4A Prep Football | Edmonds-Woodway rolls ahead

BOTHELL — Knock, and the door shall be opened to you. Or batter it down, if you're Edmonds-Woodway.

Warriors running back Josh Heard smashed into Woodinville's vaunted run defense over and over again, finally punching in a 1-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to clinch a 13-3 win Saturday night at Pop Keeney Stadium.

The second-ranked Warriors (12-0) advance to the semifinals of the Class 4A playoffs next week in the Tacoma Dome against Bothell, which beat Pasco 43-40 in a state-record nine overtimes. The game is Saturday at 7 p.m.

E-W had never been past the first-round of the playoffs in school history. Woodinville, last year's state runner-up, finishes the season 8-4.

"We're used to being up 50 points, and not even playing our starters in the second half," said E-W left guard Dan Richards of his team, which came in averaging 41.3 points per game. "It's harder for us mentally to be in a close game, but I've noticed that our team has stepped up and we don't let up at all."

Woodinville's defense had given up just 85.8 yards per game rushing in the regular season. Heard rushed for 123 yards on 24 carries.

"He got a lot of yards today after contact," said Woodinville coach Wayne Maxwell. "Those were well-deserved yards. He runs hard."

The Warriors opened the scoring with 10 seconds left in the first quarter, gambling on fourth-and-7.

Junior quarterback Kyle McCartney threw his 27th touchdown of the year, a 21-yard laser beam to 6-foot-6 wide receiver Eric Greenwood in the back-left corner of the end zone. It was Greenwood's 13th touchdown.

Those six points — the extra point kick was blocked by Brent Sorensen — were the first that Woodinville had allowed in the first quarter all season.

McCartney showed poise all night, shrugging off Woodinville's aggressive defensive pass rush and finding receivers downfield. He finished 11 of 18 for 151 yards and an interception.

E-W wide receiver Antoinne Wafer caught seven passes for 102 yards.

The Falcons only points came on a 15-play drive in the third quarter that lasted 7 minutes 9 seconds and ended with a 21-yard field goal by Jered Leslie.

Brent Sorensen ran for 54 yards for the Falcons, and Peter Roberts passed for 130 yards.

Michael Ko: 206-515-5653 or mko@seattletimes.com