High School Football Semifinals

These will be recaps of the WIAA Dairy Farmers of Washington and Les Schwab Tires football semifinals held at the Tacoma Dome on November 26 and 27, 2010. There was one semifinal from every classification of schools, determined by student population. First up was the 2B semifinal:

The first score of the game between the South Bend Indians and the Orcas Island Vikings was an 80 yard kickoff return by Ryan Vongmixay, but the extra point attempt by Thomas Perez was no good. This put South Bend up 6-0. Robbie Padbury missed a 33 yard field goal later, and the next drive by South Bend resulted in a 36 yard pass from Levi Bale to Brett Rose, and a two point conversion run by Shaquille Acrey. The first quarter ended 14-0 South Bend. Orcas Island answered early in the second quarter with a pass from Padbury to Rylan Dale for 50 yards and the touchdown, but Padbury's attempt at the two point conversion was no good. It was answered by South Bend, with a 10 yard rush for a touchdown by Levi Bale, and Perez was good for the extra point. This was the last score of the half, with South Bend up 21-6. Over halfway through the third quarter, Padbury connected with Devon Stanzione for 10 yards, but Padbury's two point attempt was again no good. After over a quarter of no scoring, South Bend finished off the game with an 8 yard run by Levi Bale and a good extra point by Thomas Perez, leaving the final score at 28-12. MVP was Levi Bale, with two touchdown runs and a touchdown pass as well, with honorable mention going to Robbie Padbury, who despite losing, played very well on both sides of the ball.

The second game was in the 3A classification with the Bellevue Wolverines against the Lakes Lancers. The first quarter ended up being a turnover-fest, with the only turnover not featured being of the apple variety. Bellevue was able to gather themselves in the second quarter, scoring four touchdowns. The first was a 34 yard pass from Kendrick VanAckeren to Joey Moore, with Mitch Johnson's extra point. They continued the scoring with a 6 yard rush by Latrelle Dukes, with another Johnson extra point. Myles Jack scored the third touchdown with a 53 yard run, and Johnson added another extra point. The final touchdown of the quarter was from VanAckeren to Evian Richard for 29 yards, and another Mitch Johnson extra point, making it 28-0 Bellevue at the half. Lakes finally dented the scoreboard in the third with a 17 yard rush for a touchdown by Cedric Dozier, and Bo Wittig added the extra point. Bellevue answered with the last score for the game late in the third quarter with a Myles Jack 18 yard rush for a touchdown, and Mitch Johnson's extra point. After a quiet fourth quarter, Bellevue prevailed 35-7. MVP honors go to Myles Jack, with two touchdowns. The kneeslapper moment of the game came on a Lakes punt in the second quarter in which Matt Gilbert of Bellevue, running to get in position for blocking a Lakes player, was hit squarely in the helmet with the football, which proceeded to roll out of bounds.

Starting Saturday's games was the 1A game with the Cascade Christian Cougars going against the Meridian Trojans. Colton Faverty of Cascade Christian opened the scoring with a 5 yard rush for a touchdown, and Jordan Zepernick added an extra point. Going into the second quarter leading 7-0, Cascade Christian eventually got another touchdown with a 46 yard pass by Kyle Stennes to Tyler Walrath, and another extra point from Zepernick, who missed a 33 yard field goal late in the quarter. Cascade Christian led throughout the third quarter 14-0, until in the fourth, Stennes connected with Brendon Ossman for 10 yard and the touchdown, and Zepernick supplied the final extra point of the game. Cascade Christian won 21-0, with MVP honors going to Kyle Stennes for two touchdown passes.

In the 2A game, the Archbishop Murphy Wildcats took on the Mark Morris Monarchs in a battle of tongue twisting school names and great football programs. Mark Morris got out to a hot start with a 38 yard pas from Seth Pederson to Zack Tackwell, but Riley Johnston's extra point was blocked. Near the end of the first, Jeremy Wolf ran an interception in for 78 yards and the touchdown, and the two point attempt after was no good, giving Mark Morris a 12-0 lead after the first. Archbishop Murphy woke up in the second with two touchdown rushes by Alex Galgano of 65 and 1 yards respectively, both followed by a Stephen Briede extra point to give the Wildcats a 14-12 lead at half. They continued a strong scoring pace in the third, with a 16 yard run by Alex Kramer for a score, and Eneliko Tevaga's 33 yard run to score touchdowns, and Briede stayed perfect with the two extra points. The fourth quarter featured Austin VanderWel connecting with Brandon Byrne for 25 yards and the touchdown, and a 32 yard touchdown rush by Austin VanderWel's younger brother Hans, accompanied by two more Briede extra points to give Archbishop Murphy a 42-12 lead. Jeremy Wolf allowed Mark Morris to give a going-away present with his 8 yard run for a touchdown at the buzzer, and under high school rules, no extra point was attempted. The final score was Archbishop Murphy over Mark Morris 42-18. MVP honors go to Alex Galgano for his two game-changing touchdowns that gave Murphy the lead.

Onto the 1B game, featuring 8-man football with the Neah Bay Red Devils (or as the Tacoma Dome sign makers would call them "Neah Beah") and the Lummi Blackhawks. Scoring was early and often, with Jeremy Roberts hooking up with Deion Hoskins for 66 yards and the touchdown, and a two point conversion with Eric Robinson hooking up with Tony Rivera, giving Lummi an 8-0 lead. Roberts ran for 4 yard and touchdown in the early second quarter, and Eric Robinson missed an extra point for a 14-0 lead. Neah Bay answered with a 33 yard touchdown run by Titus Pascua, but failed to get the two point conversion, but they got scored on again with Eric Robinson's 13 yard run for a touchdown, and a missed two point conversion. Eddy Williams of Lummi scored his own 13 yard touchdown run and Robinson made the extra point. Lummi added one more touchdown with Titan Jameson passing to Eric Robinson, and Jameson converted the two point attempt to Deion Hoskins, making the score at halftime 35-6 Lummi. Opening up the second half, Eddy Williams ran for 60 yards and the touchdown, and Robinson added another extra point. Jeremy Roberts also passed to Williams in the third quarter, good for a 64 yard pass and touchdown, and another Robinson extra point. To show they were still alive, Josiah Greene added a 51 yard touchdown pass to Titus Pascua, and Josiah Greene converted the two point attempt with a pass to Zeke Greene, making the score 49-14 Lummi. Deion Hoskins added a short run for a touchdown late in the third quarter, and Eddy Williams missed the extra point. Finishing off the scoring was Jeremy Roberts 49 yard interception return for a touchdown, which enacted the mercy rule and put Neah Bay out of their misery. Lummi won 61-14 via the mercy rule, with shared MVP honors going to Jeremy Roberts and Eric Robinson.

The final game on the slate pitted 4A schools together, with the Curtis Vikings taking on the Skyline Spartans. After trouble with turnovers early in the first, Curtis managed to score on a 2 yard run by Tyler Jamison, and an extra point added by Scott Shagren. Jamison threw and 11 yard touchdown pass to Rahmel Dockery early in the second quarter, and Shagren added his extra point. Jamison and Dockery connected again nearly three minutes later for 48 yards and the touchdown, and Shagren added another extra point, putting Curtis up 21-0. Skyline scored their first touchdown on an interception on Max Browne's pass to CJ Langlow, who coughed it up for a fumble as he was hit, and Nic Sblendorio ran in the 10 yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. Shawn McDonald added the extra point. Jamison and Dockery conencted once more closer to the end of the second quarter, good for 9 yards and the touchdown, with Shagren adding his extra point once more. Skyline, determined not to be down by three touchdowns going into halftime, scored on a 6 yard pass from Max Browne to Teran Togia, good for a score, and McDonald added the extra point. The score at halftime was 28-14 Curtis. Skyline scored the only touchdown of the third quarter on a 22 yard touchdown pass from Browne to Togia, and McDonald's extra point. After a quarter's worth of back and forth play, Browne found Togia again for 6 yards, and McDonald's extra point tied the game at 28. After an interception of Tyler Jamison by Kasen Williams, Browne found Williams for an 85 yard catch and run good for a go-ahead touchdown. McDonald added another extra point, giving Skyline their first lead, 35-28. As time was running down, Jamison connected with CJ Langlow for a score to put them down by only one point. Curtis decided to go for two, and Jamison's pass in the endzone was picked off by Michael Ford. The clock wound down, and Skyline stayed alive by a final score of 35-34. MVP honors go to Max Browne's four touchdown passes, including the eventual game winner to Kasen Williams.

Overall, most of the games were not as competitive as expected, and the first five were pretty much over before the end of the third quarter. However, the 4A semifinal was a great game, with down to the wire, nailbiting action and just all around good football action. I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy the game as a fan of football, not of either school. Congratulations to all the schools that will be playing in the state championships, and also to the teams who made it this far. Well done on a great season!

Special thanks to my Dad for the tickets, the food, and the program so I could get this blog done accurately.