Prep Football | Top-ranked Skyline survives giant scare 16-12

SAMMAMISH — The kick sailed so high that the 3,700 fans at Skyline Stadium waited, searching for a sign of which side of the goal post it cleared.

One official nodded yes, then the other, and when both put their arms in the air, the Bothell Cougars ran to the sideline screaming. With five minutes left, Bothell — the supposed sideshow at this nationally televised party on the plateau — led the top-ranked team in the state.

It was five minutes too many.

For the Skyline offense — what ESPNU really came to see Thursday night — five minutes are an eternity. For Bothell, it was too long to keep Kasen Williams out of the end zone.

With a defensive back on him like a sleeping bag, Williams caught the winning touchdown pass while falling down. And with a league championship, an elite national ranking and a 22-game winning streak on the line, Skyline stayed unbeaten with a 16-12 win against Bothell in the KingCo 4A championship game.

"That kid, I don't know if we can match him," Bothell coach Tom Bainter said of Williams. "That kid is a special talent."

The final drive by Skyline, ranked seventh in the country by USA Today, was made for prime time. The Spartans (9-0) had to survive a fumble, third-and-long and fourth-and-short before Williams, a sophomore, capped his nine-catch, 182-yard night with the go-ahead score.

After Nick Kaylor's 39-yard field goal put Bothell (6-3) ahead 12-9, the Spartans fumbled Bothell's pooch kickoff. Skyline's Gino Simone, the deep return man, jumped on the ball before Cougars piled on top.

"My heart just dropped," said Skyline junior quarterback Jake Heaps.

Simone held on.

"There was no way I was losing that one," he said.

Skyline drove 71 yards for the winning score, converting a third-and-14, then fourth-and-one at the Bothell 36. After a 17-yard catch-and-plow to the 16, Williams caught the touchdown, his second of the night, with 1:56 left.

On Bothell's next play, Skyline senior Grant Engel forced a fumble, and Rob Tramonte recovered. A Skyline crowd that spent most of the night in disbelief could finally exhale.

"They came up and punched us in the mouth, and that's something we're not used to," Heaps said.

Bothell led 9-3 at halftime, scoring the first points against Skyline's starting defense this season. Bothell's Patrick Ottorbech ran for 25 of his 99 yards on a second-quarter touchdown. And Heaps, who twisted his ankle early, had two early interceptions.

At halftime, Skyline coach Mat Taylor said, "The message was we need to learn to grow up."

Skyline held Bothell to only 31 second-half yards and minus-4 rushing yards.

Heaps completed 18 of 33 passes for 261 yards.

"I knew we were going to come back and win the game," he said.

Tom Wyrwich: 206-515-5653 or twyrwich@seattletimes.com