La Salle takes down Reardan
Reardan quarterback Jared Wilke ran for a touchdown and threw for another, but it wasn’t enough as La Salle beat the Indians 32-14 Friday in a State 2B quarterfinal game at West Valley (Yakima) High School.
Wilke scored from 1 yard out in the second quarter to give Reardan a 6-0 lead, but then the Lightning (12-0) scored three straight touchdowns.
Seth Pleger threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Reece Jones to put La Salle up 7-6.
“Their corners are up so close trying to stop (running backs) Lawrence (Cacchiotti) and (Mike) Vetter, and I was able to get outside,” Jones told the Yakima Herald-Republic. “He (cornerback Jake Ferderer) just wasn’t focusing on me.”
Pleger got the protection he needed, though he knew it wouldn’t last long.
“We knew it had to be quick because they were bringing a lot of guys,” Pleger said. “I saw Reece and I saw man-to-man, and I knew (Jones) could beat the kid.”
Cacchiotti scored from 1 yard out later in the second quarter to put the Lightning up 13-6 going into halftime.
After halftime, Vetter scored on a 35-yard run to give La Salle a 19-6 lead. Wilke answered back with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Chance Ackerman, but La Salle scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Reardan’s final two possessions ended in interceptions by La Salle defenders Jeremy Bouchey and Trey Heffner.
La Salle defensive lineman Scott Wall was impressed with his team’s defensive effort.
“That’s probably the best game we’ve played as a defense,” Wall said. “We knew what we had to contain. We knew what we had to do. We just stepped up.”
Wilke finished with 103 yards on 6 of 13 passing.
Reardan’s Ferderer finished with 83 rushing yards on 14 carries. Ackerman caught three passes for 58 yards and Jon Jayne added 40 receiving yards.
Cacchiotti carried the ball 19 times for 78 yards and scored two touchdowns. Vetter added 44 yards and a touchdown.
Heffner was excited about his team’s performance.
“We’re on a cloud,” said Heffner. “We knew we had to step it up, and the key word in our huddle was heart. Heart gave us this game, heart made us a good team. If you’ve got heart, you can move mountains.”
La Salle coach Jack McMillan said his defense stepped up.
“We stopped their running game,” he said. “That was our goal coming in – we’ve got to stop their running game. And our guys figured it out. But it wasn’t just our defense. They’re supposed to be a heck of a defensive team, and we burned them for 32 points.”
The Lightning will play today’s winner between Adna and Life Christian in the semifinal round. Reardan finished 10-1.
Asotin 19, Davenport 0: Ryan Witters scored two rushing touchdowns and DJ Darnall scored once as the Panthers beat the Gorillas (10-2) in the quarterfinals of the State 2B Tournament in Tumwater.
Witters scored from 7 yards out to put the Panthers (8-3) up 7-0 in the first quarter. Witters then scored from 2 yards out in the third quarter to give Asotin a 13-0 lead.
Darnall then ran 78 yards on his only carry of the game for another score in the fourth quarter to give Asotin the lead for good.
Witters finished with 42 rushing yards on nine carries. Cory Christman led Davenport with 57 yards on 17 carries.
Asotin’s Jason Reynolds had 18 rushing yards on three carries and also caught two passes for 32 yards.
Asotin will play the winner between Toutle Lake (11-0) and South Bend (8-2) in the semifinals.
St. John-Endicott 92, Odessa 68: The Eagles (11-1) beat the Tigers (10-2) in the first round of the State 1B and will play Pateros (9-3) in the semifinals.
The other semifinal will feature Touchet (7-4) taking on today’s winner between Lake Quinault (7-4) and Lummi (9-1)