Archbishop Murphy football gears up for Anacortes in state semifinal

EVERETT — As the downpour over Terry Ennis Stadium started to clear up behind him, Archbishop Murphy football coach Joe Cronin gathered the team in front of the locker room door. The on-field portion of Monday’s practice would just be a walk-through, as the team started its week-long preparation for its 2A State semifinal matchup against Northwest Conference foe Anacortes.

However, a lighter workload in practice did not equate to lower intensity. The opening kickoff is not until Saturday afternoon at Goddard Memorial Stadium, but for the top-seeded Wildcats, the matchup already started.

“We got to be better than Anacortes every day,” Cronin told his players, setting the stage for a rematch against the two-time defending state champion Seahawks.

After warmups, the different position groups broke off into separate drills. Assistant coach Tala Tavega took the running backs to the corner of the field, splitting the group into two teams to race in a speed and agility drill involving quick footwork, sharp cuts and short bursts a few yards off the line. Entering the final rep, the two sides were tied. Senior co-captains Henry Gabalis and Jack Sievers were nominated to compete in the deciding rep.

Sievers, who plays tight end and defensive end but joined the backs for this drill in order to work on his foot speed, initially objected to the matchup.

“I’m gonna get fried,” Sievers said, not liking his chances against the hybrid back/receiver Gabalis. A teammate’s suggestion to pit Sievers against his brother, sophomore Cole, quickly gained traction among the group, but Cronin immediately shot that down. Perhaps too much heat in a brother vs. brother rep for a Monday walk-through.

Eventually, the two seniors took off, crossing the line within a split second of each other in a much closer race than Sievers predicted. Ultimately, Tavega ruled Gabalis got there first, sending his side into a frenzy while Sievers’ group immediately protested. Sievers himself jokingly ran at Tavega and wrapped him up in a fake tackle before the position groups reunited back at midfield to start the actual walk-through reps.

“They’re competitive,” Cronin said to The Herald, amused by the scene in front of him. “I’ll tell you that.”

The rest of practice was all business. Co-offensive coordinator Mark Landes cleaned up the blocking schemes for the starting unit, which went through several plays against the scout defense. After that, Cronin laid out the loose plan of assignments and defensive coverages for the starting secondary, which the team knew would be a focus after allowing over 400 passing yards in their 52-20 win against Sehome in the quarterfinals just two days prior.

“We’re going to emphasize passing defense this whole week, because I think we need to work on that,” Gabalis said. “I think that’s what we just did (on Monday). We went over it, and I think we’re capable of stopping the run plenty, and we’re going to try to force them to run the ball, hopefully.”

All throughout the walk-through, Cronin pointed out the members of Anacortes’ offense — represented by the Wildcats’ scout team — that earned All-League honors over Archbishop Murphy’s players, sowing the seeds of motivation he hopes the team will reap on Saturday.

“You know Anacortes’ running back was First Team All-League?” Cronin said to junior Isaiah Smith as he waited in line for a drill.

“Oh I know,” replied Smith, who put up 373 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on just 18 carries in the past two weeks alone.

For all the bulletin board material the Wildcats are stacking off the field, they’re backed by the confidence from their regular-season matchup on Oct. 10, when they went to Anacortes and brought home a decisive 43-7 win.

Since that blowout, the Seahawks have won six straight games leading up to this weekend’s semifinal, allowing just 31 total points in that span. Archbishop Murphy understands the playoffs are a different beast and that Anacortes will be playing eager for revenge, so the focus will be matching their energy, if not exceeding it, and executing in each role.

“Man, I honestly I think we got this,” senior lineman and co-captain Tay Olson said. “I mean, their defense hasn’t really gone against an offense like ours (in the past six games). Just seeing how we match up against them, I like our odds. I feel really confident about it.”

The Wildcats, for their part, have rolled through the playoffs, dominating on both sides of the ball. Across three postseason games, the offense is averaging 11.5 yards per play and 49.3 points per game. The bulk of the production is coming on the ground (950 yards, 14 touchdowns), but senior quarterback Evan Ruiz and the receiving corps have unlocked big gains through the air when called upon (184 yards and three touchdowns on just 18 pass attempts).

The offense is expected to return another key piece to the lineup in junior running back/defensive back Andrew Lucas, who has been out with a shoulder injury for over a month. Aside from two snaps in a 56-0 win against Lynden on Oct. 17, Lucas has not played in full since Archbishop Murphy’s win against Anacortes.

“(Lucas is) a key hybrid player in our team, offense and defense,” Sievers said. “He’s going to give Isaiah Smith a break. (Smith has) been carrying the ball every play. I think it would be good for him to get a little bit of a break. But then also, (Lucas) adds another piece on defense that makes us versatile, having a hybrid safety-linebacker type player that we can move around and be unpredictable with.”

Speaking of the defense, it is allowing just 13.3 points per game this postseason. The yard averages are heavily inflated by Sehome’s strong passing day and Olympic’s great rushing performance the week prior, but it’s still sitting at a pedestrian 192.7 passing yards allowed and 79.7 rushing yards allowed per game. On top of that, the defense has generated eight turnovers (five interceptions, three fumble recoveries).

Arguably the biggest advantage for Anacortes is its experience on this stage relative to Archbishop Murphy. The Seahawks are gunning for a third straight state title, while this group of Wildcats has never made it past this round, losing 42-0 to Tumwater in last year’s semifinals.

Ultimately, Archbishop Murphy is confident that it can take care of business. All season long, the goal and expectation has been that the Wildcats would compete for the program’s first state championship since 2016.

“I just feel like we didn’t come this far to (only) come this far,” Olson said. “We already beat this team, so it’s really just we got to go 1-0. It’s just another stepping stone (towards) our goal.”