Zero points in second half as defenses force seven turnovers
by Pierre LaBossiere
The Forks and Port Angeles football squads locked horns in a rugged defensive struggle all night at Spartan Stadium which sent a number of players to the sidelines with bruises and cramps with the Spartans forcing four turnovers in a 13-7 victory.
The game featured a total of seven turnovers by both teams and zero scores in the second half as neither team was able to even get in their opponents red zone. Both defenses simply owned this hard-fought game.
“Wasn’t that fun?” exclaimed Forks coach Trevor Highfield.
“The kids did a great job of digesting the scheme. Hats off to our guys,” Highfield said.
After a rough start to their Mount Baker game last week, the Roughriders’ defense has now allowed just 20 points in six quarters.
“We played pretty well defensively. There were a couple of plays we missed. We have to make those tackles. It was a much better game than last week [a 49-22 loss to Mount Baker],” said Port Angeles coach Dustin Clark.
Landen Olson had three interceptions in the game, including his final pick in the last 1:30 of the game to seal the victory with the Roughriders driving for a potential game-tying touchdown.
“The whole Olson family is a bunch of warriors. I really wish I had more of them,” Highfield said.
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Incredibly, Olson said he had never had an interception before, much less a multi-interception game.
“Our defensive line did such a good job forcing the quarterback to roll out. I just reared back, waiting for him to throw,” Olson said.
The Riders clearly keyed in on Forks’ sophomore phenom quarterback Bubba Hernandez-Stansbury, swarming him with defenders every time he tried to run the ball. For much of the game, Port Angeles managed to keep him in check, but Hernandez-Stansbury made two spectacular plays.
The first big play came in the first 90 seconds of the game as Hernandez-Stansbury spun at the line of scrimmage to avoid a tackle, broke another three or four tackles at the line and then broke into the open field, sprinting 57 yards in the open field for a touchdown.
The second big play came in the second quarter with the game tied 7-7. On a second-and-goal from the 11, a Riders’ defender nearly pulled Hernandez-Stansbury down, but he somehow got out of the tackle and managed to stay on his feet. He ran into the flat to his left and found a wide-open Gage Willenbrink standing all alone in the end zone for a touchdown pass.
“He’s a dynamic athlete,” Highfield said. “Not only is he letting his legs work for him, when he is running, he’ll keep looking downfield.”
Barajas set up that touchdown with a spectacular diving interception when he jumped the pass on an attempted sideline screen. He followed up with a 21-yard catch and run on that drive to set up the touchdown play.
For the Riders, Dylan Mann had a great game, running for 152 yards on 23 carries, much of it straight up the middle, with Mann getting three or four extra yards after breaking Forks’ first attempted tackle.
“Dylan, he’s a stud. He got in the weight room for two years and did everything he needed to do,” Clark said.
In fact, the Riders ran well overall for the second straight game with 181 yards on the ground, but a trio of quarterbacks threw four interceptions, which kept killing Port Angeles drives.
Port Angeles got their lone touchdown in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7. River Flores recovered a fumble, one of two fumble recoveries he made, to set up a Roughriders’ drive at the 38-yard-line.
Jude Wallace had a 15-yard run and later hit Easton Fisher with a 10-yard pass. Mann scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run and after a Blake Sohlberg kick the game was tied.
The Riders got one last chance for a game-tying score in the final three minutes. A punt bounced off of Sohlberg and Kaiden Point dove on the loose ball to keep Port Angeles’ hopes alive. The Riders had the ball at the 43 with plenty of time. They moved up to Forks’ 49 with a makeable third-and-two, but a bad snap dropped Port Angeles back to their own 41. On a fourth-and-12 pass, Olson made his third interception of the game to clinch the victory for Forks.
Hernandez-Stansbury finished with 118 yards on 8-for-13 passing and 72 yards rushing. Kaden Ward ran the ball 16 times for 33 tough yards while Barajas finished with three catches for 63 yards.
Willenbrink led the Spartans with nine tackles while Olson and Kade Highfield each had seven tackles.
Blake Sohlberg also had an interception, playing a receiver perfectly on a sideline pass and intercepting a Hernandez-Stansbury pass.
Forks (1-1) has a rare Saturday game at 2 p.m. on the road against Kittitas (1-1).
Port Angeles (0-2) begins Olympic League play and opens at home at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Port Angeles Civic Field against North Mason (2-0). The Bulldogs have looked good so far this year with two bigs wins over 1A Klahowya (37-6) last week and 1A Kingston (30-10) on Friday.
Forks 13, Port Angeles 7
PA 0 7 0 0 — 7
Forks 7 6 0 0 — 13
Scoring
First Quarter
Forks — Hernandez-Stansbury 57 run (Davila kick)
Second Quarter
Port Angeles — Mann 3 run (Sohlberg kick)
Forks — Barajas 11 pass from Hernandez-Stansbury (PAT no good).
Individual statistics
Rushing
Port Angeles — Mann 23-152, TD; Wallace 11-29.
Forks — Hernandez-Stansbury 17-71, TD; Ward 16-33; Olson 3-9.
Passing
Port Angeles — Wallace 2-11, 22 yards, 2 INTs; Martin 2-7, 10 yards, INT; Brandt 1-2, 9 yards, INT.
Forks — Hernandez-Stansbury 8-13, 118 yards, TD, INT.
Receiving
Port Angeles — Sohlberg 3-21, Fisher 1-10, Martinez 1-9.
Forks — Barajas 3-63, Highfield 2-28, Willenbrink 2-21, TD.
In other Games …
Neah Bay Loss …Clallam Bay Win
Neah Bay lost to Liberty Christian 60-16 in a game played at Everett Stadium. Neah Bay (1-1) had beaten Liberty Christian in the 1B state playoffs the past two years. East Jefferson (0-2) lost to Friday Harbor 53-0. Clallam Bay (1-0) won its first six-man game of the year, beating Easton 62-0.
