Improbable comeback

Published 12:02 am Saturday, September 10, 2011

SNOHOMISH — One thing was clear: Glacier Peak was going to beat Oak Harbor. The Grizzlies had the momentum and time on their side. Pretty much everyone in Veteran’s Memorial Stadium knew it. Pretty much everyone except Oak Harbor.

Facing a 17-point deficit with seven minutes to play on the road against one of the Wesco 3A’s top teams, the Wildcats refused to believe they were out of it. And they were right. Oak Harbor staged a stunning comeback over the final five minutes of the game to shock Glacier Peak 30-27 Friday night in a Wesco 3A football game.

With the win, the Wildcats (2-0) join Meadowdale as the front-runner in the Wesco 3A race while Glacier Peak (1-1) must find a way to recover from a loss this devastating.

“They were clicking and our tails were between our legs,” Oak Harbor coach Jay Turner said. “I told our guys to get our heads out of our tail ends because we were getting embarrassed.”

Turner’s team got the message.

The rally started with 220-pound senior running back Brent Ryan scoring on a 1-yard run to make it 27-17 with 5:01 to play. Glacier Peak then turned the ball over on downs and three plays later, junior quarterback Ian Kolste connected with Peter Franssen down the right sideline for a 41-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to four points.

Then things really got crazy.

Glacier Peak continued to try to run the clock down but Oak Harbor called for a blitz at the perfect time and Ryan burst into the backfield, stripping Sean Elledge of the ball with Wildcats linebacker Justin Everett recovering to give Oak Harbor the ball at midfield with less than two minutes to play.

“It was a ‘pinch play’ so I was supposed to come down, but I wasn’t expecting to get into the backfield that quickly,” Ryan said. “I got back there fast and just made the play.”

“They called a great play,” Glacier Peak coach Rory Rosenbach said. “If we run any other play there, we get 10 yards.”

Still, Oak Harbor had to score with little time left. On third-and-10 after two incompletions, Kolste passed to senior standout Josiah Miller on the right side and Miller made a spectacular individual effort, spinning away from one defender and running 43 yards to the 6. Four plays later, Ryan burst up the middle from a yard out for the winning touchdown with 18 seconds to play.

“We’ve had success with that play in situations like that,” said Miller, who ran for 75 yards and caught four passes for 84. “We only run it when we really need it. I caught it and I knew I’d have to make some guys miss, but I did more than I thought I would.”

Indeed, it was a game of Oak Harbor doing more than it looked like it would. After a low-scoring first half that saw Glacier Peak lead 7-3, the Wildcats briefly took the lead with a Ryan touchdown to open the second half before the Grizzlies answered with a 74-yard touchdown pass from David Linney to Evan Nelson. That duo paired up again in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard scoring pass and after an Oak Harbor fumble, Linney ran 14 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-10. But apparently, that wasn’t enough.

“We had to keep our foot on the gas,” Rosenbach said. “Our energy changed, and there’s didn’t. … But it’s just one game. We can still go 8-1 and achieve all our goals.”

Linney finished 14-for-21 for 202 yards and also ran for 59 yards for Glacier Peak. Ryan rumbled for 117 yards on 27 carries to lead Oak Harbor.

“To be the best, you have to beat the best and Glacier Peak and Meadowdale have been the best in our league,” Turner said. “We’ve got two league wins, that’s what this means. It’s still going to be tough and it’s going to take a lot more to get to the playoffs.”

At Snohomish Veterans Memorial Stadium

Oak Harbor 0 3 7 20 — 30

Glacier Peak 0 7 7 13 — 27

OH–Franssen 31 FG

GP–Dunbar 8 pass from Linney (Branson Corwin kick)

OH–Ryan 3 run (Franssen kick)

GP–Nelson 74 pass from Linney (Corwin kick)

GP–Nelson 16 pass from Linney (Corwin kick)

GP–Linney 14 run (pass failed)

OH–Ryan 1 run (Franssen kick)

OH–Franssen 41 pass from Kolste (kick blocked)

OH–Ryan 1 run (Franssen kick)

Records: Oak Harbor 2-0, Glacier Peak 1-1