SEATTLE – As a third-string quarterback who rarely got to take a snap in practice, Seneca Wallace spent most of his 2004 season working as a scout-team receiver to get the Seattle Seahawks’ defense ready for game days.
Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
On Sunday, he got to play that position for real – and renew a familiar rivalry.
Wallace caught his first NFL pass with Carolina cornerback Ken Lucas – a former Seahawk – in coverage, giving both players flashbacks to their days at Seahawks practices in past seasons.
“I thought he was going to play it differently,” Wallace said of a 28-yard reception he made to set up Seattle’s first touchdown. “I thought he was going to come at me and try to jam me. But he didn’t; he played off me a little bit. I tried to make sure I got him to bite a little bit. … He bit a little bit, and Matt (Hasselbeck) put it in the right spot.”
Wallace, now the Seahawks’ second-string quarterback, impressed some of his teammates with the play.
“We see that a lot in practice,” wide receiver Darrell Jackson said. “He’s got a lot of athletic ability. He’s lightning quick, strong. He’s just an athlete. For him to be able to go out and do that after just a couple routes at practice, that was really, really, really, really big.”
Wallace, who threw a mere 25 passes during the regular season, was just happy to contribute to a playoff win.
“It was just a blessing to be able to get out there and play in the championship game,” Wallace said. “It was awesome. I don’t even know what to say.”
End of tough week: Seattle’s right tackle, Sean Locklear, held his own against defensive end Julius Peppers despite the distraction of ongoing legal troubles. Locklear spent last weekend in jail after being arrested in a domestic-abuse case involving his girlfriend.
“It would be easy to say I didn’t think about it, but I did,” Locklear said. “But once you start playing football, you just forget about everything and concentrate on what’s at hand.”
Peppers, who was slowed by a sore shoulder and the flu during the week, had six tackles but did not record a sack.
Mind games: Hasselbeck said earlier this week that the Seahawks changed their offensive hand signals so that Lucas would not be able to steal them from his former team.
But after Sunday’s game, Hasselbeck came clean.
“I actually made that up so Kenny would think we did,” the Seahawks quarterback said. “Sorry.”
Say what?: Carolina scored a disputed touchdown in the second quarter when Steve Smith returned a punt 59 yards for a score.
Penalty flags littered the field and it was widely thought the Panthers would be penalized for a block in the back, thus wiping out the touchdown. Yet, when officials huddled to discuss the matter, they decided to pick up the flags, call the play clean and allow the TD. Suddenly, the Seahawks were ahead just 17-7.
It was thought that the Seahawks’ Joe Tafoya was a victim of an illegal block, but it was later determined that the block came from the side.
The Seahawks sideline was outraged.
“I don’t think I’m allowed to comment on that,” Hasselbeck said.
Yet, the Seahawks came right back with a promising drive that ended with a 39-yard field goal by Josh Brown that gave them a 20-7 advantage.
“That was big because it was a free seven points that they got,” Hasselbeck said. “You feel inside that they didn’t deserve it and then we had to answer back. They were right back in the game at that point.”
Best wishes: Former Seahawk John Kasay is the only place-kicker Carolina has ever had, signing with the Panthers when they were an expansion team in 1995 after four seasons in Seattle. He said he still looks back fondly on his time with the Seahawks and wishes the team well in the Super Bowl.
“The fans here are great,” Kasay said. “I was very sad when I left here because I wanted to help this team do something great and we were bad. I’m really happy for the people of Seattle and the organization, the people who have been waiting 30 years for this.”
Maybe not so fondly: Former Seahawks cornerback Ken Lucas, who left for Carolina after last season and made no secret of the fact that he felt underappreciated here, said it was tough to lose to Seattle.
“It hurts to see my old teammates over there cheering,” Lucas said. “I would rather be the guy cheering and celebrating. But we both knew coming into the game that somebody had to lose, and unfortunately it was us. We take our hats off to them, and I wish them the best of luck in the Super Bowl.”
End of the road: Carolina came into the game with a four-game winning streak in road playoff games, winning two after the 2003 regular season and two more this season. That tied the NFL record for consecutive road playoff games, and coach John Fox said that while it hurt to finally lose one Sunday, he couldn’t be more proud of his team.
“I can tell you that this team worked very hard this season,” Fox said. “I told them not to hang their heads when they walked out of that locker room. The should be proud of themselves.”
Collision course: One of the biggest hits in the game occurred late in the first quarter when Carolina running back Nick Goings collided with Seattle linebacker Lofa Tatupu on an end sweep. Tatupu took a helmet squarely in the chest and jaw, and seemed to get the worst of the collision, but in the end was able to stay in the game.
Goings, however, left the field and later went to the locker room. He did not return to the game.
“I couldn’t tell who took the worst of that hit,” said Seattle defensive tackle Rocky Bernard. “It was like a gunshot out there. I saw Lofa get up and I saw Goings try to get up, but he was wobbling a little bit. I thought, ‘He ain’t coming back after that one.’”
Tatupu ended up with a mild concussion and was unavailable for comment after the game.
Quick slants: Wide receiver Bobby Engram suffered a hip injury that sidelined him for the entire fourth quarter. His status for the Super Bowl will be evaluated in the coming days. … In his first game as punt returner since Week 3, Peter Warrick called two fair catches and had two returns for a total of 7 yards. … After going 16-for-16 in third-and-one conversions during the regular season, Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander got stopped in the first quarter of Sunday’s game. … Pro Bowl left tackle Walter Jones, who gave up just two sacks all season, allowed one to Mike Rucker in Sunday’s game.
Staff writers Rich Myhre, John Sleeper and Todd Fredrickson contributed to this report.
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