Murphy marches on

TACOMA — The image may have changed, but the victories keep coming.

A year ago, it was, "Oh, Archbishop Murphy has a football team? Isn’t that nice?"

This year, the general consensus was that "Michael Jackson" and "normal" were more likely to be paired in a game of word association than "Archbishop Murphy" and "losers."

With the weight of expectations doing nothing to slow them down, the Wildcats ran all over Cascade Christian, 27-6, in a Class A state semifinal game Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome.

Archbishop Murphy, defending state champion and winner of 25 straight, will play Zillah for the title, 1 p.m. Saturday at the Tacoma Dome, in a battle of unbeatens.

"Everyone’s had us No. 1 all year," said sophomore running back Stan Smith, who rushed for 57 yards and two touchdowns to help the Wildcats beat Cascade Christian for the fourth time in two seasons. "Instead of having numbers, we might as well have had bull’s-eyes on our jerseys."

Fullback Jevon Butler, wearer of the largest bull’s-eye, rushed for 199 yards on 25 carries despite breaking a finger during the game. With the one-game-at-a-time approach firmly driven into their minds by head coach Terry Ennis, the Wildcats put themselves in position to meet expectations behind a suffocating defense and a running attack that churned out 299 yards on 53 rushing attempts.

A year after winning a state title in only its second year of varsity competition, Archbishop Murphy (13-0) could wrap up a perfect season on Saturday against Zillah. Ennis said there is a "world of difference" between this year and last.

"I don’t think our kids are really getting credit for what they do each week," said Ennis, whose team beat Cascade Christian 42-12 in the semifinals last season. " (They) are just high school kids trying to get better each week. Somehow someone has kind of labeled us that we are supposed to win all of the time. That’s pretty tough for those kids."

There was, of course, more for the Wildcats to battle than great expectations.

The Cougars (11-2), who had beaten 11 opponents by an average score of 48-9, managed only 118 total yards on Saturday. The six points was 16 less than Cascade Christian’s previous season low in the Wildcats’ 41-22 victory on Sept. 27. The Cougars scored more than 40 points 10 times this season, but struggled to get anything through Archbishop Murphy’s defensive line.

"Teamwork — that’s what it was," said Doug VanderWel, a hybrid linebacker-defensive end who registered two sacks and several big hits.

The Cougars averted a shutout when Brian Dahl scored on a 1-yard plunge with 2:55 remaining in the game. Cascade Christian gained 59 of their yards during the 14-play TD drive that consumed 6 minutes, 34 seconds worth of chances at a comeback.

The Cougars showed flashes of defense, but Archbishop Murphy converted several key third- and fourth-down situations in the first half.

Butler’s 15-yard gain on third-and-6 and Kyle Wilkins’ 26-yard pass to Ian Telge on third-and-7 kept the Wildcat’s first TD drive alive.

Butler capped the 86-yard drive with a 5-yard TD plow up the middle with 4:01 remaining in the first quarter.

Ennis took a calculated risk early in the second quarter, and the Wildcats eventually made it pay off with their second TD.

Archbishop Murphy lined up to punt facing fourth-and-6 at its own 31. Cascade Christian was penalized for putting 12 men on the field, placing the Wildcats a few inches away from the first down marker.

Butler, who began the drive by nearly breaking a 98-yard run, bulled ahead for three yards for the first down. Two plays later, he set up Smith’s 8-yard TD run with a 45-yard jaunt down the right side.

The Wildcats nearly added a third first-half score after Wes Taylor’s interception and 19-yard return to the Cascade Christian 30, but the Wildcats ran out of time.

Archbishop Murphy’s two first-half TD drives took 11 minutes, 5 seconds of the 24-minute first half. Butler finished the half with 126 yards on 14 carries. The Cougars managed only 68 yards in the half.

Smith’s 1-yard run to finish a 40-yard drive gave the Wildcats a 21-0 lead with 10:48 remaining. After Archbishop Murphy stopped the Cougars on fourth-and-18 from their own 10, VanderWel’s 10-yard TD run pushed the Wildcats’ advantage to 27-0.

At the Tacoma Dome