EVERETT – Kamiak’s offense was already good. With Austin Curran getting better by the second, it’s suddenly scary good.
Curran, a senior running back who missed the first three games of the season, rushed for a career-high 238 yards and scored four touchdowns Saturday night at Goddard Stadium. He led the Kamiak High School football team to a 49-28 victory over Meadowdale in a first-round Class 4A state playoff football game.
Quarterback Mark Iddins completed 13-of-17 passes for 145 yards for Kamiak (8-3 overall), which will travel to play Skyline (10-1) next Friday or Saturday.
”It was the best breakthrough game I’ve ever had,” said Curran, who scored three touchdowns in the first half, including breakaway runs of 52 and 63 yards. He carried 12 times for 167 yards by halftime, helping the Knights grab a 28-14 lead.
”I wouldn’t say I’ve peaked yet,” Curran continued. ”I’ve still got more left.”
Meadowdale ended its season at 8-3. The Mavs pulled to within 28-21 after finishing a 63-yard TD drive to open the third quarter. Senior running back Travis Anderson plowed in from 1-yard line to end the 11-play series.
The Meadowdale defense appeared to stop Kamiak on the Knights first drive of the third quarter. But on fourth-and-11 from the Meadowdale 39, Curran took a direct snap on a punt formation, zipped up the right hash, lost his balance while evading a tackler inside the 10-yard line and leaped to the Mavericks 5. Two plays later Iddins snuck in from 3 yards as Kamiak took a 35-21 lead with 1:55 to go in the third.
”I think that was the end of the game right there,” Anderson said of the deflating fake punt play. ”That was more than disappointing.”
Anderson battled an ankle injury to lead Meadowdale with 99 yards and two TDs on 16 carries. The Mavs never beat Kamiak during Anderson’s prep career, despite coming close in two previous meetings, including an 11-7 season-opening defeat at Goddard. Anderson looked forward to redemption Saturday, but it wasn’t to be.
”You don’t (usually) get a second chance in one year. I thought we could take them this time.”
While Kamiak’s offense was nearly unstoppable (zero punts and about 450 yards total offense), its defense slowed a multi-faceted Meadowdale attack. Nate Hadley had a team-high 10 tackles and a sack for the Knights, and cornerback Thomas Callandret collared Meadowdale star Jake Linton. The Mavs top receiver, Linton came in with 46 receptions for 790 yards. But Callandret prevented him from making a single catch.
”This might seem kind of weird,” Callandret said, ”but I had a dream about the game. Friday night ”I dreamed about not letting (Linton) catch one ball.”
Call it a pigskin premonition. But Kamiak’s dream come true was Meadowdale’s frustrating, season-ending defeat.
”Tonight we just didn’t get any breaks,” Meadowdale coach Mark Stewart said. ”They physically got after us, and that’s why we’re done.”
Of Kamiak’s successful fake punt, Stewart said, ”It was a great call on their part. … We’ve done a good job of battling all year, and I think they kept battling, but that was a big play for them.”
Stewart said he knew Kamiak’s Curran added a dangerous dimension to the Knights already potent offense. But Curran, who combines sprinter speed with crushing power, often seemed unstoppable. ”We knew we had to get (Curran) down,” Stewart said, ”and he was going to be a challenge. He came out and had a great game. And he won.”
Kamiak needed less than a minute to take a 7-0 lead. Curran bolted up the left sideline and fought off a Meadowdale defender at the Mavericks 20-yard line before finishing a 52-yard TD run on the Knights’ second offensive play.
The Knights added a second TD with just under a minute to go in the opening quarter when Iddins recovered his own fumble in the end zone on a QB sneak play.
Meadowdale cut it to 14-7 on the first play of its second drive. Quarterback Demetri Huffman (154 yards passing, two TDs) found tight end Alex Romanyuk for an 80-yard TD pass with 40 seconds to go in the first quarter.
Curran quickly struck again, exploding up the right sideline for a 63-yard TD run on the first play of the second quarter to make it 21-7.
Meadowdale responded with a 79-yard, 10-play drive. Anderson’s 11-yard touchdown run made it 21-14 with 7:07 remaining in the first half.
Continuing the scoring binge, Curran capped an 87-yard Kamiak drive with a four-yard burst to make it 28-14 with 1:41 to go in the half.
Curran struck again on the first play of the fourth, exploding for a 31-yard TD run. His fourth TD made it 42-21.
Tony Virata added a 9-yard TD run with four minutes to play to give Kamiak a 49-21 advantage.
Huffman hit Justin Lucero for a 44-yard touchdown pass to make it 49-28 with 2:38 to go.
At Goddard Stadium, Everett
Meadowdale7777-28
Kamiak1414714-49
Kamiak – Curran 52 run (Hawkinson kick)
Kamiak – Iddins 1 fumble recovery in end zone (Hawkinson kick)
Meadowdale – Romanyuk 80 pass from Huffman (Tasche kick)
Kamiak-Curran – 63 run (Hawkinson kick)
Meadowdale – Anderson 11 run (Tasche kick)
Kamiak – Curran 4 run (Hawkinson kick)
Meadowdale – Anderson 1 run (Tasche kick)
Kamiak – Iddins 3 run (Hawkinson kick)
Kamiak – Curran 31 run (Hawkinson kick)
Kamiak- Virata 9 run (Hawkinson kick)
Meadowdale-Lucero 44 pass from Huffman (Hawkinson kick)
Records-Meadowdale 8-3 overall. Kamiak 8-3.
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