EVERETT – Talent has never been the issue with Travis Warren. Lack of confidence, said his football coach, was the only thing holding him back.
Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Problem solved.
Warren made a momentum-swinging interception in the third quarter to set up Cascade’s first touchdown and rushed 13 yards for the game-winning TD in the fourth quarter as the Bruins rallied for a 14-12 victory over the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks Friday night at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Warren’s scoring run, which put Cascade ahead 13-12 with eight minutes, four seconds remaining in the game, was the first of his varsity career. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior also had a 32-yard kickoff return and tallied all 30 of his rushing yards (on four carries) in the final 15 minutes of the season-opening Western Conference North Division game.
“His big problem over the years has been self-confidence,” Cascade coach Jake Huizinga said of Warren. “… I hope (Friday’s performance) does a lot for him.”
Cascade overcame a 12-0 halftime deficit to start the 2005 season on a high note. Asked what made the difference in the decisive second half, Warren pointed to teammates instead of himself.
“We started playing as a team instead of playing as individuals,” he said. “We started using our heads.
“Coach (Huizinga) said ‘Step it up’ to our guys, and that’s what we did.”
Evan Crawford (54 yards, one TD), Jordan Sieh (44 yards) and J.P. Oliver (41 yards) contributed to Cascade’s balanced run game. Oliver and Crawford, both two-way players, got dinged up, but Huizinga said they will be fine.
Early on, Cascade’s offense struggled mightily. In the first half, the Bruins committed half of their six turnovers and finished the game with 11 penalties for a whopping 105 yards.
Mistakes are expected this time of year, but what effect did they have on Huizinga?
“I’m going to enjoy this weekend,” he said, smiling. But at Monday’s film session, “We’re going to make sure we get rid of those penalties.”
M-P running back Marquise Moses had a strong first half (77 yards, including a 44-yard TD jaunt, on 12 carries), but he got just 10 yards on seven second-half attempts.
“Our backers got up,” Huizinga said, “and our line started to play at the pad level necessary to stop their inside (running) game.”
Warren, also a defensive back, linebacker Oliver (two sacks) and Ramon Villalovos (a key fourth-quarter sack) fueled Cascade’s defense. M-P had three offensive possessions after Warren’s go-ahead TD run but never seriously threatened.
“It was just a hard-fought game,” said M-P linebacker Andrew Kreutz, who made at least 10 tackles. “They just got the upper hand in the second half, like we had in the first half.”
The Tomahawks committed three turnovers in the second half, including Warren’s interception of M-P quarterback Brandon Howell near Cascade’s goal line.
M-P’s second TD came after Kreutz intercepted a Dirk Snel pass and returned it 6 yards to the Cascade 15. Howell later found Clayton West in the back of the end zone for a 16-yard TD pass that made it 12-0.
For a while even when they made a good play, the Bruins couldn’t catch a break. About halfway through the first quarter, Cascade quarterback Snel found Matt McKorkle on a play-action pass from the Cascade 29 that looked like a sure touchdown. But Snel’s fake handoff was so good it tricked an official into blowing the play dead after M-P players tackled the supposed ball carrier. The Bruins punted two plays later.
At Everett Memorial Stadium
Marysville-Pilchuck6600-12
Cascade0077-14
Marysville-Pilchuck-Moses 44 run (kick failed)
Marysville-Pilchuck-West 16 pass from Howell (pass failed)
Cascade-Crawford 13 run (Snel kick)
Cascade-Warren 13 run (Snel kick)
Records-Marysville-Pilchuck 0-1 in league and overall. Cascade 1-0, 1-0.
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