Gridiron Classic Notebook | Skyline stars endorse new UW coach

TACOMA — Jake Heaps and Gino Simone were all smiles Friday night after Skyline beat Issaquah in the Class 4A state championship game.

They also seemed happy with Washington's decision to hire Steve Sarkisian as football coach, although neither was ready to give the Huskies a verbal commitment on that news alone. Simone, in fact, committed to Washington State before the season, but recently said he plans to explore his options. The all-state senior receiver said Friday he would welcome a call from Sarkisian.

"If he wants to talk to me, I'll be glad to sit down and have a talk with him," Simone said.

Heaps, considered by many the top junior quarterback prospect in the country, gave Sarkisian a thumbs up.

"I think it's a great hire for Washington," he said.

Heaps would not say how that might affect his college decision.

"I wish I could give you more information, but I haven't talked to him," said Heaps, adding he was interested in having that conversation.

Surprise visitor greets Prosser coach, player

Kellen Moore, a former Prosser Mustang who has quarterbacked Boise State to a 12-0 record, arrived Friday night to the total surprise of his father and brother. Tom Moore is the Prosser coach, and Kirby is a Mustangs senior.

There was no celebration to share as Lynden beat the Mustangs in the 2A final, 35-34 in two overtimes.

Kellen's first move after the game was to give Kirby a hug.

Boise State coach Chris Petersen allowed Kellen to fly to Seattle even though the Broncos practiced Saturday.

"Coach Pete is an awesome guy," Kellen said.

Friday night, Kellen called his father's cellphone and said, "Can I call you back?"

Tom Moore said, "Then I turned around a corner and he was there."

Kellen played a similar surprise on his brother.

Kirby said, "He knocked on my door last night. It was great."

Cashmere again practices safety first

The situation was tight, but Cashmere players broke into smiles when coach Phil Zukowski told them they would take a safety rather than punt late in their 1A title game.

Zukowski was in his team's huddle during a timeout and said, "We started the season like this. Do you know what we're doing? We're taking a safety."

In their season-opening 19-16 win over Connell, the Bulldogs protected a late lead by taking a safety.

On Saturday, facing fourth down at their 10-yard line, they took another safety in a 10-9 win over Cascade Christian. The reasoning: Cashmere kicker Hernan Hernandez's strong leg would put the ball far into Cascade Christian territory.

After the safety, Hernandez drilled his kickoff from the 20-yard line to the Cougars' 26, where it was returned 5 yards.

"You tell me that's not better than a punt," Zukowski said.

Six plays later, Cashmere's Edgar Esquivel intercepted a pass to seal the victory.

Double vision in Lynden

After Lynden's double-overtime 2A triumph over Prosser, the question now is whether the Lions can pull off the football-basketball "double" it has done three times previously.

Lynden has won football and boys basketball state titles in the same school year in 1980-81, 1991-92 and 2006-07.

Wishkah players outnumbered

As Wishkah Valley players walked into the Tacoma Dome before their eight-man Class 1B game Saturday night, one looked at the massive band for Class 3A Union High School and said, "They have more people in their band than we do in our whole school."

He was right. The Union band has 160 members. There are about 55 students in Wishkah Valley High School, near Aberdeen.

Win streak snapped at 74

The nation's longest active football winning streak — and fourth longest in 11-man play — ended Saturday in Murfreesboro, Tenn., when Hillsboro beat Maryville 10-7 for the 4A state championship. Maryville had won 74 consecutive games.

Maryville owned the nation's longest active streak less than 24 hours. Friday night, South Panola (Miss.) had its win streak snapped at 89 when Meridian won the Mississippi 5A title in overtime.

The record for consecutive victories is 151, by De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) from 1992-2004 before a loss to Bellevue at Qwest Field.

Seahawks sprout on prep sidelines

Former Seahawks turning into high-school football coaches are as common as traffic jams these days.

Ex-Seahawk Paul Moyer is an assistant at Bellevue, where his son Nick is a junior linebacker.

Among others with Seahawk ties:

Bill Laveroni, former Seahawks line coach, helped with the turnaround at Juanita High School in Kirkland. Ex-tackle Ray Roberts was head coach at Lake Washington, and his staff included former linebacker Dave Wyman. Former running back Curt Warner has been an assistant at Camas.

Ex-Seahawk Tony Davis completed his 15th season as coach at Tahoma of Maple Valley. Sam Merriman is longtime defensive coordinator at Inglemoor, and Manu Tuiasosopo coached the defensive line at Woodinville. M.L. Johnson was an assistant at Interlake, where the athletic director is ex-Seahawk Art Kuehn. Terry Dion finished his second year as head coach at Quincy. Jim Sandusky, who was on the Seahawks' roster but never got on the field because of injuries, is head coach at Lummi, the predominantly Native American school near Bellingham.

Other former players of note who coached: Ex-WSU quarterback Jason Gesser was offensive coordinator at Franklin Pierce. Ex-Husky Ron Holmes, who played eight NFL seasons, was on the coaching staff at Northwest Christian in Lacey. Ex-Husky Chuck Nelson, who kicked in the NFL, helped again at Archbishop Murphy. Doug Long helped with spring ball at Olympia High School and at occasional practices this fall. Ex-Husky Mark Stewart was head coach at Meadowdale and Terry Metcalf, ex-NFL running back who prepped at Franklin, was head coach at Renton.

Notes

• Cashmere's victory over Cascade Christian in the 1A final was the 200th of Bulldogs coach Phil Zukowski's career. He has also coached at Rochester and Adna.

• Cascade Christian lineman Neil Fuhrman tore the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee in July at a football camp. He played effectively this season with braces, and with the season complete, he will now undergo surgery. His play was impressive Saturday, and he also won the sportsmanship medal awarded to a player after each game.

• Bellevue team buses traveled I-5 to Tacoma Saturday. On Monday, they had taken Highway 167 through the Kent Valley to avoid the route traveled when their bus crashed last Friday. The valley route resulted in the team arriving 25 minutes later than planned for the semifinal game against Capital.

• Four of 12 teams in the title games had orange and black as school colors — Cashmere, Wishkah Valley, Asotin and Napavine.

• Cascade Christian of Puyallup was the only private school among the 12 teams in championship games.

• This year's championship slate produced four of the most exciting games since the playoffs began in 1973.

"I've never seen such an exciting series of ball games," said Mike Colbrese, who became executive director of the WIAA in 1993. "All have been close, well-played and the fans have been phenomenal."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.