East Valley falls short

Little things meant a lot when two teams of equal ability squared off for spot in the State 3A football semifinals Saturday.

Visiting Capital from Olympia made a two-point conversion and East Valley didn’t, the ultimate difference in the Cougars’ 20-19 victory at Albi Stadium to advance against Bellevue next week.

“When you get to this level of football, it’s the small things and it’s the little things,” EV coach Adam Fisher said of his team’s appearance in the quarterfinals at state.

The Knights’ kicking game changed strategy and thus played a part in the outcome, he said.

Still, it took a bit of sorcery to lift the Cougars (9-3) to victory after falling behind 13-6 in the third quarter because of opportunistic defense by the Knights.

Capital quarterback Kellen Camus had been cornered and had his arm hit while attempting to pass. The ball landed in the arms of Tim Kline, who raced 24 yards for East Valley’s second score.

Unfortunately, the extra point failed, which led to a chain of circumstances that dictated the outcome.

Capital pulled out the trick play, a reverse-pitch-pass, thrown by receiver Greg Hibbard to fellow wideout Jordan Weiks, that covered 53 yards to the Knights 15-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

Running back Riley Wall, a 190-pound load with a devastating stiff-arm, juked his way into the end zone a play later and bulled up the middle for the two-point conversion that put the visitors ahead 14-13.

East Valley came right back down the field, covering 68 yards in eight plays. Rushing leader Nick Bellomy, who had gained 1,676 yards and scored 15 touchdowns entering the contest, carried five times for 38 of the yards, including the final 14 for a 19-14 lead with 4:36 remaining. The Knights went for two points by necessity, but the pass failed.

“The two-point conversion was there, but we didn’t throw it soon enough,” Fisher said. “We missed an extra point, a squib kick somehow became an on-side kick and we didn’t convert on the two-point play. Our kicking game was the difference.”

Capital capitalized. Camus hit streaking wide receiver Joe Tolman for 55 yards and set up Wall, who stiff-armed his way into the end zone with the winning touchdown.

“That started in practice,” said Camus. “Joe said if the ’backer is on me I’m going to be open. I had to get outside the pocket, saw my man and had to get to him because he’s a speed burner.”

The Cougars picked off an EV pass with 1:55 left and ran out the clock.

“They played with a lot of heart and this is a feisty group of young men that keep coming at you,” said second-year Capital coach John Johnson. “We talked about getting back to the (Tacoma) Dome and this is what they did.”

Much of the game was a test of will between two determined defenses. Neither team could get much offense going and they traded seven punts in the first quarter.

“They were better up front than we thought initially,” Fisher said.

Then Capital, behind Wall and Camus who, between them carried nine times, covered 71 yards in a time-consuming drive to lead 6-0 with 4:31 left until intermission.

The lead lasted 23 seconds as Bellomy, held to just 5 yards on seven carries, burst through a seam in EV’s three-back Power I, got outside, turned the corner and sprinted 63 yards to put the team up 7-6. Kline’s interception came two minutes into the third quarter.

Then came the fourth-quarter fireworks that, by a single point, brought the Knights (7-4) season to an end.

“We were in position to win,” Fisher said. “I was very proud of how we scored when we got down. I thought we had them, but we just didn’t make a stop.”

Bellomy finished with 24 carries and 144 yards. Wall ran 30 times for 146 yards and Capital finished with 153 yards through the air.