Published: Saturday, December 4, 2010
Tumwater's defense stuffs Murphy's running game
-
Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
A host of Tumwater defenders tackle Archbishop Murphy quarterback Austin VanderWel during Saturday's 2A state championship football game at the Tacoma Dome.
TACOMA — Tumwater High School is undefeated in state title games for a reason.
In the 2A state championship game on Saturday at the Tacoma Dome against top-ranked Archbishop Murphy, the reason was an unrelenting defense that shut down a vaunted Wildcats offensive attack.
A hard-nosed 4-3 defensive formation routinely stuffed Archbishop Murphy runners at the line of scrimmage and limited the Wildcats — who entered the game averaging just more than 45 points per game — to 103 rushing yards on 39 carries in a 34-14 Tumwater win.
Corralling Archbishop Murphy's rushing attack is no easy task — the Wildcats featured five backs with more than 500 yards on the ground.
“We had to get lower and be more physical than them,” Tumwater sophomore defensive tackle Jamie Bryant said. “Just stop their run. If we stop their run, we have to make them pass.”
Quarterback Austin VanderWel led the Wildcats with six carries for 37 yards — team rushing leader Alex Galgano was bottled up for just 30 yards on 10 carries as Archbishop Murphy's normally dominant offensive line struggled against the Thunderbirds.
Tumwater (12-1 overall) recorded just one sack, but constantly pressured VanderWel and hit running backs at the line. The Thunderbirds also recovered two fumbles — one on a mishandled snap and another at the goal line on a poor handoff.
“The defense has been awesome all year long, they're great,” said Tumwater's Hall of Fame head coach Sid Otton, the all-time winningest coach in state prep football history. “They fell apart a little last week and that was a challenge to them and they came right back.”
“Their D-line was really physical and better than we've seen previously (this season) and better than what they showed on film,” Archbishop Murphy head coach Dave Ward said.
Bryant, a 6-foot-5, 263-pound tackle, caused havoc in the Archbishop Murphy backfield. While he didn't record a sack, he certainly created a problem for the Wildcats — Ward moved 6-2, 300-pound senior Julius Tevaga from right guard to center in the second half in an effort to stymie the nose guard.
“He was a dominant nose guard,” Ward said. “It's hard to run your traps — your Wing-T plays, and your counters — if the nose guard is controlling the middle. He's only a sophomore and he's huge. If he just keeps getting better, it's scary.”
Senior linebacker Brady Grondel finished with four tackles (two for loss) and one sack for Tumwater.
The Thunderbirds not only outmuscled Archbishop Murphy in the trenches, they had a bit of familiarity with the Wildcats' offensive schemes — both teams run Wing-T style offenses.
“I think what helped us out a lot is that we run a similar offense. Our line and our linebackers really read well and our secondary does a good job against the pass,” Tumwater wide receiver/defensive back Kyle Warner said. “It's a full team effort. We did a pretty good job on defense.”
“To know what's coming — most of the time — is a great advantage,” Tumwater defensive coordinator Pat Alexander said. “That's a huge advantage when you play a team that runs the same offense.”
The Wildcats (13-1) were forced to go to the air more than usual with VanderWel and backup Conner Kruse combining to go 10-for-28 passing for 132 yards.
Tumwater's defense, however, didn't let down against the aerial attack — the Thunderbirds picked off Kruse twice (once on the goal line with 2:05 to go in the third quarter) and VanderWel once.
Archbishop Murphy, which earned its lowest offensive point total of the year on Saturday, had to work hard just to light up the scoreboard in the first half. Tumwater stuffed the Wildcats on three consecutive goal line runs before sophomore running back Eneliko Tevaga was able to slip in for Murphy's first score with 3 seconds until halftime.
“We outworked them pretty much,” Tumwater's Bryant said. “We out-conditioned them, outhit them.”
In the 2A state championship game on Saturday at the Tacoma Dome against top-ranked Archbishop Murphy, the reason was an unrelenting defense that shut down a vaunted Wildcats offensive attack.
A hard-nosed 4-3 defensive formation routinely stuffed Archbishop Murphy runners at the line of scrimmage and limited the Wildcats — who entered the game averaging just more than 45 points per game — to 103 rushing yards on 39 carries in a 34-14 Tumwater win.
Corralling Archbishop Murphy's rushing attack is no easy task — the Wildcats featured five backs with more than 500 yards on the ground.
“We had to get lower and be more physical than them,” Tumwater sophomore defensive tackle Jamie Bryant said. “Just stop their run. If we stop their run, we have to make them pass.”
Quarterback Austin VanderWel led the Wildcats with six carries for 37 yards — team rushing leader Alex Galgano was bottled up for just 30 yards on 10 carries as Archbishop Murphy's normally dominant offensive line struggled against the Thunderbirds.
Tumwater (12-1 overall) recorded just one sack, but constantly pressured VanderWel and hit running backs at the line. The Thunderbirds also recovered two fumbles — one on a mishandled snap and another at the goal line on a poor handoff.
“The defense has been awesome all year long, they're great,” said Tumwater's Hall of Fame head coach Sid Otton, the all-time winningest coach in state prep football history. “They fell apart a little last week and that was a challenge to them and they came right back.”
“Their D-line was really physical and better than we've seen previously (this season) and better than what they showed on film,” Archbishop Murphy head coach Dave Ward said.
Bryant, a 6-foot-5, 263-pound tackle, caused havoc in the Archbishop Murphy backfield. While he didn't record a sack, he certainly created a problem for the Wildcats — Ward moved 6-2, 300-pound senior Julius Tevaga from right guard to center in the second half in an effort to stymie the nose guard.
“He was a dominant nose guard,” Ward said. “It's hard to run your traps — your Wing-T plays, and your counters — if the nose guard is controlling the middle. He's only a sophomore and he's huge. If he just keeps getting better, it's scary.”
Senior linebacker Brady Grondel finished with four tackles (two for loss) and one sack for Tumwater.
The Thunderbirds not only outmuscled Archbishop Murphy in the trenches, they had a bit of familiarity with the Wildcats' offensive schemes — both teams run Wing-T style offenses.
“I think what helped us out a lot is that we run a similar offense. Our line and our linebackers really read well and our secondary does a good job against the pass,” Tumwater wide receiver/defensive back Kyle Warner said. “It's a full team effort. We did a pretty good job on defense.”
“To know what's coming — most of the time — is a great advantage,” Tumwater defensive coordinator Pat Alexander said. “That's a huge advantage when you play a team that runs the same offense.”
The Wildcats (13-1) were forced to go to the air more than usual with VanderWel and backup Conner Kruse combining to go 10-for-28 passing for 132 yards.
Tumwater's defense, however, didn't let down against the aerial attack — the Thunderbirds picked off Kruse twice (once on the goal line with 2:05 to go in the third quarter) and VanderWel once.
Archbishop Murphy, which earned its lowest offensive point total of the year on Saturday, had to work hard just to light up the scoreboard in the first half. Tumwater stuffed the Wildcats on three consecutive goal line runs before sophomore running back Eneliko Tevaga was able to slip in for Murphy's first score with 3 seconds until halftime.
“We outworked them pretty much,” Tumwater's Bryant said. “We out-conditioned them, outhit them.”
Comments
(
