PORT ANGELES – On a Friday night full of fumbles, flags and follies, the Storm roughed up the Roughriders 22-0 at Port Angeles’ Civic Field.
It was all Squalicum early as senior running back Marcus Nixon took a handoff up the middle, but quickly cut to the outside before outrunning the entire defense 48 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Later in the quarter, Port Angeles ran the ball to the right side, but when the backfield was stood up, the ball was stripped by junior linebacker Avery Weener and returned 47 yards for a touchdown by sophomore cornerback Hunter Calloway.
It appeared that the route was officially on, but a multitude of mistakes by both squads stopped any momentum that was building at any given time.
The Storm defense eventually gave up a total of 10 yards in the 44 plays it lined up for. Leading the way was the 6-foot-4 215-pound junior outside linebacker Laki Fagaautau who finished with eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a quarterback sack.
Senior linebacker Malakai Smith had seven tackles and an early interception, while junior defensive lineman Jacob Clark finished with two tackles for a loss.
Nixon finished with a team-high 122 yards rushing on 13 carries, despite not carrying the ball for much of the second half.
Smith scored the final touchdown of the game, late in the fourth quarter, on a nine-yard run. He finished with 77 yards on 13 carries.
The Storm (4-3) will be back in Northwest Conference play at 7:00 on Friday when they take on Sehome (5-2) at Civic Stadium.
Squalicum 22 Port Angeles 0 SQU 14 0 0 8 - 22 PA 0 0 0 0 - 0 SQU - Nixon 48 run (Kaiser kick) SQU - Calloway 47 fumble return (Kaiser kick) SQU - Smith 9 run (Asbjornsen pass from Burke) SQU PA 34-179 Rush Att-Yards 31-1 9-17-1 Comp-Att-Int 2-13-1 57 Passing Yards 9 Individual Leaders RUSHING - SQU: Nixon 13-122, Smith 13-77, Fagaautau 1-6, Burke 7-(-26). PA: N/A. PASSING - SQU: Burke 9-17-1-57. PA: N/A. RECEIVING - SQU: Knowlton 3-4, Asbjornsen 2-23, Fagaautau 2-16, Binta 1-11, Smith 1-3. PA: N/A.
