Football notebook: Bothell's Luke Proulx has proved a worthy replacement for Patrick Ottorbech

When Tom Bainter first looked over his roster this season, he knew he had plenty of size, depth and senior leadership.

However, Bothell's coach wasn't sure what he would get out of the running-back position. With the graduation of Patrick Ottorbech last season — a player Bainter calls, "the best running back I've ever coached" — he needed someone to step up.

He knew Luke Proulx was fast, but he has been impressed by the junior's ability to break tackles and make people miss.

"We knew he would be faster than Patrick, but what he has done to pleasantly surprise us is his strength and balance is good," Bainter said. "He's breaking a lot of tackles as well. He makes a guy miss now and again as well."

Through seven games, Proulx has 988 yards and 15 touchdowns. He leads KingCo 4A in both categories on 109 carries. He admits that taking over for Ottorbech presented a daunting challenge, but he has responded so far.

"Pat's obviously a great running back and I was a little nervous at first," Proulx said. "Once I came out here with spring ball and stuff, I felt comfortable right away with this big line. I'm fortunate to have some big D-I athletes. It's made it easy for me to run behind."

Proulx's potential at running back makes the Cougars (7-0, 4-0 KingCo 4A Crown) a tough team to stop on offense. Combine that with a defense that's allowed just 24 points all season and the No. 2-ranked Blue Train is poised to challenge for a state title.

"You can't be one dimensional and go very far in your league or the playoffs for that matter," Bainter said. "He certainly gives us that dynamic in the backfield where you've got to think about stopping the run when you play Bothell."

Lakeside forfeits to O'Dea

because of illness

Lakeside has forfeited tonight's football game against No. 5 O'Dea due to a shortage of healthy players, officials from both schools confirmed.

Three other Metro games will be played tonight to provide teams a potential extra day's rest should a tiebreaker be needed early next week.

West Seattle, Nathan Hale and Rainier Beach are tied for the Sound Division lead and would need a playoff to determine seeding — including a berth in the Metro championship game — should all three win this week. Eastside Catholic, Bainbridge and Seattle Prep could all be tied for second in the Mountain Division after the regular season ends this week. The top three teams in each division will be in the state-qualifying round of 32.

Lindbergh ends drought

It was a long time coming.

When the Lindbergh Eagles knocked off Kennedy Catholic on Friday, 21-14, it marked their first victory over the Lancers since 1986, when both teams were members of the now-defunct North Puget Sound League (which was similar to 4A in classification).

Lindbergh had lost 15 straight Seamount League games to Kennedy and 22 overall.

No wonder the players were especially ecstatic afterward.

"Nobody on the field could ever remember really competing with them, let alone beating them," Lindberg coach Pat O'Grady said. "It was a pretty monumental moment, and the kids celebrated accordingly."

The Eagles thought they had a shot last year and actually led 21-20 in the second quarter, but wound up losing 49-21 and Kennedy won the Seamount title.

The Lancers have won or shared the past seven league titles and 14 of the past 15.

(Evergreen won in 2001 and had been the only Seamount team to beat Kennedy since 1996, also winning in 2007).

Lindbergh (6-1, 6-1), which has lost only to Juanita, is in position to win its first league title in football since 1984 (NPSL).

ATM's VanderWel was driven in final minutes

Austin VanderWel's touchdown pass to Tani Tupou with 25 seconds left in Friday's 14-7 win over undefeated Cedarcrest will likely be talked about at No. 2 Archbishop Murphy for years. But it was VanderWel's gutsy play throughout that winning drive that ATM coach Dave Ward won't soon forget.

On a surface resembling nearby Silver Lake more than a football field, the 6-foot-2, 194-pound junior entered Cedarcrest territory after a 34-yard scramble on third-and-15.

"We just went to the well and tried to figure out ways to get him loose because he is the kind of kid that can take it all the way," Ward said. "Even in the mud and puddles, he still had an extra gear at the end."

But the outlook appeared bleak in the waning seconds, trailing 7-6 and facing fourth-and-goal at the 16. A field goal in those conditions didn't seem possible, especially after a failed point-after try in the first half.

So when Cedarcrest called two timeouts, Ward, known for his risk-taking, opted for a pass even though VanderWel "had gotten hit so many times that he was starting to get banged up on his throwing hand."

"He could hardly feel the ball," Ward said. "I kept saying, 'Can you throw, can you throw?' He said 'yeah', and I said 'OK, let's go for it.' "

Federal Way flying high after lowly start

They were 0-2 in the South Puget Sound League 4A North Division, 1-2 overall.

But the Federal Way Eagles didn't panic.

"We kind of circled the wagons a little bit," coach John Meagher said.

They were mindful of the fact that the two losses were to pretty good teams — third-ranked Auburn (now 7-0, 6-0) and Kentridge (5-2, 5-1), and in both games they made crucial mistakes to hurt themselves.

"We tried to focus on what we needed to do to get better, and we've gotten better every week," Meagher said. "Hopefully we can keep the momentum going."

If the Eagles beat Kent-Meridian (0-7, 0-6) and Jefferson (1-6, 1-6) to close out the regular season, they will finish no worse than fourth in the division and be guaranteed at least a shot at a district playoff berth (if they finish fourth, they will have to face a play-in game against Narrows No. 5).

Notes

• After Lake Washington's game against Inglemoor tonight, coach Ray Roberts is returning to the University of Virginia to have his jersey retired. The Cavaliers will hold a ceremony during their game against Georgia Tech on Saturday.

• Skyline's Jake Heaps has been selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. He will be presented with a jersey during a ceremony in Skyline's TV production room at 1:15 p.m. Friday. Lakes senior Sione Potoa'e was chosen and will have a ceremony at the school today at 11 a.m. The game is Jan. 9 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. It will be televised on NBC at 10 a.m. Pacific.

• There's the potential for a three-way tie for second place in the SPSL North between Federal Way, Kentridge and Kentwood (5-2, 4-2). Kentwood and Kentridge play Friday. If the three teams end up tied at 6-2, the league uses a point differential to break it. Kentwood would have to win by six or more Friday to get the No. 2 spot in the three-way tiebreaker.

• Marysville-Pilchuck senior Austin Denton (1,393 yards, 16 touchdowns) is questionable for Friday's game at Monroe with a strained neck muscle. "It's probably a game-time decision," M-P coach Brandon Carson said. "He had it earlier in the season and aggravated it against Lake Stevens [two weeks ago] and we decided to hold him out against Kamiak since it wasn't a league game."

The No. 8 Tomahawks (7-0, 4-0 Wesco North), riding a 10-game league winning streak, do get back their second-leading rusher. AJ Kvangnes (573 yards) didn't return after suffering a hamstring injury early in last week's 14-3 win.

• Tyler Wright scored all of his team's 21 points as Kentlake knocked off Tahoma last week, 21-6. He ran for one touchdown, caught two TD passes and kicked all three extra points. He also intercepted a pass (his fourth of the season) and punted five times for a 33.6 average.

• Junior David Jones, Kent-Meridian's athletic quarterback, suffered a severe ankle sprain last week against Spanaway Lake and could be done for the season, according to K-M coach Trevor Roberts.

• O'Dea senior Zach Fogerson suffered a partial tear to the lateral collateral ligament in his left knee and a bruised fibula while planting awkwardly on a run against Bainbridge two weeks ago.

Fogerson, a Washington commit, missed the Eastside Catholic game last week and his status for next week's Metro championship is uncertain.

This year, Fogerson has also had a concussion scare and a shoulder injury. He said this injury also affects his calf and hamstring.

"It's super frustrating," said Fogerson of his injuries this season. "It's getting on my nerves, but I'd rather miss a couple games than the whole season."

• Montesano, the top-ranked team in Class 1A, has outscored opponents 315-0 this season, but the seven shutouts to start the year are not a program best. The Bulldogs began the 1981 season with eight shutouts. This week, Montesano (7-0, 5-0) will face its toughest test of the season when it hosts No. 9 Onalaska (7-0, 5-0) Friday at 7 p.m.

• Stanwood (3-4, 3-2 North) and Kamiak (3-4, 3-1 South) are the only teams to have played the three undefeated teams from Wesco 3A and 4A. The Spartans, winners of three straight, lost by a combined 72 points; the Knights dropped their contests against Jackson, Marysville-Pilchuck and Meadowdale by 42 points.

• Cedarcrest, which failed to score on offense against ATM, turned the ball over on downs after three fourth-and-1 situations. The Red Wolves came up two inches short on Tommy Edwards' quarterback sneak early in the second quarter, and leading rusher Jacob Kriegbaum came up a half yard short midway through the third and fourth quarters.

Times staff reporter Sandy Ringer and freelancers Joshua Mayers and Darren Fessenden and the Grays Harbor Daily World contributed to this report.