In the postgame huddle following his team’s surprising loss to Cascade Christian two weeks ago, Tacoma Baptist football coach Mark Smith was caught making a bold prediction.
It was reported by a Tacoma newspaper that Smith went so far as to guarantee that the teams would meet up again in the Class A state playoffs.
Not so fast.
Smith was getting ahead of himself, since the Crusaders hadn’t even locked up a postseason bid. Tacoma Baptist had to get by King’s first and Smith apparently didn’t expect the Knights to put up much of a struggle.
After reading the story, King’s coach Jim Shapiro pasted a few copies in the locker room for his players to see. He got the reaction he was hoping for.
The added motivation paid off, as King’s shocked the Crusaders 15-12 Nov. 9 at Curtis High School to earn the Chinook League’s final playoff berth.
Up next, the Knights face Southwest Washington League champion Kalama at 7 p.m. tonight at Kalama High School. Tacoma Baptist squashed Kalama 37-6 Sept. 27
“Since I’ve been here, this has got to be our biggest win,” Shapiro said. “We’ve had 9-0 seasons and some big wins but all that came when we were the top dog. This is our best underdog win.
“TB didn’t give it to us with turnovers — we beat them.”
The loss brought an end to Tacoma Baptist’s 10-year streak of consecutive state appearances. The Crusaders advanced to the state championship game the past two seasons and had never dropped back-to-back Chinook League games.
Before Cascade Christian and King’s defeated the Crusaders, they had won 12 straight league games and a pair of league titles.
“They had everything to lose and we had nothing to lose,” Shapiro said.
King’s quarterback Chris Faidley hit Hadley Ma for an 11-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter to put the Knights back in front to stay.
In the first quarter, Ma turned an identical play action pass into a 65-yard touchdown reception for a 7-0 King’s lead. The senior wingback finished with three catches for 88 yards and two scores.
Ma also snagged one of his team’s two interceptions, as the Knights (6-3) held Tacoma Baptist (7-2) to 235 total yards.
“Our defense played the best I’ve ever seen. It was a flawless four quarters,” Shapiro said. “We knew we might just get seven to 14 points on the board and we’d need the defense to hold them.”
Outside of a 25-yard gain and 75-yard touchdown run on the opening play of the second half, King’s limited all-league tailback Josh Bousman to 50 yards on his remaining 27 attempts.
With four minutes to go, the Crusaders drove to the King’s 13-yard line but Bousman was tackled a yard short on fourth-and-3.
“We stopped their inside leads and traps,” Shapiro said. “(Bousman) couldn’t turn it upfield against us.”
Faidley completed 12 of his 18 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Charlie Waldburger led the Knights with 76 yards on 13 rushes and Faidley and fullback Cam Jones each had nine carries for a combined 77 yards.
Two years ago, Kalama (8-1) ousted the Knights 20-13 in the first round of the state playoffs. King’s led 13-0 but lost its two primary ball carriers to injuries.
The winner advances to face the winner of Archbishop Murphy/Toledo in the quarterfinals next week.
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