Football: Wolves rebound with homecoming win against T-Birds
Published 10:47 pm Friday, October 14, 2011
South Kitsap still has yet to clinch a spot in the Class 4A state play-in game.
But the Wolves are in much better position to accomplish that after a 38-7 win in their Homecoming game Friday against Mount Tahoma at Joe Knowles Field.
It appears the 4A Narrows’ fourth — and final — playoff spot could come down to South (4-3 overall, 2-3 league) and Central Kitsap (3-4, 2-3). The Wolves host their rival in the regular-season finale Oct. 28.
“We did our job this week,” South coach D.J. Sigurdson said. “We’re going to have a good Homecoming and we kept our hopes alive.”
South, which plays at Stadium (2-5, 0-5) on Friday, could finish as high as third in league, but that would require Gig Harbor (4-3, 3-2) to lose its final two games. The Tides won the tiebreaker against the Wolves because of their 30-20 win against South on Sept. 30.
Sigurdson said his team’s performance since that game — when they blew a 13-point halftime lead — reflects on the players’ character.
The Wolves then trailed Bellarmine Prep, which is the second-ranked Class 4A team in the state, by three points Oct. 7 before losing 38-24.
“I thought we had two of our best weeks of practice all year long,” Sigurdson said. “They really could have gone one of two ways after the Gig Harbor game and they’ve really responded well. I’m proud of them.”
Senior Aaron La Deaux agreed.
“I think that’s carried over and we’ve learned what’s inside us — what we can do as a football team,” he said.
After going three-and-out on their first possession against the Thunderbirds (4-3, 2-3), the Wolves had little difficulty moving the ball during the first half. Senior Chas Bauman and junior Adam Gascoyne scored on 4- and 18-yard runs, respectively.
“Devon (Newquist) made that play on their sideline and that really got things going for us,” said Sigurdson, referring to a 53-yard reception that set up the first touchdown.
South’s offensive success came in spite of poor field position. None of the Wolves’ four scoring drives in the first half began beyond their own 31-yard line. Despite that, they nearly extended the lead to 21-0 in the second quarter when backup quarterback Kevin Whatley connected with junior wide receiver Bryce Broome in the end zone.
But that play was called back because of holding penalty and South eventually was forced to settle for a 48-yard field goal by La Deaux. According to statistician Chuck Bauman, it marked the school’s longest field goal since Ryan Laureau converted a 50-yard kick in 1995 against Cascade.
The second quarter might have been La Deaux’s 12-minute highlight at South. After getting behind a Mount Tahoma defender, he corralled a pass off his fingertips from senior quarterback Eddie Meisner and ran untouched down the sidelined to extend the Wolves’ lead to 24-0 with 17 seconds remaining in the half.
The Thunderbirds played without at least three senior starters, defensive back Rondie Pate and defensive linemen Fatu Tuupo and Su’e Pesefea, and Sigurdson said his team took advantage of that on La Deaux’s touchdown.
“It was kind of a perfect storm,” Sigurdson said. “They’re missing a couple of guys, we’ve got that matchup and the formation had everyone over (in the opposite direction). He made a great throw and great catch.”
La Deaux said there was no opportunity to relax after he made the catch.
“I thought I felt him right behind me,” he said. “I was, ‘OK, time to turn on the jets.’ I just hauled as fast as I could.”
South led by as much as 38-0 when it added touchdowns on a 35-yard pass from Whatley to Newquist and senior Anthony Williams scored on a 33-yard run up the middle.
Without Pate, Mount Tahoma could not score until there was 7:48 left when senior BJ Breckenridge, who rushed for a game-high 148 yards on 13 carries, scored on a 16-yard run. That ended the Wolves’ prospects for their first shutout since Oct. 2, 2009, against Central Kitsap, and led to Sigurdson’s only gripe.
“We could’ve tackled a little better,” he said.
But the Wolves rebounded from rushing for just 5 yards against Bellarmine. They finished with 224 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries against the Thunderbirds.
“I felt like last week we were so inept at running the ball that we really wanted to work on it,” Sigurdson said. “We saw something we thought we could do and we worked on it.”
Meisner and Whatley also combined to pass for 223 yards, including four plays that went for at least 35 yards.
When asked if he was more excited about his touchdown reception or the long field goal, La Deaux chose a third option.
“I’m more psyched about the win overall,” he said. “It’s win or go home from here on out.”
South, which has not lost to Mount Tahoma since 1990, now has won the last 13 games in the series. La Deaux said the celebration must be short-lived, though.
“We can’t underestimate them at all,” he said, referring to this week at Stadium. “We’ve got to go in there like its Bellarmine all over again.”
At South Kitsap 38, Mount Tahoma 7
Mount Tahoma 0 0 0 7 – 7
South Kitsap 14 10 0 14 – 38
First Quarter
SK-Chas Bauman 4 run (Aaron La Deaux kick)
SK-Adam Gascoyne 18 run (La Deaux kick)
Second Quarter
SK-La Deaux 48 FG
SK-La Deaux 59 pass from Eddie Meisner (La Deaux kick)
Fourth Quarter
SK-Devon Newquist 35 pass from Kevin Whatley (La Deaux kick)
SK-Anthony Williams 33 run (La Deaux kick)
MT-BJ Breckenridge 16 run (No. 6 kick)
Individual statistics
Passing-Junior Gillespie (MT) 6-13-1-38; Bryce Broome (SK) 0-1-0-0; Eddie Meisner (SK) 4-7-0-135; Kevin Whatley (SK) 4-5-0-88.
Rushing-Roy Tabios (MT) 12-68; Aaron Sullivan (MT) 1–6; BJ Breckenridge (MT) 13-148; Gillespie (MT) 9-57; Adam Gascoyne (SK) 22-103; Meisner (SK) 1–9; Chas Bauman (SK) 5-30; Broome (SK) 3-62; Anthony Williams (SK) 4-38.
Receiving-Breckenridge (MT) 2-17; Sullivan (MT) 3-16; Robert Donald (MT) 1-5; Devon Newquist (SK) 2-88; Broome (SK) 3-37; Anthony Lombardi (SK) 1-4; La Deaux (SK) 1-69; Illya Tsvyetkov (SK) 1-35.
