What letdown? Bothell in a breeze

BOTHELL — Thirteen plays later, it was all but over.

The absolute one-sidedness of Bothell's 61-0 victory Friday night against Stanwood — the difference between a team that fought like heck to make the Class 4A playoffs and the undefeated team expected to win the whole thing — could be broken down in many ways. Perhaps the total yardage (a whole lot to not so much), the disparity in first downs (ditto) or the final score itself might suffice.

But nothing might explain it more completely than top-ranked Bothell's first 13 plays.

"You hope to have a start like that," said Bothell coach Tom Bainter.

On play one, Luke Proulx ran through a wide-open hole for 14 yards. This would be a theme the rest of the first half: Proulx breaking free behind Bothell's dominant offensive line, which opened lanes so wide they should have been paved.

After that, the Cougars threw long passes (like the 26-yard TD pass on play two) and short passes that went for long gains (like the 59-yard TD on play five). They used play-action passes to set up the run (like the 7-yard TD run on play 11) and used the run to set up a play-action pass (like the 36-yard TD on play 12).

And on play 13, Proulx took another handoff, sprinted to the left side, and then cut all the way back across the field for a 57-yard touchdown run.

At that point, only 31 seconds into the second quarter, Bothell led this preliminary-round game 35-0.

So no, there was no letdown for the Cougars one week after taking the No. 1 spot — not to mention the KingCo 4A title — from Skyline.

"I told them before the game we were having a bit of a letdown, which would have been totally understandable," said Bainter, whom the crowd regaled with "Happy Birthday," on his 44th, after the game. "We came out, and they played like we have all year."

The Cougars outgained Stanwood 375-68 in the first half.

Fifteen of the first 28 plays for Stanwood (4-6) — which won four of its last five to make the postseason — went for either no gain or negative yardage.

On offense, Bothell didn't even get to third down until there were only four minutes left in the first half.

Muller completed all nine of his passes for 190 yards and four touchdowns.

Proulx — running through those eight-lane freeways Bothell calls holes — went for 220 yards and four more scores.

"I get the ball," Proulx said, "and it's just wide-open holes."