The return of senior QB Wilkins helps vault King’s into 1A title game

Published 7:06 pm Friday, December 4, 2015

SEATTLE — Koa Wilkins got back just in time.

In the second quarter of King’s first game of the season, the Knights’ senior quarterback broke his collarbone against perennial 2A power Lynden.

King’s held on to defeat the Lions, and went 8-1 in the regular season. But the return of their leader just in time for the playoffs has been instrumental in the Knights’ run, which has them ready to square off against Royal on Saturday in the 1A state championship.

“It’s huge. He was the (offensive) MVP of the (Cascade Conference) last year,” said King’s head coach Jim Shapiro. “He’s an MVP offensively and defensively. He brings the intensity and the leadership that you want. And a little bit of nasty, in a good way. To have that confidence and athleticism on both sides of the ball really kind of sparks the rest of the guys around him. Really, it’s a big, big thing for us and it’s a really important time of year — with the championship run — to have him back.”

Said Wilkins: “It’s good to be back.”

The prognosis for Wilkins was that he would be out six to eight weeks after the injury. Tired of waiting, he tried to play in the first half against Archbishop Murphy seven weeks later in a contest to determine who would be the league champ.

“It was a huge bummer to me,” Wilkins said. “I sort of felt like I let my team down not being able to be on the field. I found a way to transfer that and help them out, coach them up a bit. I feel like it helped me see the game from a different perspective. I’ve never really been on the sideline very much. It was a humbling experience to me to be on the sideline for so long and knowing even if I wanted to I couldn’t be out there playing with my teammates.”

Wilkins re-aggravated the injury against Archbishop Murphy and, with the Wildcats up big, sat in the second half. He waited two more weeks to play against Lynden Christian in the district playoffs and really got back in the swing of things the following week against Port Townsend in the Knights’ 1A state opener.

“It really wasn’t until about the Lynden Christian game where I felt he was physically and mentally ready,” Shapiro said. “To be honest, it wasn’t until the Port Townsend game where I saw it in his eyes. He was mentally ready to go.”

If there was any doubt in Shapiro’s mind about Wilkins, who also plays free safety on defense, it was erased early in King’s (12-1) 28-25 victory over Montesano in the state semifinals last weekend.

“I knew he was back to 100 percent when we were on the defensive side of the ball in the first or second series and he came up from the free safety position and hit No. 17 like a ton of bricks,” Shapiro said. “You could hear it up in the stands. He kind of looked at me and smiled, so I knew he was feeling better.”

On offense, Wilkins finished 8 of 15 for 87 yards passing and a touchdown and ran 11 times for 48 yards and two more scores to help King’s build an early lead.

The offense, in turn, helped the Knights’ defense shine.

“Koa’s a big part of how we move the ball on offense,” said senior lineman Taylor Schoenfeld. “It gives us D-linemen a chance to pin our ears back and go after the quarterback, knowing that they have to pass to get back in the game. It’s a huge difference on defense.”

“It’s definitely great to have him back,” added Jack McLeod, Schoenfeld’s fellow senior lineman. “We missed him for a couple games. It was just the next man up. We did fine, but having him back has just given us tons of room on offense to work with.”

Wilkins helped lead the Knights into the state semifinals for the first time in school history. Previously, King’s had reached six consecutive state quarterfinal games but lost every one despite having future Washington defensive back Thomas Vincent (who played quarterback for King’s) and current Weber State quarterback Billy Green.

This season, Shapiro banned the word “quarterfinals,” instead re-branding it the “third round” of the playoffs, as King’s cruised to a 42-21 victory.

“The foundational years under the Thomas Vincents and the Billy Greens really propelled us to this scenario,” Shapiro said. “We have been familiar with winning. We’ve done a good job getting to the quarters. I think what’s pushed this team over the top is they’re playing like a team.

“That’s not to say that those other teams weren’t a good team — or good teammates — but there’s something in the cohesiveness of this group. It’s just one massive movement of guys coming together. It’s pretty cool.”

Now that they’ve got the quarterfinals monkey off their backs, the King’s players are looking to fill another void: a state championship trophy.

“We’re just going to come out there and give 100 percent,” Schoenfeld said. “It’s the last game for these seniors. It’s the last time that we’ll ever play for King’s football and that’s huge. We’ll just go out for them.”

“I’d been stuck in the quarterfinals for three years. I was tired of it,” McLeod said. “Now, to finally get past that and get here, to this point, playing a state championship in the T-Dome, has just been great. … As much as I loved getting over that hump, I don’t feel like we’ve accomplished that much until we win that state championship.”