By LEE HORTON
Peninsula Daily News

Kellen Landry’s game-winning catch created mayhem at Civic Field, with Port Angeles students and fans joining the team on the field to celebrate the Roughriders’ 20-14 overtime win over archrival Sequim last Friday, but it also might end up making a mess of the Olympic League postseason race.

Sequim and Port Angeles now have identical 2-2 league records with two games to play.

North Mason is a half-game behind the Wolves and Riders at 2-3 with only one league game left, on the road against last-place Bremerton (0-4) this week.

If Port Angeles and Sequim win out then they will secure two of the league’s four berths to the district playoffs.

Easier said that done, though.

The Riders host seventh-ranked North Kitsap (4-0), which hasn’t lost a league game the past two seasons and hasn’t yet been tested this year, on Friday at Civic Field.

A loss doesn’t eliminate them from postseason contention, though.

If they can beat Kingston (1-4) in the regular season finale, and assuming North Mason beats Bremerton, then the Riders and Bulldogs will be tied.

Hold that thought for a minute.

Sequim, meanwhile, faces second-place Olympic (4-0) at Silverdale Stadium this week.

The Wolves should give the Trojans all they can handle, and if Sequim wins, they still have a shot at second place in the league because Olympic finishes the regular season on the road against North Kitsap.

However, if the Wolves lose Friday and beat Bremerton — again, winless — at home on Halloween, they could join Port Angeles and North Mason in a three-way tie for the last two playoff spots.

That is where it would get messy.

Sequim beat North Mason, North Mason beat Port Angeles and Port Angeles beat Sequim, so head-to-head results don’t break a tie.

Furthermore, all three teams’ other two league losses would be to the same two teams.

Sequim athletic director Dave Ditlefsen said Monday that the Olympic League hasn’t yet discussed how a three-way tie would be broken.

The league doesn’t eliminate teams from the postseason in any sport based on on-paper criteria, and football is no different.

So Ditlefsen speculated that there could be some sort of mini-playoff for the two postseason berths.

That was purely his speculation, and his speculation pretty much ended there.

It could be some sort of playoff where two teams play one half. The winner of that half advances to the postseason and the loser plays the second half against the third team, with the winner of that half advancing to districts.