Archbishop Murphy clinches No.1 seed

Published 4:28 pm Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Archbishop Murphy completed one of its goals last Friday, clinching the No. 1 seed into the 2A district 1 playoffs with a 28-6 victory over South Whidbey.

The Wildcats (6-0 in the league, 7-1 overall) were focused early, doing most of their damage on the ground and putting up the first 28 points of the game.

“Getting that District No. 1 seed is nice,” Archbishop Murphy coach Dave Ward said.

The Wildcats still have one more regular season goal left on their plate this week when they face King’s at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Woolsey Stdium. A win, and the Wildcats clinches a Cascade Conference championship; if King’s wins, it creates the possiblity for a three-way tie at the top between Archbishop Murphy, King’s and Cedarcrest.

King’s, a 1A school, can tie for the league title, but its place in the standings does not affect the 2A district playoffs. Archbishop Murphy holds a tiebreaker against Cedarcrest by beating them 14-7 earlier this season.

“We are going to work hard to play well against King’s,” Ward said.

The Wildcats rushed for 227 yards against South Whidbey, led by Blake Torres with 74 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Austin VanderWel also had two rushing touchdowns in the game.

“I think our offense has really stepped up the past few weeks,” Ward said.

Building the 28-point lead allowed the Wildcats to sub late in the game and get some of the reserves some playing time. Perhaps more importantly, it gave Archbishop Murphy a chance to rest some of its starters.

“We were glad to be able to get Austin (VanderWel) off the field and save him for the next game,” Ward said.

The only big play the Wildcats gave up was a 50-yard touchdown run by South Whidbey’s Henry Mead in the fourth quarter.

“They are a good enough team to where if you don’t wrap up, Henry Mead is going to take it all the way,” Ward said.

Archbishop Murphy’s game against King’s also gives the Wildcats a chance to go undefeated in the Cascade Conference. Archbishop Murphy’s only loss of the season came in a non-conference game against Eastside Catholic in the second game of the season.

The task of beating King’s is not an easy one. The Knight’s are led by quarterback Thomas Vincent, who is quite the threat passing, but perhaps even more of a threat with his legs.

“Personally, I think you have to stop him on the ground first and don’t let him take off,” Ward said. “It’s a lot harder to throw the ball.”

Ward said he hopes that the Wildcats can get healthy before heading into the playoffs and that there are always things to work on.

“We have got things to work on, we’re not happy with where we are,” Ward said. “So far we have done a little bit better each week.”