Composed Mead upsets No. 1 Suns

KENNEWICK – If high school football is really supposed to teach life lessons, then a doctorate thesis could be written about Mead High’s 25-19 overtime win over host Southridge in the first round of the State 4A playoffs.

The chapters can be headed, in order: half isn’t whole; sometimes you get a second chance; and, occasionally, things even out.

Saturday’s game in a nearly filled Lampson Stadium ended with Luke Hattrup knifing off right tackle for 2 yards. The last of Hattrup’s game-high 90 yards (on 15 carries) not only sent Mead (12-0) into the second round, where it will host Woodinville (9-2), tentatively next Saturday, it also triggered a flood of emotion from the fifth-ranked Panthers.

Why not? After all, they were a team that looked defeated at halftime, when they trailed a team that had been atop the state rankings for most of the season by 12. They were stymied on offense, with only 80 yards in total offense. They had surrendered two long drives (the second of which ended in a Jason Munns-to-Travis Mattair 14-yard touchdown toss) and a 33-yard punt return to Shawn O’Malley (which Munns cashed in on the first play with an 11-yard scoring scramble).

But it was still just 12-0, thanks to a missed PAT kick and a two-point try that failed.

“I was a little upset with our offense,” said Mead head coach Sean Carty, after receiving nearly 20 minutes of well wishes from the Mead contingent. “We had done some good things defensively, but we had failed to take advantage of some good field position.

“We used some movie-time, Rudy stuff on them,” he continued. “We told them that some of you guys will be playing college football, but for most of you this could be your last half of football. How do you want to go out?”

Weakly, it seemed.

Because the Big Nine Conference champion Suns opened the second half flying.

Munns, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound junior who finished with 199 yards on 23-of-38 passing, hit seven consecutive attempts to open the half. The aerial barrage took Southridge (11-1) from its 19 to the Mead 5 in less than 4 minutes. But that’s where Bryan Lynch made a game-changing play.

“We had a blitz on, Paul (Senescall) and I were supposed to come up the middle,” said Lynch, a senior. “But they were coming up to the line and calling an audible every play and we were starting to catch on. When Munns made the call, I knew what it was, so instead of blitzing I dropped back. … I was able to get on the slant.”

Lynch’s interception and 7-yard return still left the Panthers at their 10, but the score remained 12-0.

A 35-yard hookup between senior quarterback Andrew DeFelice and Dan Baird added fuel to Mead’s fire – and got the Panthers out of the hole. Another first down got them into Suns territory but, after an illegal procedure penalty (one of eight for 69 yards Mead earned as opposed to the Suns’ one for 10), the Panthers still faced a fourth-and-9 from the 34.

“We had trips on the right and we ran a hitch underneath,” DeFelice said. “The safety bit on the hitch and (Nick) Proen was open over the top.”

“We put that one in this week,” said offensive coordinator John Barrington. “When we ran it the first time, Andrew hit the hitch guy. This time Nick was clear and Andrew made a perfect throw.”

The touchdown seemed to sap the Suns’ energy. A three-and-out led to Mead’s best drive of the day, an 80-yard march in 14 plays. The drive included a DeFelice-to-Proen 46-yard hookup and ended early in the fourth quarter on “a school-yard play,” as Barrington called it.

DeFelice handed to wideout Andy Mattingly who ran right, planted and tossed back into the left flat to an unguarded DeFelice. The 10-yard score put Mead up 13-12 after a two-point try failed.

Still, Southridge couldn’t move the ball and, two possessions later, Mead’s John Sullivan pounced on a Suns fumble at the Southridge 15. After a run lost 2 yards, DeFelice returned the favor to the 6-4 Mattingly, tossing a arcing pass that the WSU-bound wideout went high to snag. But the extra-point kick, which would have given Mead an eight-point lead, failed, giving Southridge hope with 5:43 left.

Baird hushed the crowd 2 minutes later when he picked off Munns’ pass at the Mead 12. With the ball, the lead and momentum, the Panthers decided to run the clock out with Senescall.

The senior, who returned Tuesday from a knee injury and is wearing a brace, got one first down before doing what Carty described as unthinkable, fumbling away possession to the Suns at the Mead 42.

Seven plays later, Munns, scrambled, drew the defense and hit Mattair in the left corner of the end zone.

“All game long we told them not to leave their man when he scrambled,” Carty said, “and what happens? But that’s the usual reaction. Everyone wants to watch the sack. But he’s so big and tough to bring down, he makes plays when people relax.”

Jesse Keens’ PAT tied it at 19.

Mead won the OT toss and put Southridge on offense at the 25. The Suns moved to the 5 in five plays. On a third-and-1, up stepped Senescall.

“I screwed up,” he said, alluding to the fumble, “but I knew I could make up for it on defense. I shot the gap, put my head down and went for his feet.”

The feet belonged to running back Evan White and the 3-yard loss forced Southridge to make a decision. The choice: a fade to Mattair, who was locked up with a defender in the end zone. But, to even Carty’s surprise, no flag came out and all Mead needed was a score, any score, to win.

A Hattrup counter to the right netted 13 yards. Two Senescall and one Hattrup power runs up the middle put the ball on the 2 with a first down.

DeFelice took the snap, turned and gave the ball to his junior tailback, playing in place of the injured Skylar Jessen. Senescall led the way, cleared a hole and Hattrup slanted in. It was the last of Mead’s 369 yards of total offense, the second-most total Southridge had yielded this year.

“Even when we were down, we knew we could do it,” DeFelice said. “We’ve done it before this year, when we trailed by even more. We learned against Ferris we could come back.”

They learned a few more things, including the one lesson Lynch took home.

“Our season begins again right now,” he said. “We go home and completely start over. It’s time to get ready for Woodinville.”