Skyline football falls to Bothell in KingCo 4A championship
October 29, 2009
By Christopher Huber
Skyline linebacker Anthony DeMatteo, 51, and defensive lineman Jase Butorac, right, tackle Bothell's Luke Proulx in the second quarter Oct. 29.
One pivotal play in the fourth quarter determined who got KingCo 4A bragging rights through the playoffs Oct. 29 at Pop Keeney Stadium in Bothell.
It happened on one Jake Heaps mishap on a promising drive as Skyline looked to put the game out of reach for Bothell.
Up 20-19 in the fourth quarter, the Spartans had driven to the Cougar 28-yard line after Kasen Williams had stopped a threatening Bothell drive with an interception.
Heaps seemed poised and ready to strike as usual with a finessed toss to a receiver in the corner of the end zone. But he fumbled the snap on first down, with 6 minutes, 24 seconds remaining.
Bothell recovered. The home crowd went berserk.
The Cougars had a new sense of hope that they could overcome the nationally ranked Spartans. Over the next five minutes, Bothell executed a 72-yard scoring drive that running back Luke Proulx capped off with a 5-yard touchdown run. Bothell went up 25-20 with 1:04 left.
Skyline got the ball at its own 35, but a penalty and tight Bothell defense hampered forward progress. Three Cougars knocked down Heaps’ last-ditch pass on fourth-and-24.
“Luckily we had some guys back there,” said Bothell head coach Tom Bainter. “Luckily it was a fourth-and-24 play. We were fortunate.”
Bothell is the 2009 KingCo 4A champion, after beating Skyline 25-20.
“You could say we had turnovers, you could say whatever it was, but it came down to my mistake at the end. I take full responsibility for what happened today. There’s really no excuse for that,” Heaps said about his miscue in the fourth quarter. “But we had that game, we had that moment. And until I had that mistake, looked like we were going to win that ball game.”
The game was a classic match-up of to perennial football powerhouses. The decision came down to the team that made the most mistakes. There were plenty on both sides of the ball. Both teams missed opportunities in the red zone due to turnovers — there were a total of eight.
Skyline’s Evan Zeger intercepted a pass from Bothell quarterback Mitchell Muller on the second play of the game, but the Spartans went three-and-out on the next possession.
The initial stinger for Skyline came on a 70-yard Muller-to-Proulx touchdown pass less than four minutes into the game.
Bothell got out to a13-0 lead after capitalizing on one of two Skyline fumbles in the first quarter. It recovered the first fumble of the game with 2:24 left in the first quarter at the Skyline 19. Muller and company drove 81 yards and scored on a 16-yard pass to Michael Hartvigson.
Skyline held Bothell’s Proulx, the league’s leading rusher, to just 55 yards on 25 carries.
“We knew that they were going to be a physical force to run against and they were,” Bainter said.
The Spartans kept the score close, 13-7, for the halftime break after scoring on a 10-yard Heaps-to-Kasen Williams pass in the second. Williams finished with six catches for 106 yards and also had two interceptions. Proulx threw three interceptions against Skyline, matching his previous total for the season.
Skyline took a 14-13 lead in the third quarter when Heaps fired a 22-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cooper Pelleur.
Muller connected with wide receiver John Sullivan for a 47-yard touchdown pass to lead 19-14. The 2-point conversion failed. Pelleur also caught Skyline’s go-ahead touchdown pass for 11 yards in the fourth.
Muller finished 13 of 26 for 192 yards passing. Heaps completed 19 of 35 for 233 yards and three touchdowns. Skyline running back Nick Washburn ran for 94 yards on 11 carries. Skyline out-gained Bothell’s offense 354 yards to 281 yards, but its mistakes proved too costly.
“We’re gonna fix things and go back to the drawing board,” said Skyline head coach Mat Taylor. “We’ve gotta get some things figured out.”
Skyline will play the No. 3 team from the South Puget Sound League North in the 4A state qualifying round next week.
“I think we’re just going to be more intense during practice — more than we ever have,” Heaps said. “We’ve kind of taken things for granted.”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.
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No accuess for Skyline. Bothell had just as many turnovers as Skyline did with 4 each. Bothell just had more heart.
[...] and Bothell. Bothell won 25-20, upsetting the 2008 Washington state champion Skyline team. Read the full story in The Sammamish Review newspaper. #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; [...]
[...] had 462 total yards of offense. Here’s the link to the Sammammish Review story. This is a link to Skyline’s 25-20 loss to Bothell in the KingCo championship game two weeks [...]