State’s Top Banana! Gorillas Beat Tac-Bap 24-21 After Trailing 21-9 In 4th

Between the two quarterbacks in the State B-11 football championship, Marty Parsons of Davenport was supposed to play second fiddle.

Yet Parsons delivered the sweetest music Saturday in his head-to-head battle with B-11 passing leader Shon Peil of Tacoma Baptist.

Parsons kept alive a late drive with a fourt-hand-9 completion to Cliff Swain, then plowed ahead for a 1-yard touchdown run with 54 seconds left as fourth-ranked Davenport (12-1) stunned Peil and the second-ranked Crusaders 24-21 at the WIAA/U.S. Bank Gridiron Classic.

Peil had the glamor behind him, with 2,100 passing yards and 17 TDs during 12 consecutive wins for the 1995 Crusaders. Yet Parsons’ final statistics at the Tacoma Dome were every bit as impressive as the QB who is expected to be named all-state.

“I was trying my hardest,” Parsons said after his 9-for-19 performance, for 144 yards and no interceptions. “All I wanted to do was get the win. It wouldn’t have mattered if I played like crap.”

Peil, who finished 10 of 21 for 136 yards and one TD, went 0 for 4 during Tac- Bapt’s final, desperation drive. The Gorillas held the 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior to 3 for 8 and 22 yards after trailing 14-7 at halftime.

Davenport also trailed 21-9 with 3:03 left in the third quarter but won the fourth-quarter battle 15-0.

Normally steady Tac-Bap senior Wes Johns gave the Gorillas new life because of two big plays. Johns fumbled away a punt at the Crusaders 11 early in the fourth quarter, then was the burned defender on the 34-yard fourth-down pass to Swain.

“We can’t blame it on one person,” said senior Erik Wells, who had 11 tackles for Tac-Bap. “Everyone made mistakes in the game.”

One of Davenport’s biggest mistakes was misjudging Tac-Bap’s offensive strategy. The entire first half, the Crusaders used a four- or five-man receiving set and didn’t run except for quarterback draws. Tac-Bap scored on its first two possessions, on Peil’s 3-yard draw and his 33-yard pass to wide-open A.J. Norman.

“I was surprised that they used the (spread offense) so much, but the way we were running around the field I could understand why,” said Davenport coach Skip Pauls.

The Gorillas’ balanced running and passing in the half, but the 47 yards rushing of 6-foot, 205-pound fullback Josh FitzPatrick counted the most. After Parsons kept alive Davenport’s opening drive with a third-and-13 comebacker to Swain, FitzPatrick needed only a pair of 3-yard runs to score.

During the second quarter, FitzPatrick was stopped on a fourth-and-1 at the Tac-Bap 3, then had a big-gainer on a pass called back for illegal procedure.

Momentum swung Davenport’s way to start the second half. Ivory Crittendon III dropped a Peil third-down bomb that could have caged the Gorillas.

“We dropped one pass that would have been a touchdown and another that might have been … but to say we lost the game because of that: No way,” said Tac-Bap coach Mark Smith.

The center snap sailed over the head of Peil the punter and rolled to the end zone for a safety. Peil saved matters by booming the ensuing punt 79 yards to the Davenport 1. FitzPatrick, on the return, took a shot and left the game. He returned two plays later and coughed up a fumble.

“As much as I sweat, it just slipped out of my hands,” said FitzPatrick, who finished with 58 yards but no carry longer than 7.

The Crusaders changed their look and inserted Jeremy English in the backfield. He ran three consecutive plays from the 17, culminating with an 8-yard TD and 21-9 lead.

“I think what they were trying to do was run some clock off,” Pauls said of the switch.

Davenport crept closer when Johns fumbled a punt and FitzPatrick went off tackle from the 3.

The Crusaders nearly sealed the win by reaching the Gorillas 38 on a first down. But sophomore Nik Bergman smelled out a fourth-and-2 pitch to English for a 4-yard loss.

“We were running well but didn’t get that first down we needed,” Smith said. “That would have been the ballgame.”

An intentional grounding call snuffed Tac-Bap’s next drive and led to the Gorillas’ fateful drive. Pauls said the players called the fourth-down play to Swain and the Parsons sneak. Parsons bobbled the first attempt from the 1, but retained possession.

“We tried it once and it didn’t work, so we tried it again,” said Parsons, the QB who left the field with the most important figure: No. 1.

Davenport 24, Tac-Bap 21

Davenport 7 0 2 15 - 24

Tac. Baptist 14 0 7 0 - 21

Tac-Shon Peil 3 run (Jeff Lucas kick)

Dav-Josh FitzPatrick 3 run (Tyson Deal kick)

Tac-A.J. Norman 33 pass from Peil (Lucas kick)

Dav-Safety, Peil recovered bad snap in end zone

Tac-Jeremy English 8 run (Lucas kick)

Dav-FitzPatrick 3 run (Deal kick)

Dav-Marty Parsons 1 run (M. Parsons run)

Dav Tac First downs 12 13 Rushes-yards 38-89 23-83 Passing 144 136 Return Yards 80 63 Comp-Att-Int 9-19-0 10-21-0 Punts 3-45 2-48 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1 Penalties-Yards 2-15 5-35 Time of Possession 27:31 20:29

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Davenport, FitzPatrick 19-58, Brenik Iverson 2-21, Travis Telecky 6-11, Jeremiah Johnson 1-1, Parsons 10-(minus 2). Tacoma Baptist, Peil 10-60, English 10-48, Joel McKinney 2-3.

PASSING - Davenport, Parsons 9-19-0-144. Tacoma Baptist, Peil 10-21-0-136.

RECEIVING - Davenport, C. Swain 4-83, Luke Hammond 4-41, Telecky 1-20. Tacoma Baptist, Norman 3-56, McKinney 2-32, English 3-24, Wes Johns 1-21, Ivory Crittendon 1-3.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 photos (1 color)