4 Washington high school football playoff games you should not have missed (11/10/2023)

If Kamiakin High School football coach Scott Biglin wasn't known as the riverboat-gambler type before Friday night - he will carry that tag moving forward

One that apparently studies the vintage plays of recent Super Bowl history.

With the game - and season on the line - Biglin called on his version of "Philly Special," the short-yardage scoring mastermind that the Philadelphia Eagles ran to perfection in Super Bowl LII.

* WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SCOREBOARD

And it worked as wide receiver Carter Poland took a reverse handoff and connected with quarterback Trent Woodhouse, who went up high in the right corner of the end zone to haul in a game-winning two-point conversion pass in the sixth-seeded Braves' wild 36-35 victory over 11th-seeded Emerald Ridge in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs at Lampson Stadium in Kennewick.

Biglin said the play - which has no official name around the team - has been in the Braves' playbook for the past six weeks, and had been practiced plenty in anticipation of a moment such as Friday.

And yet, Biglin said he looked at his assistants and asked thee times if this was the play to go with with the season on the line. They nodded, 'Yes!'

"(The players) just looked so confident running it," Biglin said. "But my heart was beating a millions miles an hour before it."

Just seconds earlier, Woodhouse converted a fourth-and-4 play with his 19-yard rollout touchdown pass to Kyler Rutz to pull the Braves to 35-34 in overtime.

Emerald Ridge, which scored first in overtime on Navarre Dixon's 1-yard touchdown on fourth and goal, had to make its own magic just to get to the extra session.

Trailing 28-20 with 91 seconds remaining, the Jaguars marched 80 yards behind Jake Schakel's precise passing prowess, capping the improbable drive on his 30-yard scoring pass to Malakai Harris with 25,8 seconds to go.

Schakel then sent the game into overtime with his two-point conversion run off a draw play.

Camden Schmidt led the Braves with a workhorse effort on the ground - 23 carries, 189 yards and three touchdown, His 35-yard scoring scamper with 1:31 remaining game the Braves a 28-20 lead.

Schakel finished 22-of-34 for 368 yards and two touchdowns, but also had a pair of first-half turnovers as the Jaguars trailed 14-7 at halftime.

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MOUNT TAHOMA WINS FIRST WIAA PLAYOFF GAME IN 43 YEARS

Keith Terry chuckles at the mention of his Mount Tahoma group facing Wing-T power Ferndale as the school's re-introduction to the state playoffs.

It's not an easy offense to face, he said.

But he was thankful the Thunderbirds got a small taste of it during summer camps - and the preseason jamboree at Mercer Island High School.

It was enough of a taste that the 3A PCL champions more than knew what was coming Friday night in their 21-7 win over the host Golden Eagles in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.

"It worked to our advantage seeing it at the Fife summer camp, the (PLU) Showcase and at Mercer Island," Terry said. "So by Wednesday this week, we honed in on it."

It also helped that Mount Tahoma jumped out first on the road, scoring twice in a 41/2-minute span in the second quarter to take a 14-0 lead.

Tre Walker's 7-yard touchdown dart up the gut gave the Thunderbirds that two-score advantage with 3:04 remaining before halftime.

And now, the Thunderbirds are on to face the Yelm-Marysville-Pilchuck winner in the quarterfinals.

"This feels a little bit surreal," Terry said. "I knew we would show up. I knew we would play hard. And like we've talked about before, those first couple of weeks (losses to North Kitsap and Eastlake) were what the playoffs would feel like, and we learned our lessons. Now we are living it."

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LAKESIDE OF NINE MILE FALLS SHAKES OFF SLOW START

When asked for one word to describe his team's sluggish play in the first half, Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls coach Devin Bauer offered three.

"Football in November," he said.

Trailing until Calvin Mikkelsen's 1-yard score just seconds before halftime, second-seeded Lakeside of Nine Falls took that momentum and ran away for a 41-14 home victory over No. 15 seed Life Christian Academy in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs.

Hiro Patterson's final-minute interception in Life Christian Academy territory set up Mikkelsen's touchdown run that gave the hosts a 10-6 lead on Jabez Boyd's 17-yard touchdown pass to Champ Seumalo.

To start the second half, Zack Meharg returned the kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown, and Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls increased its lead to 17-6.

"(Life Christian) came to play ... hats off to them, they had a good game plan," Bauer said. "We had to make adjustments.

"(The late first-half touchdown) lit the fire and gave us momentum."

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FREEMAN CONTINUES ROAD-WARRIOR WAYS

Last season, Freeman won road state-playoff games at King's and Eatonville to reach the Class 1A semifinals.

And on Friday, the 10th-seeded Scotties continued the trend they started in 2022 by defeating No. 7 seed Montesano, 28-21.

Luke Whitaker threw three touchdown passes before leaving with an injury as the Scotties built a 28-0 lead before holding off a furious Bulldogs' rally.

Montesano committed five turnovers in the game.

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(Video taken by freelancer Lane Mathews)

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