TACOMA – The Bothell Cougars could have easily lost focus, but that’s not how they wanted to end their story.
One week after earning a nine-overtime victory that generated loads of nationwide media coverage, the Bothell High School football team kept its cool, focused and continued its remarkable season.
Bothell used an effective first-half passing attack to surge to a 21-0 lead, took advantage of its opponents mistakes and went on to defeat the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors 28-14 Saturday night in a Class 4A state semifinal game at the Tacoma Dome.
Quarterback Cody Atkinson completed 14 of 20 pass attempts for 202 yards and two touchdowns – both in the pivotal first half – to help Bothell (12-1) advance to the championship game for the first time.
“I’m just so proud of the kids (and) our fans,” Bothell coach Tom Bainter said. “I’m proud to be a part of something that’s so special to our city and our people.”
Atkinson, who threw short TD passes to Luke Jones and Derek Stottlemyer, said the Cougars made sure they didn’t get stuck enjoying the glow of their 43-40 nine-OT quarterfinal victory over Pasco last Saturday.
“The biggest thing we said was, ‘Let’s finish the story.’ Yeah, we played in one of the greatest high school football games ever, but we gotta finish our story,” said Atkinson, who completed eight passes to Marc Mulholland for 124 yards.
Jon Kirchner rushed 26 times for 100 yards and a score for Bothell, which plays Oak Harbor (12-1) for the 4A championship at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Tacoma Dome. Oak Harbor defeated Gonzaga Prep 14-10 in the other semifinal earlier on Saturday in Spokane.
Edmonds-Woodway (12-1), ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press and No. 2 by WashingtonPreps.com, committed three costly turnovers that led to 14 Bothell points. The Warriors also had six penalties for 56 yards, several in crucial situations.
“I thought we were off a little bit, especially in the first half. The cogs weren’t lining up for us,” E-W coach John Gradwohl said.
Besides forcing three turnovers, Bothell’s defense limited E-W’s high-powered offense to 274 yards (120 rushing and 154 passing). E-W running back Josh Heard carried 15 times for 102 yards. He entered the game with 1,654 yards and 26 TDs.
“When you play a great team like (Bothell), you gotta play a pretty solid game, and we didn’t do that,” said Gradwohl, whose team made its semifinal debut.
E-W’s TDs came on a 9-yard Tony Heard run and Eric Greenwood’s 71-yard catch-and-run play.
Bothell went to the air early and found great success. Atkinson completed 12 of 15 passes for 184 yards in the first two quarters.
Kyle McCartney, E-W’s starting safety on defense and QB on offense, said the Warriors gave Bothell receivers too much cushion, allowing them complete short passes.
“We knew they could throw the ball. We just didn’t think they would throw it that much,” he said.
After misfiring on his first throw, Atkinson completed seven straight, including a 4-yard TD to Jones. Later, after Jones’ 4-yard run made it 14-0, Atkinson connected with Stottlemyer on a 2-yard touchdown toss that made it 21-0 with 15 seconds to go in the first half.
Bothell got the latter TD a few minutes after E-W receiver Antoinne Wafer caught a 27-yard pass from McCartney (two interceptions thrown) and lost a fumble near the Bothell 30-yard line. Instead of having a chance to cut into Bothell’s lead, E-W fell further behind after Bothell ate up 74 yards in 11 plays for its third score.
“That was pretty big,” Gradwohl said. “I was hoping we could have stopped them there.”
E-W was disappointed with how its season ended, but it piled up many achievements and got further than any team in program history.
“I don’t believe that you have to win the state championship to have a successful season. … We had a lot of successes this year in a lot of different ways,” Gradwohl said.
“I’m gonna look back at the season and I’m gonna remember the kids,” he added. “Sure, winning’s better than losing, but I’m going to remember the kids and the commitment and the fun we had together.”
At Tacoma
Bothell14707-28
Edmonds-Woodway0077-14
Bothell-Jones 4 pass from Atkinson (Risden kick)
Bothell-Jones 5 run (Risden kick)
Bothell-Stottlemyer 2 pass from Atkinson (Risden kick)
Edmonds-Woodway-T. Heard 9 run (Storer kick)
Bothell-Kirchner 5 run (Risden kick)
Edmonds-Woodway-Greenwood 71 pass from McCartney (Storer kick)
Records-Bothell 12-1 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 12-1.
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