Day After Report: Week 12
It’s here. It’s late. It’s not as detailed as other weeks. But it’s here. The Day After Report.
Let me explain.
Earlier this week, I was publicly called a slacker by one of my bosses. A slacker? Me? Just because I forgot to send him my votes for The Columbian’s weekly predictions of high school football games. Of course, he failed to mention that the week that I originally forgot, I was writing from home, on my sick bed, trying to come up with feature ideas while I was writing my will. Yeah, I got the flu earlier this season. I never get the flu.
Anyway, Tim Martinez did such a great job with the picks, I figured he didn’t need my help. So I wasn’t being a slacker the rest of the year. I was trying to let him soar on his own, like the eagle he has become in his years as The Columbian’s assistant Sports editor.
So was he grateful? Nope. He called me a slacker.
This past week, we had three teams in the quarterfinals. By now, you know two of them won. You will also recall that all three games were played on the same day. The two games that were in Clark County kicked off an hour apart from one another. The game that was some 175 miles away kicked off earlier in the day. There was no way for me or any other reporter to cover two games. So I went north to watch Union, Tim had the Skyview game at Kiggins Bowl, and Sports Editor Greg Jayne had the Camas game at Doc Harris.
Well, Union lost. I was there. I had a few extra notes for my Day After Report. However, I wanted some notes from the games I could not attend, some notes from the winning teams of Clark County. So I waited. And waited. And waited. No dice.
Because the two people who were at the other games are my supervisors, I can’t really call them slackers. But for my readers, feel free. Call them slackers!
So here is a short version of the Day After Report. I will be covering both games this weekend, so I hope to have a Day After Report up by Sunday night or Monday morning.
CAMAS 40, MEADOWDALE 0
The Papermakers’ win clinches the program’s first trip to the state semifinals.
Now it can be said:
I am going to pat myself on the back for this one. I’ll also give a shout-out to Bryan at gshlfootball.com. We both had this game figured out long before it happened. In fact, I even told Camas coach Jon Eagle a few days before the game how confident I was that Camas would win. As a coach, he could not really go along with my assessment, that this game would pose little threat to the Papermakers. I understand. He had to say all the right things.
But Bryan and I both predicted that Meadowdale could play Camas four times and maybe, just maybe, score two touchdowns total in those four games — unless something of a fluke happened. Hey, this was not a a prediction based on Meadowdale being a bad team. Far from it. We just thought the matchup heavily favored the Papermakers and their incredible defense.
Every once in a while, we in the media pick things perfectly. This was one of those games.
Game ball goes to the guy who kept getting his hands around the real game ball:
Anthony Fallin had a game that he will be able to remember forever. As in, “Remember when I scored a defensive touchdown, recovered another fumble, and also got a tackle-for-loss on a fourth-down play? Oh, and it was in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs?” He might not say it like that, but 20, 30, 40 years from now, he could. And he’d be accurate.
Defense is all that was needed:
It turned out, the Camas offense did not really have to do anything special. Fallin’s fumble recovery and 50-yard touchdown return gave the Papermakers a 7-0 lead. Later in the game, John Ashford sacked the Meadowdale quarterback in the end zone for a safety. That gave the defense nine points. The offense would end up scoring 31, but they weren’t needed after all.
Coming soon:
Camas takes on O’Dea at the Tacoma Dome. Kickoff is 7 p.m. Friday. I hope to have a feature story in Friday’s paper on a cool Camas family.
SKYVIEW 42, BELLARMINE PREP 17
The Storm blow by top-ranked Bellarmine Prep with an amazing second half.
So many ways to beat you:
The Storm can play the spread offense, throw the ball deep, throw the ball short, and run strong out of the formation. But when that doesn’t work, the Storm can go to a more traditional, power style of offense. And lay a beat-down on an opponent. Skyview had to go to that strategy Saturday, and it worked to perfection.
Parker Henry for President:
Not sure if he is into politics, but he has a cool name. Plus, everyone from Skyview would vote for him now, even if he isn’t old enough to be the President. So, we know he has a future.
As far as playing football, he has quite a present.
When other things were being slowed down by the Bellarmine Prep defense, the Storm went to Parker Henry and the offensive line. Henry finished the night with 235 yards on 35 carries. He rushed for 175 on his last 24 carries, with four touchdowns, taking the Storm from a three-point deficit to a blowout victory.
Rankings:
Bellarmine Prep came into the game ranked No. 1 by the Seattle Times. We all know rankings mean very little, but they are fun. We also know that Skyview likely would have been ranked No. 1 if the Storm had gone with an easier non-league schedule. Instead, the Storm opted to take on a defending champion from Oregon and a defending champion from Idaho. The Storm started 0-2, and pretty much the rest of Washington tuned them out.
No one’s tuning them out now.
The Storm have won 10 in a row and have advanced to the semifinals.
Coming soon:
Skyview will take on Lake Stevens at the Tacoma Dome. Kickoff is 7 p.m. Saturday. I hope to have a feature story in Thursday’s paper on a fun trip for the Storm.
WOODINVILLE 21, UNION 9
The Titans’ season comes to an end in the Class 4A quarterfinals.
Numbers game:
It’s a short history, but it’s an amazing history. The Union Titans won their first Class 4A state playoff game this season. Remember, they were a 3A team the first three years of existence, then missed a trip to state last year in its first season as a 4A program.
But look at these records:
6-3
13-1
11-2
7-3
9-3
That’s 46-12 in five seasons of varsity football, with a second-place finish in 2008 and a semifinals appearance in 2009. Now, a 4A state playoff victory and a quarterfinal berth.
These seniors continued quite a tradition. Yeah, I said it. A tradition. In just five seasons. A tradition of winning.
Defense:
Woodinville held Union to 40 yards of offense in the first half. The Falcons were as impressive as a defensive squad as I’ve seen in a long time. Union has a solid defense, too. But in this game, Woodinville was more physical than the Union offense and controlled most of the game.
“They were fast, and they plugged the holes fast,” Union running back Brandon Brody-Heim said.
Hate this place:
Pop Keeney Stadium in Bothell looks cool. It has a great atmosphere for football. But the Union Titans can’t stand that joint. The Titans opened this season with a loss to Bothell at Pop Keeney, then saw its season end with a playoff loss to Woodinville at Pop Keeney. Oh, and Union lost in last year’s state preliminary round at Pop Keeney.
Goodbyes:
Several of the senior Titans spoke about what it meant for them to play for Union. Hope you got a chance to read my story on the game, featuring these quotes. I respect all the athletes I cover, and I always appreciate the time they give me, especially after a tough loss. And I find it motivating when seniors who have just played their last game always remember to think of their teammates, their experiences.
—
That’s it for this week. Congratulations to Skyview and Camas for making it to the final four. It’s the third time we’ve had two big-school teams from Clark County make the semifinals in the same year. It would be cool to be writing about two teams in the finals the same year. Hope to write that next week.
