Backfield Duo Carries Cats
2A football playoffs
Everyone knew about Nick Bates, and he didn’t disappoint.
No one knew about Brian Busch, but they do now.
The Colton duo put on a clinic running the option, carrying the fifth-ranked Wildcats to a wild 40-36 victory over No. 1 Rosalia in the State B football semifinals at Albi Stadium Friday night.
With Busch pitching and Bates catching, the Wildcats marched 66 yards to score the winning touchdown with 9 seconds to play. Bates, who finished with 244 yards on 36 carries, had all but 10 yards on the final drive. Busch pushed it in from the 1 for the win.
“We overplayed Bates’ speed,” Rosalia coach Jim Hereford said. “We didn’t take away the quarterback. He had a good game. He ran the option well.”
Busch, just a sophomore, ran for 83 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, and completed five of nine passes for 65 yards. But it was his precision pitches that made the difference.
“The coach has always told me not to do it like that (throwing into traffic) but we need it so bad,” he said.
Bates scored three touchdowns and three two-point conversions.
“I’m just excited right now,” Bates said, just before a big hug from his father, Bill. “We held together like we could. Rosalia’s a great team.”
The Wildcats, who lost to Rosalia 66-44 during the regular season, reached a state championship game for the sixth time, the most of any school in the state.
“This is a pretty amazing year in the Palouse,” said Bill Bates, whose late father, Stan, was the longtime athletic director at Rose Bowl-bound Washington State.
The deciding factor in this game was when Rosalia scored with plenty of time left on the clock for Colton to come back. Rosalia’s 25-yard touchdown run by Bill Lathrop with 3:07 to play, combined with his two-point conversion reception, put the Spartans up 36-32.
“We said it was better if they scored sooner rather than later,” Colton coach Tim Sperber said.
The Wildcats didn’t give up, going on their own game-winning march.
But it wasn’t easy for Colton, which had trouble stopping Rosalia’s high-powered offense. Led by Scott DeGron, who carried the ball 17 times for 287 yards, the Spartans had 443 yards rushing.
The only two times Rosalia didn’t score in the second half was on a fumble in the third quarter, which Colton cashed in, and a punt, which the Wildcats also converted.
This was the fourth time there was an all-Whitman county semifinal, all involving Rosalia, which lost for the third time.
Colton scored first, after Bates returned a punt 48 yards to the Rosalia 25. The Spartans scored on their next two possessions for a 14-8 lead at the half.
DeGron scored on a 50-yard run on the third play of the second half as Rosalia went up 22-8, but the Wildcats got big plays to go up 24-22.
“This was our best defensive performance of the year, even though we gave up 36 points,” Sperber said. “We changed our defense four times this year (because of injuries). I think we found the right one.”
Colton plays Taholah (9-1) next Saturday in Tacoma for the title.
The Chitwhins (9-1) defeated Clallam Bay 38-14 in a semifinal on Thursday as Cisco Mora passed for one touchdown, ran for another and caught a pass for a third.
Colton 40, Rosalia 36
Rosalia 0 14 14 8 - 36
Colton 8 0 16 16 - 40
Col-Busch 6 run (Moehrle run) Ros-Slemp 3 run (pass failed) Ros-S. DeGron 30 run (Slemp run) Ros-S. DeGron 50 run (Slemp run) Col-Bates 6 run (Bates run) Col-Bates 3 run (Busch run) Ros-Lathrop 18 run (run failed) Col-Bates 6 run (Bates run) Ros-Lathrop 25 run (Lathrop pass from Slemp) Col-Busch 1 run (Bates run)
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo