A stifling defense and a stout rushing attack gave the Wolves a 27-7 win over Port Angeles Friday night, sending players and fans home happy on Homecoming weekend.
SHS quarterback Zeke Schmadeke had 150 yards and two touchdowns and fellow junior Liam Wiker added 63 rushing yards and a pair of scores as the Wolves (3-1) overcame some early penalties and a resilient Port Angeles defense to reclaim the Rainshadow Rumble trophy.
“It was fun; it’s nice to have a rival like PA,” Sequim head coach Ian Henley said following his first Rainshadow match-up. “You don’t see a lot of that any more in high school football.”
The Wolves (1-0 in Olympic League play, 3-1 overall) held just a 7-0 lead at halftime but scored on their first drive of the second half — a pounding, 14-play, 68-yard drive capped by a Wiker one-yard plunge to put SHS up 13-0 with 2:52 in the third quarter.
After trading possessions, Sequim defensive back Malachi Hampton set up Sequim’s third score with an interception; three plays later, Schmadeke found paydirt from 11 yards out, and the Wolves had a 20-0 lead with 10:21 left.
The Roughriders got on the board with 5:04 remaining on a Brayden Wopperer three-yard score, but after recovering an onside kick Sequim drained the clock with a drive on the short field, capping the scoring when Wiker rambled in from seven yards out on fourth down with just 44 seconds remaining.
“It means a lot; this rivalry has been going on for a long time,” Sequim’s Simon Skribner said.
“Losing last year was really upsetting [but] my senior year, beating PA in front of friends and family, is pretty awesome.”
Some issues with infractions — Sequim racked up nine penalties for 60 yards in the first half alone, 16 for 101 yards in the game — stymied an otherwise potent offense. The Wolves tallied 361 yards, 213 on the ground.
Schmadeke finished 14-of-19 passing for 102 yards and and an interception. Wiker added two halfback tosses for 46 yards.
PA topped Sequim 37-10 last season, but this year the Roughriders managed just 137 total yards, six first downs and two completions.
“Our defense has been playing really well,” Henley said. “The kids are really buying into coach [Vic] Reykdahl’s scheme, and they’ll look to continue to improve.”
“I thought we actually played really well,” said Port Angeles coach Dustin Clark. “Three or four mistakes cost us big time. Offensively, we ran the ball extremely well. We tackled well.”
Looking ahead
On Oct. 4 Sequim is at Bremerton (0-1, 0-4), one of the toughest teams in the league last year but struggling this season.
The Wolves are at North Kitsap on Oct. 10, a Thursday special in Poulsbo.
Skribner said Sequim has got plenty of momentum at this point, with three wins in four games.
“That’s the best record I’ve ever had here at Sequim,” he said. “We’ve just got to clean up some mistakes.”
Sequim is back home on Oct. 18 to take on Olympic.
Peninsula Daily News sports editor Pierre Labossiere contributed to this story.
at Sequim 27, Port Angeles 7
Scoring
1st quarter
S — Schmadeke 53 run (Henninger kick), 0:00
3rd quarter
S — Wiker 1 run (kick failed), 2:52
4th quarter
S — Schmadeke 11 run (Henninger kick), 10:21
P — Wopperer 3 run (Sohlberg), 5:04
S — Wiker 7 run (Henninger kick), 0:44
Statistics
Rushing — S: Schmadke 24-150, 2 TDs; Wiker 13-63, 2 TDs. PA: Peterson 7-43; Mann 13-36; Wopperer 13-35, TD; Sohlberg 1-0; team 1-(-9)
Passing — S: Schmadeke 14-19, 102 yards, Int; Wiker 2-2, 46 yards. Sohlberg 2-13, 32 yards, Int
Receiving — S: Grider 3-38; Melnick 3-37; Aragon 1-36; Hampton 3-10; Wiker 3-10; Wiker 4-16. PA: Point 1-20; Fisher 1-12
First downs — Sequim 13, Port Angeles 6
Third down — Sequim 3-8, Port Angeles 2-8
Fourth down — Sequim 3-4, Port Angeles 2-5
Penalties — Sequim 16-101, Port Angeles 7-45
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim wide receiver Ethan Melnick, right, looks to get past Port Angeles’ Blake Sohlberg in the Wolves’ 27-7 Rainshadow Rumble win over the Roughriders on Sept. 27.
Sequim quarterback Zeke Schmadeke looks to get past Port Angeles’ Aiden Otis in the Wolves’ 27-7 Rainshadow Rumble win over the Roughriders on Sept. 27. Schmadeke had 150 yards rushing and two scores in the win.
Sequim quarterback Zeke Schmadeke looks to get past Port Angeles’ Aiden Otis in the Wolves’ 27-7 Rainshadow Rumble win over the Roughriders on Sept. 27. Schmadeke had 150 yards rushing and two scores in the win.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim captains Simon Skribner (27) and Brayden White (72) shake hands with Port Angeles captains (from left) Blake Sohlberg, Dylan Mann and Conner Martin on Sept. 27.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim players get the crowd going with their traditional Homecoming “towel play” — one that turned out to be a halfback pass — to open the Wolves’ match-up with Port Angles on Sept. 27.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Port Angeles running back Braydon Wopperer looks for yardage in the openign quarter of an Olympic League match-up on Sept. 27 at Sequim.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Zeke Schmadeke (14) puts the initial hit on Port Angeles’ Dylan Mann (22) in the first half of the Wolves-Roughriders match-up on Sept. 27.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim quarterback Zeke Schmadeke, left, looks to get past Port Angeles’ Tucker Swain in the Wolves’ 27-7 Rainshadow Rumble win over the Roughriders on Sept. 27. Schmadeke had 150 yards rushing and two scores in the win.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Joseph Henninger, left, gets a good hold from Liam Wiker to connect for a point-after attempt in SHS’s 27-7 win over Port Angeles on Sept. 27. Henninger made three of four extra points.
