High School Football | Bruised Wolverines clear last roadblock to 3A final

LAKEWOOD — Each Bellevue player slid on his headphones, and for the long, 2-hour bus ride down Highway 167 — no way were they taking I-5 again — they thought about their first drive.

The Wolverines put away memories of last weekend, with its trips to the hospital and its aches and pains, and focused on the first few plays. By the time they quietly filed off the bus and onto the field, they were ready.

Bellevue scored on that first drive, in only six plays. And then, after forcing a three-and-out by Capital, the Wolverines scored again. And five minutes into the Class 3A semifinal football game, Bellevue was on its way to a 28-6 victory over Capital of Olympia on Monday night at Harry Lang Stadium.

"That was the tone," said senior Jamal Atofau, who scored the second touchdown. "Yeah, we were in a car crash, but win, lose or draw, we're not using that as an excuse. We're coming out and banging."

The top-ranked Wolverines (13-0) earned a spot in the state championship game against No. 4 Union (13-0) of Vancouver on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome.

Only three days earlier, Bellevue's bus overturned as the Wolverines made their way to Tacoma, where Bellevue was scheduled to play Capital. Coach Butch Goncharoff and several players went out the front window, and others piled on top of one another.

No one was seriously hurt, but Goncharoff compared the wear of the accident to playing a playoff game. Three days later, they played another.

"It just feels really good to play football again," Bellevue senior Peter Nguyen said.

From the start, Capital, which relied mostly on defense to make it this far, could not stop Bellevue's wing-T offense. In the first half, the Wolverines ran for gains of 22, 27, 29, 33 and 42 yards.

"They run it the best I've ever seen," said Capital's veteran coach, John D. Johnson.

So many players had so many different bruises and strains that the Bellevue coaches we're going up and down the sidelines asking, "Who can go?" Players rotated on and off the field constantly. The Wolverines tried to spread out the carries, but they made sure to keep handing off to Nguyen, their 1,000-yard rusher.

Nguyen broke free for 151 yards on 11 carries, giving him 514 in the past three games. He also had a 52-yard punt return to the Capital 3-yard line, setting up a touchdown.

"He's the best running back I've ever seen in my life," Atofau said. "At state, I've gone against Nate Williams, [Kellen] Kiilsgaard, but Peter Nguyen is by the toughest running back I've ever had to go against."

On defense, they had one goal: "Stop No. 5," Bellevue lineman Joe Willingham said. Capital senior Riley Wall lined up just about everywhere, but the Wolverines held him to 39 yards on 15 carries.

By the time Wall scored Capital's touchdown, only three minutes remained, and the Wolverines were on their way to their sixth state championship game in eight years.

"It wasn't going to be our last game, we already knew that," Willingham said.

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

Bellevue 14770 — 28Capital 0006 — 6Bell — Peter Nguyen 1 run (Houston Hubert kick)

Bell — Jamal Atofau 3 run (Houston Hubert kick)

Bell — Jamal Atofau 9 run (Houston Hubert kick)

Bell — Sean Coley 4 run (Houston Hubert kick)

Cap — Riley Wall 2 run (run failed)

	Bellevue	Capital
	First downs		11	12

	Rushes-yards		33-296	32-122

	Passing yards		0	90

	Comp-Att-Int		0-3-0	12-19-0

	Return Yards		95	54

	Punts-Avg.		3-33.7	5-42.0

	Fumbles-Lost		1-1	0-0

	Penalties-Yards		3-15	2-20

	Time of Possession		21:30	26:30

Rushing — Bellevue, Jamal Atofau 3-34, Freddie Lavine 5-17, Peter Nguyen 10-151, Joe Joe Connor 2-32, Sean Coley 4-19, Tommy Castle 2-22, Will Fields 6-13, William Bissell 1-8. Capital, Riley Wall 15-39, Kellen Camus 8-52, Tyler Sundberg 2-6, Joe Tolman 4-19, Keean Joling 2-3, Cannon Milligan 1-2.

Passing — Bellevue, Tommy Castle 0-2, Cam Warren 0-1. Capital, Kellen Camas 12-19-0 90.

Receiving — Capital, Hunter Sapp 5-55, Riley Wall 4-20, Joe Tolman 2-13, Keean Joling 1-2.