Red Devils Send Greyhounds Packing

The Greyhounds turned into basset hounds.

Thanks to an inspired defense, sixth-ranked East Valley-Yakima stunned second-ranked Pullman 14-7 Saturday night in the semifinals of the State 2A football playoffs at Lampson Field.

The Red Devils contained the high-octane Greyhounds offense, keeping a team that averaged 41 points a game - including 68 last weekend - off the scoreboard except for a defensive touchdown in the third quarter.

The Hounds hurt themselves with five turnovers, including three fumbles in the second half. The last fumble came on the EV 10 with 3:47 left. The first came when Pullman pushed inside the Red Devils 25 on the opening drive of the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Greyhounds fumbled away a punt on their 36 that led to the winning touchdown.

“We were inconsistent on offense,” Pullman coach Bill Christie said. “We shot ourselves in the foot. They did a good job … and didn’t make mistakes, at least not as many as we did.”

EV (11-1) has won 11 straight, heading into next Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship game against Meridian (12-0) in the Tacoma Dome. Pullman finishes 11-1.

Pullman’s defense lived up to its reputation, holding the Red Devils to 148 yards rushing and 148 passing. But EV came up with just enough big plays on offense to reward its opportunistic defense.

In the first half, Claudio Garza found a seam on a sweep to the right and turned it into a 43-yard touchdown.

On the game-winning drive, quarterback Dan St. Mary completed passes of 24 and 18 yards on a pair of third-and-long plays. The last completion set up Garza’s 1-yard plunge off right tackle for the winner with 6:45 to play.

Pullman, which had more than 2,100 yards rushing and receiving coming into the game, had 83 on the ground and 44 in the air.

“The first thing is the kids we have playing, that’s who gets the credit,” EV defensive coordinator Wayne Purdom said. “I just kind of line them up a little bit and make them aware of their responsibilities. Don’t guess, don’t jump and don’t try to be a hero. Just concentrate on taking whatever their responsibility is and once that’s canceled, run and try to help somebody.”

Still, to limit Pullman to a 55-yard fumble return by Jake Morris midway through the third quarter was beyond his wildest dreams.

“I thought we could hold them down, but hold them down to what?” he said.

The first half was an offensive disaster for the Greyhounds. They had one first down and no play longer than 9 yards. Brian Zeches, a 50 percent passer who threw just four interceptions coming in, had two of his 10 passes picked off and his four completions went for only 17 yards.

Defensively, the Greyhounds weren’t bad, although the Red Devils ran twice as many plays for 180 yards. The only real blip was Garza’s long run.

The Greyhounds got an EV face-mask penalty tacked onto a 27-yard pass completion - the only completion of the second half - on their final drive for 42 positive yards, more than they had in total offense in the first half. That, and a 12-yard run by J.D. Morscheck on the first drive of the third quarter were the only two plays that gained more than 9 yards. Morscheck finished with 92 yards on 24 carries. Garza had 128 on 25. St. Mary completed 7 of 15 passes.

EV-Yakima 14, Pullman 7

East Valley 0 7 0 7 - 14

Pullman 0 0 7 0 - 7

EV - Garza 47 run (Ostrander kick)

Pullman - Morris 55 fumble return (Law kick)

EV - Garza 1 run (Ostrander kick)

4A Richland 21, Bethel 14

Landon Kafentzis grabbed two short scoring passes in the second half, the second with 3:13 to play, as the eighth-ranked Bombers gave the second-ranked Braves their first loss.

The Richland (12-1) defense blanked Bethel (12-1) in the second half to give the East Side its sixth finalist in six years, five from the Big Nine.

Kafentzis scored on a 4-yard toss from Adam Oakes on fourth down with 3:17 to play in the third quarter to tie the game. He added a 10-yarder TD to win it.

Richland will play No. 6 Kentwood Saturday at 7:30 in the Tacoma Dome.

3A Prosser 21, Ferndale 17

Josh Fewel capped an 80-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge with 24 seconds left to rally the ninthranked Mustangs past the secondranked Golden Eagles.

Ferndale (11-1) had whipped Prosser (11-2) 42-24 five weeks ago. Robert Davis’ second touchdown, a 3-yard run, had put Ferndale up with 4:41 to play. That capped a 93-yard drive.

Prosser is now perfect in five semifinal games. The Mustangs have played in four title games in five years, losing in ‘91 and ‘95 and winning in ‘92 and ‘93.

They will play Samammish (10-2), which stunned top-ranked Lakes, in the title game Friday night at 7:30 in the Tacoma Dome.

This sidebar appeared with the story: Saturday’s playoffs Class 4A

Kentwood (12-1) 26, Capital (10-2) 7

Richland (12-1) 21, Bethel (12-1) 14 Class 3A

Prosser (11-2) 21, Ferndale (11-1) 17 Class 2A

Meridian (12-0) 61, Orting (11-1) 21

East Valley-Yakima (11-1) 14, Pullman (11-1) 7 Class 1A

Kalama (12-0) 50, Toutle Lake (9-3) 10

Okanogan (12-0) 31, Wahluke (9-4) 7 Class B-11

Mossyrock (11-1) 28, Cathlamet (10-1) 18