Naselle player posts - Quarterfinal Round

Naselle, Made School History, Looking For More! 

Saturday at Tumwater High, we were giving our second chance at revenge. In the first round we avenged an earlier loss to the the Seattle Lutheran Saints, beating them 34-7. This time the stakes were higher and the revenge sweeter.
Upon hearing that we were to play Valley this week, we were all excited. We KNEW we could win. The first time we met was only our second game as a full unit and we played like it. Five turnovers and a lackadaisical first half led to a 21-6 loss to the eventual Pacific League Champs, but we never lost confidence mostly because the second half was a different story defensively. 33 yards of offense was all they could muster in the third and fourth stanzas. Riding on that defensive confidence, we made our inspirational and crazy run to the playoffs. We beat Northwest Christian in overtime, held off North Beach 37-35, and came back to score two touchdowns in the final 6 minutes against South Bend winning 21-20. Now we are clicking, playing as one unit, and are confident in ourselves. In preparation, we studied a Valley playbook made by Coach Scrabeck and had film nights. We knew we could win, but we also knew we needed to be prepared. Coach Glick changed our base "D" a little and we added several new plays to our repertoire. We were ready to VANQUISH THE VIKINGS!
We won the toss and elected to receive to start Saturday's contest. Valley stalled our drive and we were forced to punt. On the ensuing drive, Valley ran their way to the end zone, picking up a lot of yardage on a reverse play. There were only two drives in the first quarter which felt to me like the faster quarter ever. But we were not discouraged; we bounced right back and tied it up 6-6. After a defensive stop, we scored again and took a 13-6 lead after Caleb Corona's kick to halftime. The first half went by so quick it felt like one quarter, it felt weird to listen to Coach Eaton talk because it felt like we had just received the ball to start the game. But it was awesome to be ahead and hear coach say, "This is probably the first time they have been down at half". However we knew that Valley wasn't ranked 4th because they let down; they were going to keep on coming. Since they were only down one TD, coach explained how they wouldn't abandon their running game and how we needed to tighten up every aspect of the game.
Valley received one of Leonel Mendoza's booming kicks and brought it out to around the 35. Just like in the first period, they methodically made their way down the field. After they scored they attempted a two-point conversion. This was one crazy play. Friese (Valley's QB) rolled out and escaped pressure from three defenders until finally passing right over my outstretched hands, over a ducking referee and finally into a Viking receiver running a crossing route. The successful conversion meant we were once again trailing. But that only fired us up. After two runs by Tony Fletcher, we ran the veer option. The linebackers had to honor the dive and the outsides froze on the fake. Austin pulled and pitched to Nick Hines who found a cutback lane and ran 53 yards to pay dirt. We never trailed again. A two point conversion and a touchdown later, we led 28-14. The game however was not over, and we like to test the hearts of all our fans.
With around 11 minutes left in the game, Austin Burkhalter intercepted a Friese pass (1 of 2) and ran it back to their 20 yard line. The tough Valley defense keep us from a first down and we were forced to punt. The ball never reached Michael Shirley's hand as Gabe See's snap went high and long, sailing out of the end zone and resulting in a safety. The craziness was just beginning. On the kickoff, Burkhalter stripped the pigskin from the returner and we maintained possession near the 40. We ran only a couple minutes off the clock though and were forced to punt once again. This time the snap was good, but the protection sucked. Vikings swarmed Shirley. He miraculously got it off, but it not so miraculously went for -4 yards. With a short field, Valley scored quickly. 28-24. Louma's onside kick fell into Burkhalter's hands, we finally managed a first down, and ran out the clock. WE ARE GOING TO THE DOME!
This is the first time in school history that a Naselle team has made it to the semis. The furthest a team had gone before was the quarters which several teams accomplished including last year's Comets. But this is new turf (literally and figuratively) and we don't feel like stopping here. This Friday we play Napavine, who defeated Adna 41-35 in the quarterfinals, in the controlled conditions of the Tacoma Dome. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 pm. It comes down to this Central, Pacific league match up to decide the West side champ, and we want it! GO COMETS!

NHS LB FB
Alan Erickson

Feel free to leave any comments about the game and our season.

Comets headed to the T-dome!

The last time the Naselle Comets beat the Valley Vikings I was two years old. Now fifteen years later we finally were able to win again. This win put us into the semi final game at the Tacoma Dome next Friday at 4pm.
Hope to see you there.

Austin Burkhalter, QB (a man of few words)

The team would like to thank Mr. Heimbigner and Damian for the great coverage of all our games.