ACH to play in State 1B football final after avenging loss to Liberty Christian

PASCO – Almira/Coulee-Hartline coach Brandon Walsh insisted that the only way his football team had a chance against No. 1-ranked Liberty Christian was stopping record-setting quarterback John Lesser.

As it turned out, Lesser wasn’t the best player on the Edgar Brown Stadium turf Saturday.

That distinction belonged to ACH quarterback Dallas Isaak, whose 11 touchdowns and 608 yards total offense propelled the Warriors to an 82-70 win in a State 1B semifinal in sub-freezing temperatures.

ACH (12-1) advances to the Tacoma Dome where it faces Lummi Nation (11-2) for the state championship on Friday. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. Lummi upset top-ranked Neah Bay 26-20 on Friday after losing 62-12 five weeks earlier.

As soon as the horn sounded, Lesser crossed the line of scrimmage and was the first to shake Isaak’s hand.

“He’s an awesome guy, a classy player as well as an amazing athlete as the year showed,” Isaak said of Lesser.

For ACH, it was redemption. The Warriors lost to Liberty Christian 66-42 in a season opener.

“It was our goal all year to get back at them,” Isaak said. “It just shows the grit of our team, honestly.”

That grit was tested in the second quarter when Lesser scored the fourth of what would be eight touchdowns to put the Patriots (12-1) ahead 30-14 with 2:36 to go before halftime.

But ACH rallied for two touchdown before intermission.

It started when Isaak, on the first play following LC taking the 30-14 lead, sprinted 45 yards for a touchdown.

ACH got the ball back a last time with 1:29 to go. As the clock expired, Isaak found Parker Zappone in the back corner of the end zone for a 22-yard TD pass. Isaak ran in the two-point conversion to send the Warriors into halftime tied 30-30.

The Warriors’ onside kicked after every touchdown, something they hadn’t done the first time. Isaak said it didn’t matter where the high-octane LC offense started. By attempting onside kicks, it gave ACH a chance to get extra possessions.

Sure enough, the Warriors used it to their advantage in the second half, recovering two onside kicks.

LC’s last lead came when Lesser scored on a 20-yard run for a 46-44 lead with 1:58 to go in the third.

ACH coupled a 64-yard TD pass from Isaak to Alex Dye and a 56-yard TD run by Isaak around a defensive stop when the Warriors held on fourth-and-1 at their 41-yard line.

The 56-yard score by Isaak gave ACH a 58-46 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Isaak completed 13 of 26 passes for 325 yards and five TDs and rushed for 283 on 36 attempts and six TDs.

“The first carry of the game he (Lesser) took it for six and we go, ‘uh, oh,’ ” Isaak said. “But we rallied, we truly rallied. He had to throw the ball a little more and we forced a few fumbles. That was the key to our game – make them make the mistakes.”

Isaak wasn’t surprised the game ended up being a shootout.

“If you think about it, how else was the game going to go,” he said. “With our offense and their offense … my goodness, 152 points. I’ve never heard of a game like this.”

It’s the third time ACH coach Walsh will take a team to Tacoma. The Warriors won in 2007 and were runners-up in 2011.

“We were hoping for a few more stops, let’s just say that,” Walsh said. “We thought we could score. We did the last time we played them, but we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit (the first game). For us to have to have a chance we had to create more opportunities for ourselves and we were able to do that.”