Front page | News archive | Sports | Internet guide | E-mail the Herald
Opinion: Jim Riley | |||||||||||
509-582-1506 Past Riley columns:
|
Light shines on Wa-Hi's offense just in nick of time at the Lamp It's darkest, it's often said, just before the dawn. On Saturday, Walla Walla's offense had descended into total blackness. Trying to protect a lead against Kamiakin in the second half of the 4A state playoffs at Lampson Stadium, the Blue Devils went three-and-out five times, had gained only 29 yards on 21 plays, had punted six straight times and had one first down. Worse yet, Walla Walla's last punt of the final 24 minutes was blocked and its lead was gone with only 3:14 left to play. No one, except maybe those wearing blue-and-white face paint, could have imagined this was an offense about to wake up. After yet another incomplete pass made quarterback Casey Waddell 2-for-8 after halftime, the comatose Blue Devils offense roared back to life on what is normally the meekest of plays. A short toss over the middle to Kevin Gwinn after Waddell narrowly avoided a sack turned into a 39-yard gain and moved the ball to the Kamiakin 23. It was, Waddell knew, time to go to Pierce Johnson. "I just have this feeling that when it gets down to that time of the game, I'm going to throw the ball and Pierce is going to catch it," Waddell said. "When it's crunch time, he just doesn't drop anything." Despite being closely guarded, Johnson held on to a perfectly thrown fade pass and Walla Walla had a 20-17 upset win. Kamiakin's season was over. "Our philosophy all season has been to never say die," Johnson said. "We were down after that blocked punt, but we weren't dead." Johnson said a lack of time precluded much thinking. " 'Just don't drop the ball' was all I was thinking," Johnson said. "Casey threw it right there and basically it was an easy catch." Two plays, 67 yards and 24 seconds was what it took for complete redemption for an offense that struggled. Walla Walla coach Marc Yonts said losing the lead gave his offense the freedom to take more chances, like the call to send Gwinn on a crossing route that could have resulted in a sack. "We held back on that play because we didn't know if we'd have the time," Yonts said. "Casey did a great job of being patient, and Kevin did a nice job of breaking a tackle and running down the sideline to put us in position." Kamiakin coach Craig Beverlin said it was the perfect call against a prevent defense modified by a pair of blitzing linebackers. "It was brilliant," Beverlin said. "We haven't had anyone run anything like that on us all year. It's a credit to their coaching staff and how they planned it. We gave up seven points right away and that's the first time that's happened to us in a long, long time." On the touchdown throw, Waddell had three choices. The fade to Johnson wasn't at the top of the list. "We got a little nervous when he threw it that way, but he made a great throw," Yonts said. "They've practiced that one a few times. It was just great execution." Yonts was worried his team might have scored too quickly, leaving Kamiakin 2:50 for one final drive. "We weren't anticipating that we would get it all in two plays," Yonts said. "But we'll take it. We told our kids it meant we would have to go out and play defense again. And we did. We had great pressure up front late in the game when we had to." So Yonts, a former Kamiakin linebacker, held his breath. "There's no quit in those kids, but there's no quit in ours, either," Yonts said. "We made the big plays when we had to. We didn't get down because even though we weren't moving the ball, we knew we were playing against a really good defense." So Walla Walla waited and waited, and suddenly it was light again. | ||||||||||
This page and all contents are ©opyright 1999 by the
| |||||||||||
