By KEVIN BREIWICK
Herald Writer
TACOMA – Kamiak found a way to answer everything South Kitsap had to offer Saturday.
For the most part, running backs Justin Washington and Reid Wilson were the answers.
The duo each ran for 109 yards on 19 carries, leading the Knights to a 42-20 Class 4A state first round playoff victory at the Lincoln Bowl.
The victory sent Kamiak into the state quarterfinals for the second year in a row. The Knights will face Tahoma on Friday or Saturday at a site and time to be determined on Monday.
“You have to run in the playoffs to win,” Kamiak coach Dan Mack said.
Washington scored three touchdowns and Wilson added one.
Kamiak marched down the field for a touchdown on its first possession with a 14-play, 67-yard drive that elapsed six minutes. Running back David Eneberg got the Knights to the South Kitsap 17-yard-line on a 21-yard run. Washington’s run on fourth-and-1 brought Kamaik to the 4 and, after a loss of 2, quarterback Ryan Jones rolled out to the left and ran in for the touchdown from 6 yards out.
After forcing South Kitsap to punt on a three-and-out on its first drive, the Knights yielded a 4-yard touchdown by running back Ryan Cole with 2:25 remaining in the first quarter.
Cole finished the first half with 108 yards on 19 carries. Cole ran for 204 yards on 25 carries in the game.
“We knew (Cole) was a heck of a runner,” Mack said. “Our defense stepped up.”
Two breaks help set the Knights up at the South Kitsap 20 after Cole scored and Kamiak was forced to punt early in the second quarter. Eneberg intercepted Wolves quarterback Travis Vetters at the Kamiak 26, but the Knights were forced to punt. But Kamiak’s Scott Kasten recovered the Knights’ punt on the South Kitsap 20.
Kamiak marched inside Wolves 10, but South Kitsaps’s defense held.
Washington was stuffed at the 2 on fourth down, but after South Kitsap punted on the ensuing drive, the Knights’ running game got free of the South Kitsap defense.
As soon running back Reid Wilson took a draw up the middle, he saw daylight. Reed went untouched for a 29-yard touchdown.
South Kitsap answered immediately on a drive that ended up with Josh Chilton catching a 13-yard touchdown pass from Vetters.
Unfazed, the Knights drove right back on a 3-play, 58-yard drive which took 30 seconds.
Washington caught a 28-yard pass from Jones, which put the Knights ahead 21-12 with 11 seconds left in the second quarter.
“We have a balanced offensive attack,” Mack said. “We feel we can pass and run.”
It could have been momentum or more breaks falling Kamiak’s way, but the Knights once again found away to answer Cole and South Kitsap.
After Cole scored on a 5-yard run in the middle of the third quarter, the Kamiak offense took advantage of two defensive pass interference calls.
The Knights worked their way to the Wolves’ 5 and Washington punched it in with a 3-yard touchdown run a play later on second-and-3.
On South Kitsap’s next possession, a bad snap resulted in a fumble and Kamiak took over on its own 29.
Wilson scored with about two minutes left in the fourth quarter to put the Wolves away.
South Kitsap-Cole 4 run (kick failed)
Kamiak-Wilson 29 run (Carlson kick)
South Kitsap-Chilton 13 pass from Vetters (run failed).
Kamiak-Washington 28 run from Jones (Carlson kick)
South Kitsap-Cole 5 run (Cole run)
Kamiak-Washington 3 run (Carlson kick)
Kamiak-Washington 8 run (Carlson kick)
Kamiak-Wilson 1 run (Carlson kick)
Records: Kamiak 10-1 overall. South Kitsap 8-2.
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Kamiak-Jones 9 run (Carlson kick)
