TACOMA — The Tacoma Dome has been a giant house of horrors for the Archbishop Murphy Wildcats for several years. On Saturday, it seemed the Wildcats’ misery in the Dome would continue.
Unranked Mark Morris scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and led 12-0 against the top-ranked Archbishop Murphy High School football team in a Class 2A state semifinal at the Tacoma Dome. Mark Morris’ second TD came on an 80-yard interception return by Monarchs’ defensive back Jeremy Wolf, who snared Murphy quarterback Austin VanderWel’s first pass of the game and raced untouched for a stunning touchdown.
“After I saw that pass, I was like, ‘Oh no! Here we go again,’” said Murphy senior lineman Tani Tupou.
One of several current Wildcats who played in 2008 and 2009 when Lynden knocked out Murphy in the 2A semis at the T-Dome, Tupou sensed another heartbreaking outcome creeping up.
But this time, Murphy refused to fizzle.
Despite falling behind early, unbeaten Archbishop Murphy broke through its round-of-four hex and will play for the state championship. After trailing 12-0 late in the first quarter, the Wildcats (13-0) recovered nicely — using two key defensive takeaways and a powerful rushing attack — and scored 42 consecutive points en route to a 42-18 win over Mark Morris (9-4) of Longview.
“The third time’s the charm,” Murphy coach Dave Ward said, referring to his team’s previous struggles in the T-Dome.
“The monkey’s off our backs, definitely,” said Murphy senior quarterback/safety Austin VanderWel, who intercepted two Mark Morris passes and completed a 25-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
“All the seniors — we’ve been here so much and it’s always been such a letdown once we get here,” Austin VanderWel added. “We’ve wanted this so bad, just to move on from this game and go on to the (championship). It’s just such a relief.”
“It feels good,” said Tupou, “to be able to go home and know that we’re going to be able to play next week.”
Murphy will play either third-ranked Tumwater (10-1) or unranked East Valley (7-5) of Spokane for the 2A championship at 1 p.m. on Dec. 4. The Tumwater-East Valley semifinal is set for 2 p.m. Monday at the Tacoma Dome.
Saturday’s game was Mark Morris’ first appearance in the state football semifinals since 1979. Meanwhile, Murphy advanced to its first title game since 2005, when it lost 28-24 against Pullman.
Against Mark Morris, Murphy rushed for 437 yards on 45 carries (9.7 yards per attempt). Running backs Alex Galgano (110 yards), Alex Kramer (106 yards), Hans VanderWel (80 yards) and Eneliko Tevaga (72 yards) led Murphy’s balanced ground attack, which got stronger as the game went on.
“The running backs (took) care of the football,” Ward said, “and the linemen blocked hard every play.”
Galgano rushed for two TDs — Murphy’s first two scores of the game — in the Wildcats’ impressive second quarter. Both TDs (65 yards and 1 yard) were set up by Austin VanderWel interceptions.
Making up for his first-quarter pass that Wolf turned into a TD for Mark Morris, Austin VanderWel picked off two throws by Monarchs’ QB Seth Pedersen in a span of about 70 seconds midway through the second quarter. The takeaways helped Murphy turn a 12-point deficit into a 14-12 lead, and Murphy never looked back.
“Austin was huge on defense. (His interceptions) turned the game around,” Ward said. “And he made so many tackles, too.”
Murphy’s defense focused on shutting down powerful Mark Morris fullback Dan Feeney, who rushed for a total of 353 yards and five TDs in the Monarchs’ previous two playoff games. Feeney, 6-foot, 243-pound senior, finished with just 16 yards on eight carries versus the Wildcats.
“Our line took (Feeney) out of the game,” said Ward.
The coach praised several other Murphy defenders, including linebackers Keola Wilkins and Conner Kruse.
After giving up a 38-yard TD pass halfway through the first quarter that put Mark Morris on top 6-0, Murphy’s defense was super stingy. Other than its 80-yard scoring drive in the first quarter and an essentially meaningless 44-yard TD drive that ended the game, Mark Morris gained just 49 yards.
At the Tacoma Dome
Mark Morris 12 0 0 6 — 18
Archbishop Murphy 0 14 14 14 — 42
Mark Morris—Tackwell 38 pass from Pedersen (kick blocked)
Mark Morris—Wolf 80 interception return (run failed)
Archbishop Murphy—Galgano 65 run (Briede kick)
Archbishop Murphy—Galgano 1 run (Briede kick)
Archbishop Murphy—Kramer 16 run (Briede kick)
Archbishop Murphy—E. Tevaga 33 run (Briede kick)
Archbishop Murphy—Byrne 25 pass from A. VanderWel (Briede kick)
Archbishop Murphy—H. VanderWel 32 run (Briede kick)
Mark Morris—Wolf 8 run
Records—Mark Morris 9-4. Archbishop Murphy 13-0.
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