Archbishop Murphy football tops Sehome in 2A quarterfinals

EVERETT — Joe Cronin thought his team was in for another early punch to the face.

After allowing the first touchdown in last week’s 2A state playoff win against Olympic to trail for the first time this season, Archbishop Murphy football faced the threat of another early deficit in the quarterfinals against Sehome at Goddard Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

Playing aggressively as the underdog, Sehome picked up a couple of third-down conversions on its opening drive before facing 4th-and-10 on Murphy’s 35. Rather than attempt a long field goal, the offense stayed on the field, where quarterback Nolan Wright unleashed a teardrop pass to Carter Duckworth down the left hash, picking up the first down and putting the ball right in front of the goal line.

‘Here we go again,’ Cronin thought to himself, the Archbishop Murphy coach getting flashbacks from the previous week, but senior defensive back/receiver Henry Gabalis thought about how the defense made three stands inside the 10 in a 56-0 win against Lynden on Oct. 17, and felt confident they could do it again.

Sure enough, Archbishop Murphy stuffed the run on 1st-and-goal before senior lineman Hakeim Smalls’ tackle-for-loss backed Sehome up to the seven for 3rd-and-goal. An incompletion set the visitors up with another fourth down. Sehome was aggressive again, but not more than Gabalis.

Knowing Sehome would be forcing a throw on fourth down, the Arizona-commit jumped on a pass attempt to the near left pylon and took it 100 yards the other way for a pick-six. Gabalis created so much distance between himself and the nearest Sehome player on his return that he thought the play may have been blown dead. There was a penalty on the play, but it was holding against Sehome. The house call would not be declined.

“I knew I had to play good 1-on-1,” Gabalis said. “And you know what, we did that great. Everybody played good on 1-on-1. They threw the ball to me and I made a play, so it was great to see.”

After turning the opening drive on its head, the top-seeded Wildcats (11-0) rolled to a 52-20 win against the No. 9 seed Mariners (7-5), punching their ticket to the semifinals.

“The big message from the beginning of the game was, ‘Whoever makes the best adjustments and quickest adjustments is going to win,’” senior receiver/defensive back Willie Sears said. “And so I felt like we adjusted pretty well, especially on the goal line on the first play where we get the pick-six from (Gabalis). It changed everything in the entire game.”

It was the second meeting between the two teams this season, with Archbishop Murphy taking the first game 56-7 on Oct. 31. However, Sehome was missing Wright and several other key contributors last time, which made Saturday’s game a tougher matchup for the defense, particularly in the passing game. Wright finished with well over 400 passing yards and three touchdowns, tossing just shy of 300 in the first half alone. Seniors Al Miller (seven receptions, 149 yards) and Hudson Neff (nine receptions, 154 yards) combined for 303 receiving yards and two touchdowns, leading an attack that exposed soft spots in the Wildcats’ secondary all evening.

Both Sears and Gabalis acknowledged that the secondary will need to hammer down its coverages and master its assignments heading into the semifinals next week.

“When you play a team twice, it’s tough,” Cronin said. “They had a good game plan. They chucked it around, and the quarterback made plays. He’s a heck of a football player, so we knew we had to stop him and just put points on the board.”

To compensate for the Mariners’ aerial attack, Archbishop Murphy once again dominated the ground game, allowing just one net rushing yard in the first half while totaling 393 of their 458 offensive yards on the ground. Junior running back/defensive back Isaiah Smith had 244 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries (34.9 yards per attempt). Sophomores Cole Sievers (63 yards) and Ryder Sandstrom (70 yards) combined for 133 more yards on the ground in change-of-pace roles.

“Isaiah was doing really good. He always does good,” Cole Sievers said. “We had to make a few adjustments because (Sehome) came out in a five-front, kind of, so it was hard on our linemen, but they got it done, too. We got to make adjustments as backs to get around that, and at the end of the day, we got it done.”

Sehome tested its luck on fourth down once again on the drive following Gabalis’ pick-six, but threw it incomplete from its own 25 to hand the Wildcats great field position. Senior quarterback Evan Ruiz connected with Gabalis for a 25-yard passing touchdown on the next play, giving the Wildcats a 14-0 lead with 5:07 left in the first quarter.

The Archbishop Murphy defense forced a three-and-out before the offense brought it down to Sehome’s eight, ultimately setting for a 24-yard field goal from senior Kyler Phillips, who also made all seven extra point attempts. The Mariners followed up with some more big passing plays to get downfield — including a 37-yard reception by Miller in 1-on-1 coverage — but the Wildcats made another stand inside the 10, forcing a turnover on downs. Smith took the next play 93 yards to the house, up the middle and into space to extend the lead to 24-0.

“We knew we had to step up even more, and so we kept on making some big plays,” Sears said. “Isaiah Smith had some monster runs, which he’s just been proving (to) the entire state why he’s the best running back.”

Sehome turned it over on downs once again, but nearly connected on a 38-yard touchdown on the right sideline that fell incomplete on 4th-and-six. Archbishop Murphy followed up with another long score, this time Cole Sievers rumbling 57 yards to the end zone with 7:41 left in the half.

The defense forced another turnover on the next drive, with Sears forcing a fumble that senior Robert Moses recovered, and Smith dashed in for a 40-yard score a few plays later. The Mariners picked up their first touchdown with 3:29 left in the half on an 18-yard pass to senior Theo Quiggle after Miller made a one-handed grab to gain 46 yards, but the Wildcats marched down the field from their own 25, overcoming three offensive penalties to set up Sandstrom for a five-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left.

Smith struck again to open the second half, taking the second play from scrimmage 81 yards to pay dirt for his third touchdown of the evening, extending the lead to 52-7. Sears followed that up by forcing another takeaway, this time defending a Sehome pass that deflected off a Mariners receiver into the air, where Moses pulled it down for the takeaway.

Sehome rebounded to score two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter — passes of 37 yards and 53 yards to Miller and Neff, respectively — but the game was out of reach, and the Wildcats had taken out their starters. Sophomore lineman Gio Machuca Silva blocked the extra point on the Mariners’ final touchdown to set up the 52-20 final score.

The Wildcats will face another familiar opponent in the semifinals next week when they host No. 5 seed Anacortes, who they defeated 43-7 on the road on Oct. 10. After facing its biggest test on the ground in Olympic last week and its biggest test in the air against Sehome on Saturday, Archbishop Murphy feels ready for its next challenge, knowing full well it will require another week of intense preparation.

“I think that’s the best passing team I’ve seen, probably in my four years,” Gabalis said of Sehome. “But I think we did well with both (defending a strong rushing attack and a strong passing attack). If the game comes (down) to we have to stop either of them, I think we can do that.”