 49-0 lead in the second quarter.
The fast start allowed O’Hara to rest his starters with six minutes left in the second quarter.
“We had hoped we’d be able to get our younger guys in there,” O’Hara said. “We feel pretty comfortable.
“We feel we’re playing well and we like the matchup with Orting. We’re going to get ready for them.”
The game against Orting will consist of four six-minute quarters, which equals one half of a regulation game.
The winner will than face Vashon in a game of equal length.
“We’re hoping to play a full game,” O’Hara said.
Port Townsend 55, Life Christian 0
Life Christian 0 0 0 0– 0
Port Townsend 21 28 6 0– 55
First Quarter
PT–Plouse 1 run (Thomas kick)
PT–Unbedacht 19 pass from Thomas (Thomas kick)
PT–Robinson 14 pass from Thomas (Thomas kick)
Second Quarter
PT–Johnson 1 run (Thomas kick)
PT–Robinson 8 pass from Thomas (Thomas kick)
PT–Robinson 30 interception return (Thomas kick)
PT–Mallory 29 punt return (Thomas kick)
Third Quarter
PT–Thorton 50 run (Kick no good)
Individual Stats
Rushing– PT: Thorton 7-55, Thomas 2-12
Passing–PT: Thomas 10-16-0, 138, Kelly 3-7-0, 33.
Receiving–PT: Robinson 5-47, Unbedacht 2-30, Johnson 2-37, Coggins 2-25, Mallory 1-22.
Volleyball Neah Bay 3, Lummi 2
JOYCE — Neah Bay, the top-ranked Class 1B volleyball team in the state, started its quest to defend the tridistrict championship by beating Lummi in the first round at Crescent High School on Wednesday night.
Neah Bay fell behind 2-1 to Lummi before roaring back with two straight wins to wrap the match up.
The Red Devils (12-1 overall) beat Lummi 16-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-17, 15-11.
“We just were not consistent,” Neah Bay coach Chon Clayton said. “We got cold, wasn’t real hot, but then got hot in the fourth game and took it into a fifth game.
“We struggled in the first and third games.”
The Red Devils next meet North Sound Christian in the second round at Coupeville on Saturday at noon.
The tridistrict tournament is double-eliminiation.
“We need to work on a couple of things [today] and get ready for Saturday,” Clayton said.
Lopez Island 3, Crescent 1
MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — The Loggers are just one loss away from elimination in the tridistrict championships after the first-round loss Wednesday night at North Sound Christian.
Lopez won by the scores of 25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 25-17.
“We were a little up and a little down,” Crescent coach Alex Baker said.
“Mental mistakes hurt the team in the long run. We showed our youth at times”
The Loggers (8-5 overall) next battle Grace Academy in a loser-out consolation match at Coupeville on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Against Lopez, freshman Bonny Hazelett came off the bench to go 12-of-13 at the serving line with an ace.
Rashaya Donnell was 15-of-16 serving with a team-high five kills and a tip while Rachel Poats went 13-of-15 in serves with five aces, eight blocks, five kills and four tips.
Mikela Williams earned four blocks, two tips and a kill, and she also was 8-for-10 serving with an ace.
Senior Kylie Mitts was 15-of-18 with three kills and four aces.
