KingCo 3A: Issaquah does it

BELLEVUE — Erik Woldseth didn't remember many of the details of the play that ended last night's game, only the crack of the pads, the ensuing pileup and then ... pure chaos.

But through the shouts and the cheers and the swarming student body, he managed to recreate the basics of the hit that no doubt is the talk of Issaquah High School this morning.

"I put my head down and hit him," said Woldseth, an Issaquah senior. "When people got off me, we were going crazy and I knew the game was over."

So simple. So solid. So huge.

Woldseth's stop of Bellevue running back Tracy Ford 1 yard from the goal line with only seconds remaining last night preserved the No. 2 Eagles' 24-21 victory over the top-ranked Wolverines, the two-time defending Class 3A state champion Wolverines.

The victory, in front of a capacity crowd of 3,500 at Bellevue High School, was Issaquah's first against Bellevue since 1997. It was Issaquah coach Buddy Bland's first against the Wolverines in six tries.

"Bellevue's a great team, and we just need to focus on getting better," Bland said, "because we've got other pretty good teams ahead of us, too."

Bellevue (3-1 overall, 2-1 conference), which brought a 12-game win streak into the game, suffered only its second home loss in four seasons under coach Butch Goncharoff.

The Wolverines last lost at home in 2000, falling to eventual state champion Skyline 28-7.

"We've got nothing to hang our heads about," Goncharoff said. "We're a young team that's getting better. They're a great team. They deserved to win the game."

The Wolverines drove 67 yards on 12 plays, using more than six minutes, to reach the Issaquah 1-yard line in the final seconds. Bellevue snapped the ball with about eight seconds remaining and gave it to Ford off tackle, over the right side.

Woldseth met him first, and was soon helped by several teammates.

And that's how time expired, with the Eagles (4-0, 3-0) breaking into a wild celebration and Ford laying on his stomach in disbelief, staring at the turf.

"We need to score from the 1-inch line," Goncharoff said. "We had a great hole, we just missed it. That's part of being a young team."

Issaquah scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run by Blake Ferguson, who also rushed for a 6-yard score and caught five passes for 59 yards.

Issaquah quarterback Mark Gray completed 18 of 24 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown, a 12-yard strike to Woldseth.

Woldseth also caught a game-high nine passes for 110 yards and recovered a Bellevue fumble on the game's first series.

"Right now, I think we're the No. 1 team in the state," said Issaquah running back Kevin Lawson after rushing 21 times for 99 yards. "That's a great team, they could have beat us. It could have gone either way. I was scared to the very end."

Ford led Bellevue with 24 carries and 146 yards. He scored on a 24-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter that helped the Wolverines take a 21-17 lead.

Things don't get easier for Bellevue, as next week the Wolverines host Skyline.

"Give them credit, they made the stop," Goncharoff said. "I'm proud of my team, they played hard."

Mercer Island 26, at Cedarcrest 0 — The 12th-ranked Islanders (4-0, 3-0) joined Issaquah in a first-place tie with a shutout of the Red Wolves (0-4, 0-3). Cedarcrest had only 55 total yards. Ethan Thomas scored two touchdowns and John Hollowed ran for a score and passed 24 yards to Thomas for an Islanders TD.

At Skyline 42, Mount Si 20 — Senior Jaden Villnow scored touchdowns on all three of his receptions and finished with 135 yards as the fifth-ranked Spartans (3-1, 2-1) defeated the Wildcats (1-3, 0-3). Zach Habben completed 13 of 22 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns for Skyline. Brett Kaluza ran for 93 yards and two TDs. Tyler Pelluer added 105 rushing yards for the Spartans. Mount Si's Alex Smart completed 14 of 30 passes for 208 yards and two TDs, with an 80-yard scoring toss to Eric Tierney.

At Sammamish 40, Newport 30 — Lyndon Estill threw touchdown passes of 52 and 62 yards as the Totems (2-2, 1-2) scored 30 consecutive points after falling behind 14-3. Andrew Ragan carried 19 times for 168 yards, with scoring runs of 46 and 15 yards for Sammamish. Dake Lindelef had TD runs of 26 and 4 yards for the Knights (2-2, 1-2).

At Liberty 48, Interlake 28 — Corey Slater passed for four touchdowns and Craigh Cornelius caught scoring passes of 41, 13 and 32 yards as the Patriots built a 41-7 lead. B.J. Ward carried 14 times for 90 yards and Brad Williams had 87 yards on 10 carries for Liberty (3-1, 2-1). Bryce Brigham of Interlake (1-3, 1-2) completed 21 of 50 passes for 299 yards and four TDs.