Archbishop Murphy clinches Cascade Conference championship

Published 11:41 pm Friday, October 24, 2008

LANGLEY — The Archbishop Murphy Wildcats won their first Cascade Conference title of the Dave Ward era as they defeated South Whidbey 42-8 at Waterman Field on Friday.

Ward, who won two consecutive Wesco 4A North titles in his last stop at Oak Harbor, didn’t want to consider his first Cascade Conference title as a new tradition just yet.

“I want to say that after awhile,” he said. “I’m not ready to say that yet, but that’s my goal.”

Kelso Wilkins scored two touchdowns and J.D. Melton added two touchdown receptions as the Wildcats, ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 2A in the Associated Press poll, overwhelmed a shorthanded South Whidbey squad.

“I had kind of the playoff jitters tonight,” Ward said. “I wanted to finish this league contest off and the guys came out and they were real focused and played hard. (We) took it right to them.”

The Falcons were without starting quarterback Hunter Rawls, who broke his wrist last week in South Whidbey’s 28-19 loss to Granite Falls.

Murphy intercepted his replacement, sophomore T.J. Russell, three times, turning two of them into touchdowns as the Wildcats scored the game’s first 28 points.

Russell completed only one pass in the second half and finished 7-for-22 for 129 yards and one touchdown, but South Whidbey head coach Mark Hodson was still pleased with the sophomore’s performance.

“We’re starting a sophomore in his first varsity game ever — you’re going to throw interceptions,” Hodson said. “Hey the kid chucked it — you ask him to chuck the ball and he does it.”

Things didn’t get easier for the Falcons as they also lost leading rusher Henry Mead with a shoulder injury late in the first quarter. Mead, who leads the Cascade Conference with 1,032 yards (147.4 ypg), did not return.

“I think we just come together as a team and we just play well,” Melton said. “This was a big game for us against a good Falcons team and they played us really tough, so I think we’re set now in our goals and we’re fulfilling them now.”

It was the 44th straight Cascade Conference win “on the field” for Murphy, though its seven league wins in 2007 were forfeited due to an ineligible player.

South Whidbey fell into a three-way tie for second place.

“We’ve got a big game (next week) because it’s an island rivalry game for us,” Hodson said, referring to next week’s league finale at Coupeville. “It’s always a good battle between us and Coupeville. We’ve still got a playoff shot looking at us.”

Things started well for South Whidbey. The Falcons forced a fumble on the Wildcats’ first play from scrimmage and Luke Hodson recovered on the Falcons’ 35-yard line.

The promising drive was thwarted, however, when Wilkins literally took the ball out of the hands of South Whidbey’s Nick Tenuta and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown with 10:07 to play in the opening quarter.

“Kelso came up with a great strip and I think he wanted to make up for a fumble on a previous play,” Ward said. “Our defense really swarmed them early and made those turnovers … That gave us a quick lead and we’ve been able to come out of the locker room and really junk people all season long. Our defense has been a real catalyst for us.”

The Wildcats made it 14-0 when quarterback Jake Downs found Melton for an 18-yard scoring strike with 3:52 to play in the first quarter.

Murphy used a 13-yard touchdown run from Wilkins and a 5-yard touchdown reception from Jake Robinett to make it 28-0 with 10:04 remaining in the second quarter.

The Falcons scored their only touchdown with 3:10 to play in the opening half. Russell completed a 45-yard scoring pass to Luke Hodson, then rushed for the two-point conversion to make the score 28-8.

Melton added his second touchdown reception with 10:20 remaining in the third quarter and Alex Martinez scored on a 20-yard run with 12 seconds to play in the quarter to make it 42-8.

“It feels good right now, but I know there’s a lot of work to be done, offensively and defensively,” Melton said. “We kind of got a little sluggish at the end of the second quarter there, so we’re going to come back and have a good week of practice and come out against a good team at King’s.”

Martinez led all rushers with 67 yards on seven carries. Downs completed seven of 11 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns, and Austin VanderWel completed six of 10 for 31 yards and one touchdown for Murphy.

At Waterman Field

Murphy217140—42

S. Whidbey0800—8

AM—Wilkins 28 takeaway return (Houts kick)

AM—Melton 18 pass from Downs (Houts kick)

AM—Wilkins 13 run (Houts kick)

AM—Robinett 5 pass from Downs (Houts kick)

SW—Hodson 45 pass from Russell (Russell run)

AM—Melton 3 pass from VanderWel (Houts kick)

AM—Martinez 20 run (Houts kick)

Records: Archbishop Murphy 6-0 league, 8-0. South Whidbey 4-2, 6-2