EVERETT — Almost every successful team has a point in its season where it can say, this is where everything came together.
For the Archbishop Murphy football team, that moment was Sept. 30 when the Wildcats suffered their first Cascade Conference loss in history, 26-22 at the hands of the Lakewood Cougars.
It was a low moment for the Wildcats, but it also proved to be the turning point of a now extremely successful season that culiminates Saturday in the Class 2A state championship against the Lynden Lions. Kickoff is 10 a.m. at the Tacoma Dome.
“We had a lot of the pieces in place at that point, but what Lakewood did, was it forced the coaches to put the right kids in the right positions and run what we are good at,” Archbishop Murphy coach Dave Ward said. “Whether it’s offense or defense, we reevaluated and reflected on who we are as a team and what we are going to do and force teams to stop us.”
What Ward and the rest of his coaching staff did was not complicated. The Wildcats simplified their offensive approach, focusing on attacking opponents with their ground game and then burning them with the pass when teams stacked up to stop their run.
It’s worked, especially in the state football playoffs where the Wildcats have outscored opponents 125-20.
“When I look back over the years, sometimes the more simple we have been, the better we are at it,” Ward said. “The players understand what they are doing and they execute with more speed because they don’t have to think and they don’t have to know as much. They can just go out and play. I find that we are staying simple and we are getting real good at a few schemes and it is paying big dividends right now.”
The players have bought into the approach.
“I give it to the coaches, they have us focused on what we need to get done and how we need to do it,” junior running back Ricky Gordon said. “That’s all we have done. We have just listen to what the coaches have been telling us, we have been executing and then when it comes game time, we are ready.”
The lesson might not have been learned if it wasn’t for the Cougars.
“We had to learn those things at some point,” Ward said. “Either it evolves and the coaching staff recognizes that at some point, or, if we had gone much longer, we might have lost a game to King’s, we might have lost a playoff game.
“We would have been in a different bracket and we would have played W.F. West and maybe we lose in the playoffs. So, to lose when we did was a good thing. To learn from the loss is a good thing. We did all the right things after we lost.”
The season is over for the Cougars, but if the Wildcats win on Saturday, Lakewood will have the distinction of being the only team to beat Archbishop Murphy this season. That’s something Lakewood football coach Dan Teeter seems conflicted about.
“They are obviously an elite team,” Teeter said. “They’ve got a real good chance to win a 2A state championship and if they win, we are the only team that can say we beat them. But it’s kind of bitter sweet because they are still playing and we aren’t.
“Congratulations to them and I respect them tremendously.”
The changes that came after the Lakewood loss weren’t just physical or in the Wildcats’ playbook. The Lakewood loss also provided more emotional stability for Archbishop Murphy.
“I think it just kind of brought the team together,” senior wide receiver Austin Broadwell said. “After that experience we just kind of picked each other up and we just really moved on from there, and I think that is why we are doing pretty well right now.”
Many players and coaches don’t subscribe to the theory that losses can be good things. But in the case of the Wildcats, it is tough to argue gainst it. Lakewood’s Teeter said he can see how the loss could help the Wildcats.
“A lot of people have always said you can learn a lot more from a loss than a win,” Teeter said. “It makes you do a lot of self-analysis.”
Murphy player Austin Broadwell said he thinks that the loss was beneficial for the Wildcats.
“Yeah, I think it was,” Broadwell said. “I think we kind of need that in some sense. I think it just kind of showed that we have to work hard to win. And coming off of last season, where the seniors were really good and we had an undefeated season until the very end, I think that this kind of showed us that we have to work really hard.”
One player that has worked hard and played a bigger role since the loss to Lakewood is Gordon. The player has seen his role increase and has gotten more touches on the offensive end since the Wildcats lone defeat.
“Ricky Gordon was one of the kids that ended up becoming a huge factor down the stretch because when he touches the ball, big things happen,” Ward said.
Gordon said his increased contribution is due to hard work.
“I have been working a lot harder at practices because I know what I want to get done and what the team wants to get done, so I have been doing whatever I could to help out,” Gordon said.
The hard work that Gordon and the rest of his teammates have put in has paid off. The Wildcats have gotten better each week since the Lakewood defeat and if they continue to get better, they could walk out of the Tacoma Dome on Saturday as state champions.
“I think every win we just build and we just get better and become stronger as a team,” Broadwell said. “I think that bond is just really clicking for us.”
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