SILVERDALE – It looks like this whole Class 2A thing is going to take for the Archbishop Murphy football team.
The Wildcats, whose body of work includes 2002 and 2003 Class 1A state titles, continued to prove they can handle the jump to 2A with a resounding 41-8 dismantling of Port Townsend Saturday for Archbishop Murphy’s first-ever Class 2A state playoff victory.
The second-ranked Wildcats (12-0 overall), who pushed their winning streak to 38 games at Silverdale Stadium, will meet No. 3 La Center (11-0) in a game that will likely be played 1 p.m. Saturday at Everett Memorial Stadium. Though they struggled early with penalties, the Wildcats dominated every phase of the game, including 442 yards on the ground.
“I’m sure some people are surprised with us this year,” said senior running back Craig Duncan, who rushed for 128 yards and a pair of TDs on 13 carries. “We’re just trying to get ‘us’ better.”
The No. 5 Redskins, who may have added a few gray hairs to Archbishop Murphy coach Terry Ennis’ collection during the week, finished their season with a 9-2 record. Highly-regarded running backs Sloan Gutierrez (57 yards) and Keith Johnson (38) had their moments, but never got the offense in a groove until Johnson scored to avert a shutout with 2:43 remaining in the game.
“We came over here really respecting their offense and their two (running) backs,” said Ennis, whose team did not punt on Saturday. “We really told our kids we were going to have to tackle well. Those backs were everything we thought they would be, and our kids really did a great job tackling.”
Stan Smith led the Wildcats with 142 yards on 13 carries, including an 84-yard TD run on the first play of the second quarter that pushed Murphy’s lead to 34-0. Shiloh Keo contributed 11 carries for 98 yards. Quarterback Kyle Wilkins added 74 yards on the ground, including TD runs of 17 and 26 yards. He also intercepted two passes while playing safety on defense.
The Wildcats scored on their first possession despite an un-Ennis-like comedy of errors. The drive started at the Redskins’ 30 after Jason Petterson recovered a Port Townsend fumble.
Three plays gained 3 yards, and Archbishop Murphy committed three penalties. Two of them were accepted, giving the Wildcats fourth-and-15 at the 35. Wilkins hit Keo in stride for a 31-yard gain and Smith finished off the drive with a 4-yard TD plow at the 8:50 mark of the first quarter.
After a penalty wiped out his first extra point attempt, Ben Fritsch made it 7-0 with his first of five conversion kicks.
Yet another penalty took away a portion of what started out as Keo’s 42-yard TD run. On the next play, however, Duncan hurdled a defender on his way to a 37-yard TD run and a 14-0 lead with 6:24 remaining in the first quarter.
Brilliant fakes by Wilkins and Smith resulted in a 21-0 lead. Wilkins faked a handoff to Smith, who was tackled hard by the Redskins. Wilkins hesitated for a moment before curving through the baffled Port Townsend defense.
The Wildcats took a 28-0 halftime lead with 12-play, 98-yard drive that consumed six minutes, four seconds of clock time. The drive, which was pushed back to the 1 after a penalty, came after a goal-line stand by the Wildcats’ defense.
Duncan, who was one of four Wildcats to carry the ball two or more times during the drive, scored on a 3-yard TD run.
“Any time we have something like that, it’s really important,” Duncan said of the goal-line stuff and ensuing drive. “It gets everyone excited and gives everyone a challenge.”
At Silverdale
Port Townsend0008-8
Archbishop Murphy21767-41
Archbishop Murphy-Smith 4 run (Fritsch kick)
Archbishop Murphy-Duncan 37 run (Fritsch kick)
Archbishop Murphy-Wilkins 17 run (Fritsch kick)
Archbishop Murphy-Duncan 3 run (Fritsch kick)
Archbishop Murphy-Smith 84 run (kick failed)
Archbishop Murphy-Wilkins 26 run (Fritsch kick)
Port Townsend-Johnson 3 run (Gutierrez run)
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