OTHELLO – The Huskies outgained the Mariners and held a seven-point lead with less than two minutes to go in the game, but Sehome made the big plays when they were needed the most, as the Mariners went on the road on Saturday to defeat Othello 22-21 in the first round of the 2A state playoffs.
The Husky game plan worked extremely well early on, with a power running game on offense and double-teaming Sehome senior wide receiver Andre Watson while on defense.
Othello drove down the field with relative ease to begin the game, with 10 straight rushing plays that resulted in 59 yards and the opening score of the game.
Mariner junior quarterback Nolan Wright threw an interception on his first pass attempt of the game, and the Huskies went right back to the ground game. They drove as far as the five-yard line, but junior Tyson Goodman forced a fumble which was recovered by multiple Mariners in the end zone.
Sehome was quickly forced to punt, and Wright boomed a 59-yarder to pin the Huskies deep. However, a 61-yard run by Othello quickly flipped the field back, and three plays later the Huskies scored their second touchdown of the game.
At this point, Othello had more points (14) than Sehome had yards of offense (9). It wasn’t looking good for the Mariners, who were looking to pick up their first state tournament football win in 29 years.
Sehome began picking up first downs on the following drive, but found itself with another fourth down near midfield.
Wright tried to induce an encroachment penalty with a hard count, but to no avail. He then took the snap and found junior wide receiver Al Miller who picked up the first down after he found a soft spot in the zone and sat down in it.
They found themselves with another fourth down just four plays later, and they picked it up again when Wright rolled out to his right and found senior wide receiver Grady Evans to move the chains.
Wright then hit Miller on a quick-out from the 6-yard line, and Miller’s effort gave the Mariners their first six points of the game.
Neither team was able to score again in the quarter, and both teams went into the locker room with Othello leading 14-7.
Sehome got the first big break of the third quarter when the Huskies fumbled the ball on a pitch to the running back, and Goodman recovered it to give the ball to the Mariners near midfield.
Sehome kept electing to throw the ball, and when Wright couldn’t find an open receiver he would take off and run. In this case, he picked up 33 yards to get the Mariners into the red zone. Sehome handed the ball off just three times in the entire game.
One play after his long run, Wright found Watson alone in the back of the end zone and the two hooked up for the game-tying score from 12 yards out.
Othello returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the Mariner 18-yard line, and the Huskies were in business as the third quarter turned into the fourth.
As the sun started to peak through the clouds, Othello went on to score the go-ahead touchdown with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Wright showed his moves once again as he scampered 54 yards for a first down on the following drive. However, negative plays and penalties pushed the Mariners back past midfield, and Wright was forced to punt once again. His coffin-corner kick was executed to perfection as the ball rolled out of bounds at the Othello 3-yard line.
The Huskies now had the ball, and a 7-point lead, and with their run-heavy attack, it was setting up pretty nice for them.
Othello ran the ball, and used up as much time off the clock as it could, but were eventually forced to punt after picking up a methodical 40 yards. The punter took the snap and rolled to his right as he looked to execute a rugby-style punt, but out of nowhere Goodman flew through the Husky brigade and blocked the punt.
Sehome now had the ball at the 20-yard line going in, with less than three minutes left in the game, and down 21-14.
Back-to-back passes from Wright to Miller got the ball to the 7-yard line for the Mariners. One play later, Wright hit Watson in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Timeout was immediately called following the touchdown as the Mariners, who were riding a major wave of momentum, were looking for the two-point conversion and the win with 1:33 left in the game.
When Sehome approached the line of scrimmage before the snap, multiple Huskies pointed at Watson, already knowing where the ball was going to go. Battling through a double-team, Watson jab-stepped in, and quickly broke out while in the end zone, and he was open just long enough for Wright to fire the ball to him for two points and the 22-21 lead.
The Huskies were now faced with a dilemma as they hadn’t been down the entire game, and passing the ball was not their strength. Incomplete passes, coupled with procedure penalties and quarterback sacks by junior defensive tackle Finn Seitz-Gregoire ended any chance for Othello, and Sehome rejoiced with a road victory.
The Mariners (8-3) will now face top-ranked Tumwater (11-0) on Saturday at 3:00 at Tumwater District Stadium.
Sehome 22 Othello 21 SEH 0 7 7 8 - 22 OTH 7 7 0 7 - 21 OTH - 2 yard touchdown run (kick good) OTH - 2 yard touchdown run (kick good) SEH - Miller 6 pass from Wright (Evans kick) SEH - Watson 12 pass from Wright (Evans kick) OTH - 6 yard touchdown run (kick good) SEH - Watson 7 pass from Wright (Watson pass from Wright) SEH OTH 17-112 Rush Att-Yards 51-321 18-29-1 Comp-Att-Int 2-8-0 204 Passing Yards 31 Individual Leaders RUSHING - SEH: Wright 14-116, McAlister 3-(-4). OTH: N/A. PASSING - SEH: Wright 18-29-1-204. OTH: N/A. RECEIVING - SEH: Watson 7-82, Miller 6-43, McAtee 2-44, Evans 2-27, Goodman 1-8. OTH: N/A.
