High School Sports Blog

Mason Kelley covers High School Sports for The Seattle Times. Sandy Ringer and Josh Mayers are also frequent contributors to this blog.

November 22, 2009 at 7:37 PM

1A football quarterfinal quickly became the 'Shoreline Shootout'

Posted by Darren Fessenden

If offense is your thing, hopefully you made it down to Woolsey Stadium for Friday's Class 1A quarterfinal in which Nooksack Valley stunned King's 54-47.

Both squads were attempting to advance past the quarterfinals for the first time since the field expanded to 16 teams four decades ago.

The host Knights looked well on their way to going from winless in 2007 to the semis after scoring the first two times they touched the ball. But sandwiched between those touchdowns (opening kickoff return by senior Nick Swanson and a long run by junior quarterback Thomas Vincent) was a 15-play, 86-yard scoring drive spanning seven minutes by the Pioneers.

At 14-6, a jammed stadium probably realized that a pinball-machine scoring game was in store.

Vincent found Swanson from 44 yards out on King's fourth play from scrimmage and hit junior Curtis Clauson on a 5-yard strike early in the second period, making it an astonishing 26-6. The teams traded touchdowns to close the half, with King's up 33-13.

At this point, it looked as if Nooksack Valley's defense had taken a detour during the two-hour bus ride from Everson. But to say that there wasn't any panic in that locker room would be an understatement for the ages.

"We looked at our kids' eyes at halftime and said, 'Boy, they don't have any doubt. We've got to like this and take advantage of it,'" explained Nooksack Valley coach Robb Myhre, whose team had the highest scoring average in the 1A/2A/3A Northwest League. "And, they did a great job of doing that."

For the King's faithful, the third quarter unfortunately will live in infamy as the Knights were outscored 27-7. The fourth was even worse, as King's was shut out -- and eight seniors saw their high school careers come to an abrupt ending.

"I'm a proud papa, because our story line is (we were) 0-10 two years ago with kids having problems off the field, on the field," said King's coach Jim Shapiro, in his 13th year. "People didn't want to turn out for this football team. We went from 20 kids that were in the sophomore class that are now seniors, to eight. Those kids have battled, they've bought into the weight room, and they've truly decided to make a difference in this program. So to go from 0-10 to this level of football and to go (collectively) 100 plus (points) on the scoreboard against the No. 6 team in the state, it tells you what kind of kids we have in this program."

Here's a bunch of stats that didn't make it into Saturday's game story (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/highschoolsports/2010321889_fessenden21.html). You'll see that, not surprisingly, both squads feature a trio of skill-position stars.

King's (469 yards of total offense -- only 200 in the second half)
Vincent, the Cascade Conference offensive most valuable player: 17 of 34 for 301 yards and four touchdowns; 136 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns
Swanson (first-team receiver, co-special teams player of the year with Archbishop Murphy's Alex Martinez): eight receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown; 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown
Junior wide receiver Curtis Clauson (first-team receiver): seven receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns

Nooksack Valley (546 yards of total offense -- 340 after halftime)
Junior quarterback Tyler Perry: 14 of 21 for 154 yards and a touchdown; 44 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns
Senior running back Nick deGrasse: 237 yards on 37 carries and four touchdowns
Senior wide receiver Anthony Reese: six receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown; two carries for 85 yards and a touchdown; interception; 83-yard kickoff return

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November 22, 2009 at 8:47 AM

Washington distance runners take to the Border (Clash) UPDATED

Posted by Darren Fessenden

I've attached the link for full results:http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?do=title&title_id=423&event_id=22

Later this morning, the top high school cross country runners from Oregon and Washington will race in the 2009 Border Clash at Nike's headquarters in Beaverton, Ore. The current weather report down there shows the temperature to be in the the mid 40's with humidity approaching 90% and mild winds.

Besides the humidity factor, these conditions look identical to those that the Washington runners endured at the state championships two weekends ago in Pasco. For Glacier Peak freshman Amy-Eloise Neale and Garfield senior Anna Dailey -- the 3A and 4A state winners, respectively -- hopefully that's a good omen.

They headline a Washington contingent that's based upon top state finishes throughout all classifications. Local girl stand-outs include: Northwest School duo Maddie Meyers (1A state champion) and Eliza Rice (1A runner-up), Juanita's Tansey Lystad (third in 3A), Stanwood's Minna Fields (4A runner-up), and Redmond's Devin McMahon (third in 4A). On the boys side, Seattle Prep's Drew O'Donoghue-McDonald (second in 3A) and Redmond's Mack Young (2008 4A state champion) should be in contention.

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November 22, 2009 at 6:49 AM

Reese and Pioneers 'Raise 7 For Matthew' against King's

Posted by Darren Fessenden

There's so much to discuss after a game like what was staged Friday night at Woolsey Stadium. But in Nooksack Valley's 54-47 Class 1A quarterfinal win over King's, another story broke out that superseded even the Pioneers escaping from under a 27-point hole.

First off, however, I need to back up just a bit to clarify that the difference-maker down the stretch for Nooksack Valley was Anthony Reese (and not Quinton deGrasse). Saturday's story (link here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/highschoolsports/2010321889_fessenden21.html) has since been corrected, so that's good. This mistake stemmed from taking the roster at face value: deGrasse was listed as No. 7; Reese wears No. 85.

But for this game, it turned out, Reese opted to go with lucky No. 7 for a touching reason. Here's where the real -- and most important -- story begins.

The Pioneers entered Friday involved in a cause greater than themselves, greater than a chance at reaching the semifinals for the first time since 1975. They were playing for Matthew Newman, the junior quarterback for Highland (Cowiche), who suffered a concussion in a game Sept. 18 and immediately underwent surgery to remove a portion of his skull to help lessen the swelling and pressure around his brain.

Newman is currently at Seattle Children's Hospital, after spending three weeks at Yakima Regional Medical & Cardiac Center. Here are two links if you'd like to get involved in a variety of ways: www.Raise7forMatthew.com and http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/matthewnewman1.

Back to Reese and his tribute to No. 7 for the Highland Scotties. Not only did the Pioneers' all-purpose star honor Newman, he was also seen along with other teammates holding up seven fingers after touchdowns.

There were plenty to go around, as Nooksack Valley's high-octane offense scored 41 points in the second half to shock the host Knights. These gestures go a long way in continuing the onslaught of support being shown to Newman as he enters his seventh week at Children's.

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November 22, 2009 at 12:05 AM