No more cheering for Bothell

The coincidence was eerie.

A year ago, Lewis and Clark football coach Tom Yearout sat in the Bothell cheering section during the State 4A championship game in Tacoma rooting on the son of a relative.

This weekend, in LC’s first appearance in the state finals (becoming only the third GSL school, after Gonzaga Prep and Central Valley to qualify), he’ll be on the sidelines trying to beat those Cougars in the very same game Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Tacoma Dome.

“Kent Schaefer (Shadle Park, 1980) is my cousin, and his son, Robert (now playing for Whitworth), was a starting safety for Bothell,” Yearout said via e-mail. “When Kent and I saw the bracket this year, I think we both had a funny feeling this might just happen.”

The Tigers held up their end of the bargain of the GSL dream for an all-South Hill title matchup with a 28-26 victory over Edmonds-Woodway last Saturday.

But Bothell denied Ferris and five seniors seeking a basketball-football double title opportunity, 14-7, when the Saxons fumbled on the Cougars’ 1-yard line in the final 20 seconds. It was their only loss this year.

Yearout said Schaefer drove over for the Bothell-Ferris game, then drove back to the Tacoma Dome to watch LC.

“Some of us feel like this matchup may have been in the cards all along,” said Yearout of the LC-Bothell showdown.

LC led Edmonds 28-7 entering the final quarter of last week’s semifinal before committing four of its five second-half turnovers, helping make the game interesting.

“It was Murphy’s Law,” said Yearout. “I turned to an assistant and said, ‘there’s not another way to turn over the ball,’ and not 30 seconds later they did it again.”

But the defense, which denied E-W on a first-and-goal series in the third quarter, hung tough through adversity.

“I had a feeling we were going to find a way to get it done, I don’t know why,” said Yearout. “The defense was put in bad positions, but played really well.”

For years Yearout has said he measures the success of Tigers football by consistency, not postseason success. LC has had 16 consecutive winning seasons, eight since he became head coach.

Has the heady past month, with playoff road wins in Richland, Seattle and Tacoma and a home victory over Woodinville, changed his thinking?

“I’ll tell you what I thought I was going to say,” said Yearout prior to the win over Edmonds-Woodway. “It’s really exciting.”

But he said it is merely the extension of what his predecessor, John Hook, started and he has continued. Instill a foundation – the belief in hard work, defensive emphasis and a sound running game – and good things happen.

“John had a good vision of what could happen at this school and look at what he did,” said Yearout. “I do not think winning in the playoffs validates our system to the coaches and players as much as it does to those on the outside. We have always believed in what we were doing.”

Each team creates its own identity, Yearout said. This team has been special, capturing the imagination of the Lewis and Clark community by accomplishing something no other Tigers football team has done.

“I was surprised at how many ex-players were at our (Inglemoor) game,” said Yearout. “I didn’t have the feeling that they wished it was them, but more how they felt they were part of the present. This might be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and it’s really exciting.”