4A Football | Bothell proves doubters wrong

TACOMA — On bus rides before every game this season, Bothell senior quarterback Cody Atkinson has motivated himself with a few words he scrawled on a little scrap of paper:

"Bothell is way overrated. Everyone knows that."

Somebody wrote that on a football message board after Bothell's season-opening football loss to Lake Oswego, a 48-22 defeat.

"Well, I think we proved them wrong," Atkinson said.

Twelve wins and a KingCo 4A title later, Atkinson finds himself in the Tacoma Dome, with the opportunity to put an exclamation point on the most successful season in school history.

Bothell (12-1) plays Oak Harbor (12-1) in the Class 4A state championship, scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Both schools are finals first-timers.

Oak Harbor, which won the WesCo North Division, will be led by one of the best quarterbacks in the state, Marshall Lobbestael, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound Washington State recruit who has thrown for 2,676 yards and 34 touchdowns.

The other three games on the second day of the 2006 Gridiron Classic include Connell (13-0) vs. Meridian (13-0) in the Class 1A final at 10 a.m., Centralia (12-1) vs. Lynden (12-1) in the Class 2A final at 1 p.m. and Lummi (11-1) vs. St. John-Endicott (12-1) in the B-8 final at 4 p.m.

Atkinson's route to the finals has been a woozy one. A concussion knocked him out of the Lake Oswego game and he stayed overnight at a Portland hospital as a precaution. Still slightly dizzy the next week, he threw for 255 yards and four touchdowns in Bothell's conference opener against Redmond.

He also left last week's Edmonds-Woodway game prematurely. He was hit on the head after recovering a late E-W onside kick.

Atkinson threw for 1,729 yards and 13 TDs, with nine interceptions, and led KingCo 4A with a 58.9 completion percentage in league games. He also ran in a touchdown in Bothell's historic nine-overtime quarterfinals win over Pasco.

Last week's semifinals performance might have been his most impressive, according to Bothell coach Tom Bainter. Making the most of a pass-heavy first-half game plan, Atkinson completed 14 of 20 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns, with an interception.

"Cody made great reads all night," Bainter said. "He made one bad throw, and that was probably my fault [for calling that play]."

Atkinson is the son of Ray Atkinson, Bothell's running backs and defensive backs coach, who was an All-Metro quarterback at Roosevelt.

Sometime this afternoon, on his way down to the Tacoma Dome, Cody Atkinson will repeat his motivational ritual one last time. Look at the words on the scrap of paper and, as he always does, tuck it carefully inside his left wristband.

Then, he hopes to finish the job.