Renton football ends season with playoff loss against Port Angeles | Photos

Renton couldn’t snap out of a late-season funk and fell to Port Angeles 23-6 in a sub-district playoff game Tuesday night at Renton Memorial Stadium.

The Indians (4-6 overall, 3-3 Seamount) finished the year winless in their final three games after starting 4-3.

“We’ve been on this downward skid starting with Foster,” said Renton coach Donald Ponds. “I’m not sure what happened, but we definitely, definitely didn’t execute down the stretch.”

Against the Roughriders Tuesday night, Renton moved the ball well at times, but often seemed to make a mistake at the worst time.

The Indians lost 28 yards on a high snap on their first drive, then came up about a yard short on a fourth down attempt in Roughrider territory. Then, after another defensive stop, Renton muffed the ensuing punt, which gave Port Angeles excellent field position at Renton’s 20-yard line.

The Indian defense stiffened again, forcing Port Angeles to turn the ball over on downs at Renton’s five-yard line. But Renton had trouble with the snap again on the next play, leading to a safety.

“We didn’t catch the ball when we needed to, we didn’t snap the ball we needed to,” Ponds said. “Those are the small things we have to get done.”

Ponds said a big part of the mistakes is the team’s size.

“We don’t have the depth that we would like to have,” Ponds said. He added that with most of the Indians playing on offense and defense, it has to be expected they will get tired and make mistakes as the game goes on.

The Roughriders returned the free kick following the safety to Renton’s 30-yard line and capped the drive a few plays later when Zach Withrow pushed in for a touchdown from one yard out. Port Angeles led 9-0 at the half.

Renton’s Brian Barron started the second half on a positive note with a 37-yard rush, but the drive came up empty after a missed 41-yard field goal.

Port Angeles’ Keenen Walker scored on an 80-yard touchdown rush on the next play, putting Renton down 16-0.

Renton looked to answer on the next drive as big plays from Barron and Patrick Sanders got the Indians as close as the Roughrider 10-yard line. But more trouble with the snap led to a 22-yard loss, and later a turnover on downs.

Walker made the Indians pay with another long touchdown rush, this one from 64 yards, on the next play. That put Port Angeles ahead 23-0.

Renton sophomore quarterback Da’Ssaun Sauls made an impression late. He finished a nice 15-yard run on fourth down by running through a Roughrider defender and scored Renton’s only touchdown on a five-yard rush the next play.

Sauls rushed for 106 yards in the fourth quarter alone, but the Indians couldn’t quite turn the yards into points.

“It’s definitely encouraging to see for next year,” Ponds said. “We saw something in him, and I’m very optimistic about his future.”

Renton was without star running back Anthony Gold, who suffered a mild concussion against Hazen Oct. 28. Ponds said Gold would have been cleared to play if the Indians advanced to the next round.

“It’s sad that he had to end his game with an injury,” Ponds said. “He would’ve been a difference maker, but we were in position.”

The Indians improved from 1-7 in Ponds’ first season to 4-6 this year. They finished fourth in the Seamount.