No Young, no problem for Auburn

AUBURN — They knew they'd have to pick up the load running the football for the Auburn High School football team.

Missing three suspended players, including Washington-bound Chris Young, the Trojans needed someone to step in and produce.

Teammates Austin Embody and Alphonse Wade embraced that role and ran with it big time.

Even without their main horse, the third-ranked Trojans thundered past Kamiak of Mukilteo 42-7 on the strength of 478 rushing yards in a Class 4A preliminary round state-qualifying game on Friday night at Auburn Memorial Stadium.

Embody became the Trojans' go-to guy. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior had a career-high 220 yards rushing and four touchdowns on 20 attempts. Wade finished with 148 yards and two TDs on 15 carries, sitting out half of the game with cramps in his calves.

"[Embody] has had a good year and he's gained 700 yard, but based on numbers he's kind of the third guy," said Auburn coach Gordon Elliott. "Tonight, he stepped up and showed he could be a No. 1 guy. We knew it. He started for us last year and had a good year.

"Then with Alphonse out with cramps for a while, all of a sudden it gave Austin even more [carries]."

Kamiak (4-6), which finished tied for second in the WesCo 4A North Division at 4-2, entered the playoffs having lost three of its last four and never got going on offense.

The Knights went three-and-out and fumbled once on their first four possessions before quarterback Jake Sortor raced over left tackle for a 10-yard touchdown keeper to cut the Auburn lead to 21-7 with 9:15 to go in the second quarter.

Auburn (10-0) faces the winner of today's game pitting Graham-Kapowsin (6-3) and Marysville-Pilchuck (9-0) in the round of 16 state playoffs.

The Trojans racked up 493 yards of total offense despite missing three players who violated the school districts athletic code and among the trio was Young, a two-way star. All three players, among a group who were involved in an incident at Saturday's homecoming, are suspended for the remainder of the season or 25 participation days, whichever is longer.

Young is known for his hard-hitting on defense and his running prowess on offense. He piled up 1,424 yards and 27 TDs and he had scored a school-record six TDs in a game earlier in the season.

"I think there's kind of a disrespect thing, that everybody thinks you're not a very good team when one guy leaves," said Elliott of opposing teams looking at the loss of Young depleting their team. "[Young] is a good player because he's got good teammates. I think the guys wanted to prove they are a good team. It's not just one individual that makes the difference. We're OK."

Auburn makes its fifth consecutive trip to state and eighth state appearance overall.

The Knights were bidding for their first state berth since 2004 and fifth overall. Kamiak was limited to 98 yards of total offense and 65 yards rushing.