Gonzaga Prep goes for two, falls to Eastside Catholic in triple overtime

SEATTLE – Everything that could go right for Gonzaga Prep did in fact do so Saturday night at Husky Stadium. Until it didn’t.

The Bullpups capitalized on numerous turns of good fortune all evening, but they ran out of luck on the goal line in a 41-40 triple overtime loss to Eastside Catholic in a rematch of last year’s season opener in Bellevue.

Gonzaga Prep lined up to go for the game-winning two-point conversion at the end of triple overtime, calling a read-option pitch play for confident junior quarterback Connor Halonen. His running lane stuffed, he pitched to Devin Culp, who was quickly swallowed up.

Gonzaga Prep ran on good fortune most of the night, taking advantage of numerous miscues gifted by the Crusaders.

• Gonzaga Prep tied the game at 20 in the third quarter on a 75-yard drive gifted by two Eastside Catholic penalties which saw fourth-down kicks become Bullpups first downs.
• The Crusaders missed a pair of crucial close-range kicks in the evening.
• Prep’s Sheadon Byrd glided underneath a bouncing kickoff to recover the ball, which turned into a lead-taking touchdown drive capped by a Kasey Anthony one-yard run.

Luck didn’t send it to overtime, though. Prep blocked a 27-yard game-winning field goal attempt with two seconds left on the clock to give Halonen a chance to win it in overtime.

The first overtime saw offsetting turnovers – Eastside Catholic was stuffed on four downs and Gonzaga Prep put the ball on the turf after three plays.

Halonen glided in from the 1, then Eastside Catholic counterpart Zach Lewis put touch on a 23-yard touchdown pass to Gee Scott Jr to the corner of the end zone.

Eastside Catholic scored two plays later in the third overtime period on a perhaps fortunate Lewis touchdown pass to Scott in the front of the end zone, setting up a pair of gutsy play calls from Prep coach David McKenna.

Forced to go for it on fourth down in the third overtime, he put the ball in the hands of Halonen, who patiently waited out his blocks to run in from two yards out.

The Pups then lined up to go for two, not wavering on the decision after an Eastside Catholic timeout.

And that’s when they ran out of luck.

Halonen was effective running the option offense all night in his first go at starting quarterback, which either involved a handoff to the running back or tight end in motion, a pitch to Devin Culp on the perimeter or Halonen taking it himself.

Most of the time the junior called his own number, making numerous big plays with patient cuts and effective use of his blocks.

He scored four times on the night, including twice in overtime periods.

Culp, a Washington commit playing in his future college stadium, scored once on a pitch play.

Mountain View 34, Ferris 7: Glen Perry Jr had 126 yards rushing with a 4-yard touchdown run and Mountain View beat the Saxons in Vancouver, Washington, spoiling coach Tom Yearout’s debut.

Mountain View dominated on defense, yielding just 73 total yards.

Ferris scored in the second quarter on Tom Kirby’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Brock Bozett to make it 14-7 at half, but Mountain View put up 20 points in the second half – including a 49-yard interception return for a touchdown by Michael Bolds – and shut down the Ferris attack.

Kirby went 14 of 23 for 56 yards and Eric Mast was held to 8 yards on 17 carries. Bozett finished with eight catches for 33 yards.

Fife 22, Pullman 13: Dylan Hodge scored on a 47-yard pass from TJ Newman but Pullman fell to Fife 22-13 in a nonleague opener for both teams on Saturday.