Kamiak going to state

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, November 6, 2001

By Aaron Coe

Herald Writer

EVERETT — The Knights are back in the state playoffs.

It wasn’t easy, but the Kamiak football team escaped with a 28-21 victory over Mount Vernon Tuesday night in a Western Conference playoff game.

The Knights improved to 9-1 and will play Olympia on Saturday in the first round of the state playoffs. Mount Vernon’s season ended with a 7-3 record.

Kamiak, which lost to Jackson Friday in the regular season finale, struggled at times, but got some big plays the second half and used four interceptions to slow Mount Vernon’s offense.

"We needed redemption," said Kamiak running back David Eneberg, who gave the Knights a 21-14 lead with an 8-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. "We lost when we were expected to win, and we didn’t want to have that feeling again."

Kamiak held a precarious 7-6 halftime lead, but got its offense going in the second half to take leads of 21-6 and 28-14.

But Mount Vernon quarterback Kyle Kendrick, who completed 10 of 15 passes for 155 yards, drove the Bulldogs down the field and took it in himself from 5 yards out to make the score 28-21 with 1:09 left.

Nate Santiago, who made a key block on Eneberg’s run, recovered Mount Vernon’s onside kick attempt to essentially preserve Kamiak’s third straight state playoff appearance.

"I’m very pleased with the effort the players gave tonight," Kamiak coach Dan Mack said. "It wasn’t always textbook, but they kept battling."

Kendrick kept his team alive in the middle of the fourth quarter with several amazing plays, the final of which became a 26-yard touchdown reception by Tim Lehr that cut Kamiak’s lead to 21-14 with 6:40 remaining.

On that drive, the Bulldogs had first-and-goal at the 8, but things quickly got messy.

Kendrick completed an apparent touchdown pass, but the Bulldogs were assessed a 15-yard penalty because the receiver had stepped out of bounds before making the catch.

On third-and-goal from the 21, Kendrick was chased by the Kamiak defense about 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Kendrick escaped, ran to his left and fired another apparent touchdown pass.

But, Kendrick was beyond the line of scrimmage, so it became third-and-goal from the 26. He then used another escape act before finding Lehr all alone in the end zone.

Kamiak, which sloshed its way to a 14-7 victory over Shorewood two weeks ago, and got handled by Jackson last Friday, looked shaky on offense at times in the first half.

The defense, however, was stout for much of the evening.

Kamiak’s Brandon Welch intercepted a Mount Vernon pass at midfield in the second quarter. Whitney Wilson kept the drive alive by hauling in a fourth-down pass from Mack. After a holding penalty, Mack delivered a 20-yard TD pass to Wilson, and Brian Leach kicked the extra-point to give Kamiak a 7-6 lead with 6:32 remaining in the half.

The Knights outgained Mount Vernon 114 yards to 73 in the first half, but Kamiak hurt itself with five penalties for 45 yards.

Wilson, who also plays defensive back, gave the Knights some much needed momentum by returning an interception 28 yards for a touchdown with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter. Casey Anderson and Brandon Welch also recorded picks.

"Our DB’s did nice job tonight," Wilson said. "Mount Vernon made some plays, but I thought we did pretty well."

Justin Washington, who gained 114 yards on 18 attempts, gave Kamiak a 28-14 lead late in the fourth quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run.

Kamiak—Wilson 20 pass from Mack (Leach kick)

Kamiak—Wilson 28 interception return (Leach kick)

Kamiak—Eneberg 8 run (Leach kick)

Mount Vernon—Lehr 26 pass from Kendrick

Kamiak—Washington 4 run (Leach kick)

Mount Vernon—Kendrick 5 run (Knue kick)

Records—Mount Vernon 7-3 overall. Kamiak 9-1.