Gonzaga Prep turns out lights on Southridge

Talk about electricity.

Gonzaga Prep had it Saturday in abundance during the Bullpups’ 42-13 first-round State 4A football playoff rout of Southridge before 2,053 at Albi Stadium.

Not the stuff that turns on the lights or scoreboard – that was non-existent when the game started, victim of a power outage that hit 1,500 North Side homes.

But the type supplied by a fired-up defense and an explosive offense.

Within minutes of the juice returning, the Pups’ Tom Adolfae picked off a Jason Munns pass and the surprising blowout was on. Surprising because the Suns, who finished 9-3, came in ranked seventh in the state, the Pups eighth. And Southridge is from the Big Nine, a conference that’s had its way with the Greater Spokane League the past few years.

“They’re young and I don’t think they bounced back (from Tuesday night’s play-in games) as quickly as we did,” Gonzaga Prep coach Dave Carson said. “We took it up to another level, another energy level.”

Adolfae’s pick was the jump start – “I saw the receiver cut behind me so I ran with him, turned and he threw me the ball. It was a sophomore mistake,” the linebacker said – but it was two long touchdown passes by Billy Karwacki that got G-Prep’s juices flowing.

After Michael Stockton started the scoring with a 24-yard field goal following Adolfae’s interception, the Prep defense forced a three-and-out.

On the first play after the punt, Karwacki teamed up with Brad Parker for 51 yards and a 10-0 lead.

“We came in knowing we could hurt them deep,” said Parker, a senior who also doubles as a defensive back. “Billy was a lot more relaxed today right from the start than he was Tuesday and he made a perfect throw.”

Perfect, maybe, but not his longest.

That came on the first play of the second quarter, with G-Prep (11-1) facing a second-and-8 from its 2-yard line.

“I trust our guys in that situation,” Carson said of his decision to go deep. “Billy can throw and those guys can catch it, so I have no problem having them pass from there.”

Brandon Kennedy was the target and Karwacki’s high-arcing toss hit him in the hands at the Prep 45. Kennedy out-sprinted Nathan Rumley down the sideline for what Carson called “the emotional lift we needed,” and a 98-yard touchdown.

The touchdown catches were the only ones Parker and Kennedy had.

Connor Hare added a 10-yard run around left end two possessions later and the first half ended with Prep up 24-6.

The Suns had 18 yards rushing in the opening half, on 17 carries, mainly because Munns was sacked twice for minus-24 yards.

“We came after him hard and his mobility, or lack of it, showed a little bit,” Carson said. “He started looking for our guys instead of his receivers.”

One receiver Munns saw was Shawn O’Malley, who got behind the Pups’ secondary for a 77-yard touchdown with a little more than a minute left in the half. But a blocked extra point took the juice out of the Suns’ celebration.

Any chance of a Southridge comeback was switched off midway through the third quarter when G-Prep scored three touchdowns in a 1-minute, 21-second stretch.

First Karwacki culminated the Pups’ first second-half possession with a 4-yard run, then, following Munns’ second interception, Karwacki weaved his way 51 yards through the Suns’ defense on an option keeper around left end.

Karwacki, who finished 7 of 11 for 199 yards passing, rushed for 48 yards. He was one of seven Prep rushers who combined for 210 yards, part of the Pups’ 409-306 edge in total offense.

But the defense can also put up points, and on the second play after the kickoff Mike Ogrin and Adolfae teamed up to score.

Ogrin broke through from his left end spot and grabbed Munns as he was trying to throw. The ball popped free, Adolfae picked it up at the 29 and ran in untouched.

“Hats off to them,” Southridge coach Andy Troxel said. “They beat us soundly, in just about every way they could.

“We made a couple of mistakes and things started to snowball. We’re young, sure, but that’s not why the mistakes happened. What happened today could happen to anyone, even a senior-dominated team.”

Senior-dominated is how you could describe Prep, and those seniors don’t want this run to end.

“This is uncharted territory for us,” Parker said. We’re getting support from everywhere, include some guys who went through this at Prep in the past.”

The Bullpups move into the quarterfinals, where at 1 p.m. Saturday they will host Kentwood (9-2), a 26-13 victor over previously undefeated Puyallup on Friday night. It marks G-Prep’s 11th trip to the final eight since 1976, but its first since 1993, when the Pups were a power with which to be reckoned.

Just like now.