EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated to correct the time of Neah Bay’s game to 1 p.m. The new time was posted on the WIAA’s Class 1B bracket Sunday.
BREMERTON — A power-rushing offense and a fierce pass-rushing defense propelled Neah Bay to a 62-12 victory over Seattle Lutheran in the 1B state quarterfinals at Silverdale Stadium.
With Friday’s win, the school’s 35th consecutive triumph, the powerhouse Red Devils earned their seventh consecutive berth to the state semifinals.
They also surpassed St. John (1958-62) for the second-longest winning streak in state 1B history.
Now comes another matchup with Lummi in the semifinals, the two teams fourth consecutive post-Thanksgiving meeting in the Tacoma Dome and sixth in the past seven seasons.
That game is set for 1 p.m. Friday.
Neah Bay (10-0) opened the quarterfinal game by exploiting a weakness in the Saints’ defense: the middle of the field.
Lined up in a tight I-formation, Red Devils running back Cole Svec thundered 51 yards up the middle for a TD on the first play from scrimmage.
“We saw some things on film that we thought we could take advantage of, and we did right there off the bat,” Neah Bay coach Tony McCaulley said.
“They were real committed to containing the edge and it left some matchups in the middle.
“Not a lot of 8-man teams like to use the middle of the field, but if you give us the middle we will go after it. It’s just more space for us to use.”
Seattle Lutheran (8-3) moved the ball from near midfield to the Neah Bay 30 on its opening drive, but the Red Devils’ pass rush, led by defensive end Kenrick Doherty Jr., forced quick and errant throws on third and fourth down.
“The pass rush was there tonight and it made it tough on that QB to throw it,” McCaulley said. “We stopped the run really well and made it tough for them to move the ball.”
Doherty was in the Seattle Lutheran backfield all game, recording three sacks, five QB hurries, 10 tackles and a pass deflection.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Doherty said of how he was able to apply pressure.
“I just ran past them.
“And really just playing one play at a time because it builds up and wears them out mentally.”
Tommy Tyler led the team with 12 tackles, Michael McGee added 11 and Roland Gagnon had 10.
Doherty said McCaulley motivated his team with the idea that the Saints were treating the game like their state championship.
“Tony told us we couldn’t take them lightly — because even after the game their coach said they had been looking forward to this game all year,” Doherty said.
“And that’s what he said this week, they were going to come out hungry, but so did we.”
Svec was the workhorse on Neah Bay’s next possession, carrying the ball for 48 yards on five runs, and finishing off the drive with a punishing 13-yard TD run through two Saints defenders at the goal line.
Svec ran 11 times for 158 yards and four TDs, all in the first half, on the night.
“Cole ran real hard tonight, finished his runs out and did it a little different than normal,” McCaulley said.
After setting the Seattle Lutheran defense up with a healthy dose of Svec, the Red Devils countered with a 48-yard fullback dive to Phillip Greene.
“That one was all upstairs,” McCaulley said, referring to Eric Johnson Jr., who was watching the game from the press box.
“He saw how they were flowing to stop Svec and leaving that middle open.”
Greene rumbled to the Saints’ 11-yard line, and was rewarded for his long gain one play later by plowing in from 1 yard out for an 18-0 Neah Bay lead.
Rwehabura Munyagi Jr. found Cameron Buzzell for the first of his three TD passes, a 24-yard corner route, to put the Red Devils up 24-0.
Munyagi finished 7 of 11 for 133 yards. Buzzell caught four passes for 74 yards and two TDs.
Seattle Lutheran answered when a Isaiah Dowding-Albrecht pass slipped through the hands of Svec and into the arms of J.J. Young for a 33-yard TD.
But Neah Bay buried the Saints with a 30-0 second quarter.
Svec scored on runs of 8 and 27 yards, the latter featuring a shifty juke past a Seattle Lutheran defender.
“You get him one-on-one with a linebacker and I’m betting he wins every time,” McCaulley said.
After an interception and 25-yard return by Gagnon, Munyagi found Doherty all alone for a 28-yard TD pass.
That score put the Red Devils up 48-6, triggering the running clock with 8:34 seconds to go until halftime.
“Tony always says running is our first priority, and it should be and every team knows that,” Doherty said.
“So we hit them with the run, run, run and then we can hit Cameron with a deep one, or they least expect me because they never send me on routes.
“Tony knows Cameron and I have hands. Cameron is the big-play guy and I’m the short-play guy.”
Munyagi added a nifty play defensively in the second half, intercepting a Dowding-Albrecht pass, finding an extra burst of speed and motoring 60 yards for the pick-six.
McCaulley appreciated what he saw from his team, which was dealt a rough hand by stormy weather earlier in the week.
“We had a real rough week of practice, rained hard on Monday, lights went out on Tuesday, so really Wednesday was our only day to get out there,” McCaulley said.
“We played pretty good. They have some athletes on their team, one of the best kickoff returners in the state. And they got some yards, but we had too much for them to stop.”
________
Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
