West Pulls Away In Stretch Eastside Catholic’S Black Leads Final Charge

With the finish in sight, Bill Heglar told Conor Black to whip the horses.

Black, a quarterback from Eastside Catholic, engineered a 70-yard drive to lift the West to a 34-16 win over the East in the 36th East-West All-Star Summer Football Classic on Friday at Albi Stadium.

“We played everybody, but when it got to the fourth quarter we loaded up the horses,” said Heglar, the West coach from Bellevue. “We were very fortunate we had a lot of WingT kids.”

One was Black, who was the jockey for the big horses. Black, the West MVP after rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for another, took control with 7:48 to play and a 20-16 lead. He marched the team 70 yards - actually 90 with two 10-yard penalties - in 11 plays, chewing up 5 minutes.

“We had 7 minutes left,” said Black. “I went around telling the guys we need a long drive. We’ve got to win… . I’ll tell you what was the difference, (West assistant) Butch Gronchoroff. He was the offensive coordinator and he’s a Wing-T master.”

Gronchoroff is replacing Heglar, who is going to Seattle Prep, as the head coach at Bellevue.

The game, which saw the West end a seven-game losing streak, drew a crowd of about 5,000.

“That meant a lot,” Black said of ending the skid. “We talked about it the whole week.”

The game was sealed when Kyler Randall of Ferndale returned his second interception 24 yards for a touchdown with 1:35 to play. The East was victimized by five turnovers, three in the first quarter that led to 10 points. That’s why it wasn’t surprising that Lewis and Clark linebacker Forrest Bohlen was MVP.

“We played against big guys, a lot of Division I players,” said Bohlen, who is headed for Western Washington. “I did all right. I’m proud of myself. It was a lot different than high school. It was a lot faster.”

Teammate Erik Coleman, who is going to Washington State, led all rushers with 101 yards on 14 carries, 11 for 95 in the first half.

“It was fun,” Coleman said. “I was happy with that. We didn’t run the ball in the second half.”

The first half resembled a basketball game with points coming off turnovers and fast breaks.

Randall picked off a pass on the first play of the game. The West took over on the East 31 and five plays later Black scored on a 10-yard keeper around the left end.

The East fumbled on its next possession when Shadle Park’s Steve Gabriel ran into Sousley in the backfield. Michael Augustyn of Kennedy recovered and the West cashed in with a 36-yard field goal by Bethel’s Scott Burcar, making it 10-0 less than 8 minutes in. Burcar also averaged 48.5 yards on five punts.

On the East’s next play, Stubblefield outjumped the defensive back at the 42 and turned the reception from Sousley into an 83-yard TD. The duo also had a 15-yard score in the fourth quarter. Stubblefield had seven catches for 134 yards.

The West’s next play was Black and Chris Raftery of Sammamish, who is also going to Harvard, connecting on a 75-yard TD pass.

The teams traded field goals in the second quarter.

The West’s only turnover was a muffed punt in the third quarter recovered by Mead’s Drew Lochhead.

Quick kicks

The East was without it’s only University of Washington signee, wide receiver Justin Robbins, who hyperextended a knee during practice… . Captains, as selected by their teammates, were Erik Coleman of Lewis and Clark; Ryan Sousley of Eisenhower; Seth Bancroft of Hudson’s Bay, Pat Johnson of Lakes; and Willie Walden of Evergreen-Vancouver for the East; and Tim Galloway of Auburn and Conor Black of Eastside Catholic for the West… . The Lynn Rosenbach and Tony Whitefield $500 Awards of Excellence were presented after the third quarter. Getting the Rosenbach Award for the East was Sousley. The Whitefield Award went to B.J. Frost of West Seattle.