Gonzaga Prep shakes off early adversity, advances to State 4A football semifinals

Adversity is one thing. Self-inflicted adversity is quite another.

The Gonzaga Prep football team didn’t arrive at its 12th victory Saturday purely by running over teams this season.

The Bullpups have faced difficulty of all sorts throughout the year. So when they found themselves down 10-0 they didn’t flinch.

G-Prep bounced back to knock off the Woodinville Falcons 28-18 in a State 4A quarterfinal at Albi Stadium.

The fourth-ranked Bullpups (12-0) will take on Richland (11-1) Saturday at Lampson Stadium in Kennewick at a time to be determined.

Perhaps part of the Bullpups’ poor start can be attributed to a week unlike any other. The wind storm that ravaged the region on Tuesday knocked out the power at G-Prep. The Bullpups couldn’t practice Tuesday. With school out, they practiced at noon Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. And their usual video preparation was altered.

“I think that had a lot to do with how things started,” G-Prep coach Dave McKenna said.

On G-Prep’s first play, quarterback Liam Bell tried to pitch the ball to Nick Johnson, but the lateral was picked off by Woodinville’s Mack Minahan, who returned it 40 yards for a touchdown.

On the Bullpups’ second possession, Bell’s first pass was intercepted by Nolan McCafferty, who returned it to G-Prep’s 11-yard line.

G-Prep’s defense forced a field goal and the Falcons led 10-0 with 5:09 to go in the first quarter.

“Holy crap, we found a way to win,” McKenna said.

McKenna alluded to a difficult 13-10 road win over Richland to open the season and a 21-0 hole the Bullpups found themselves in at Bellarmine Prep the second week that saw G-Prep rally for a 35-28 win in overtime.

“The kids are resilient,” McKenna said. “You have to give Woodinville credit. They’re a great team and they made some plays.”

The Bullpups’ offense didn’t start to find any traction until the fifth series. With Evan Weaver at running back, G-Prep used nine plays to march 86 yards. Weaver, who carried it four times for 50 yards on the drive, scored the first of three rushing touchdowns on a 6-yard run up the middle.

Woodinville (7-5) took a 10-7 lead into halftime, but G-Prep appeared to have weathered the adversity.

G-Prep got the opening kick of the second half. Weaver didn’t waste any time giving his team its first lead when he dashed 58 yards to put the Bullpups up 14-10.

Jack Machtolf intercepted a pass tipped by teammate Michael Chan, setting up G-Prep’s next score.

Weaver scored moments later on a 5-yard run, extending the lead to 21-10 with 3:02 to go in the third quarter.

Woodinville answered, driving 60 yards on eight plays. Quarterback Nic Fouch hit his brother, Nash, 16 yards for a TD on a blown coverage. The Falcons converted on a two-play conversion to pull within 21-18 seconds into the fourth quarter.

G-Prep’s defense stopped the Falcons on fourth-and-1 at the Bullpups’ 16 midway in the fourth.

The Bullpups looked like they were going to drive for another TD, but they were stopped on fourth down at the Falcons’ 6 with 1:39 remaining.

Woodinville moved from there to G-Prep’s 41 when Chan and Weaver combined for the defensive play of the game.

Chan hit Minahan, who had come open on a screen play. Chan to tip the ball and Weaver caught it.

Weaver rambled 50 yards for a game-securing TD with 1:05 to go.

Weaver was all over the field on defense and offense. He finished with a game-high 188 yards rushing on 15 carries.

“I love all of our kids, but I’m sure happy he’s on our team,” McKenna said of the University of California-bound Weaver.

Weaver said he was out of position to begin before he found his way to the ball.

“I ran the wrong play and I got lucky,” Weaver said. “Michael Chan and Jack Machtolf were right there and tipped it into my hands. Then they gave me the blocking and without them I don’t think I would have (scored).”

Weaver praised his team for remaining poised early.

“We’ve fought through adversity all year,” he said. “The first game we showed up late to Richland and only had 30 minutes to warm up. The second game we were down 21-0 in the first quarter. We just trust our teammates and we got it done today.”

Richland 28, Moses Lake 23: Behind quarterback Paxton Stevens, the visiting sixth-ranked Bombers held off the Lions (9-3).

Moses Lake took a 10-7 lead, but Richland led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter on a Stevens-to-Ryan Wolski touchdown connection.

Richland increased its lead late to 21-10 late in the third quarter when Stevens threw a 53-yard TD pass to Wolski.

Lakota Wills led Richland with 121 yards rushing on 22 attempts. He had a 72-yard TD run on the second play of the game.