TACOMA — Over and out.
Neah Bay’s shot at a third-consecutive state championship fell short in a 26-20 Class 1B state semifinal loss to rival Lummi in the Tacoma Dome on Friday.
The defeat bounced the Red Devils (10-1) from the playoffs and shattered two streaks: a 35-game stretch of victories dating back to their 2012 state title game loss to Liberty Christian, and nine consecutive victories against the Blackhawks dating back to the 2011 season.
In practices leading up to the semifinal matchup Neah Bay football coach Tony McCaulley implored his team to not overlook Lummi (10-2).
His team had beaten a shorthanded Blackhawks squad 62-12 in mid-October and McCaulley was worried about a letdown.
“I’ve been telling the kids all week it’s going to be a game,” McCaulley said postgame.
His suspicions were spot-on.
Lummi used the Red Devils’ speed and aggressiveness as a weapon early, drawing would-be Neah Bay tacklers in and throwing against the flow of play for two first-quarter touchdowns.
Both scores came on fourth down plays.
First, Blackhawks’ running back Hank Hoskins took a snap and rushed right, drawing the Red Devils in for a tackle.
But Hoskins had other plans; he lofted a pass across the field to a wide-open Free Borsey for a 36-yard TD.
Later in the first quarter, Trazil Lane motioned right, and caught a backward pass from Lummi quarterback Jonathan Casimir.
The pass sucked in Neah Bay defenders and left Borsey all alone. Lane hit him in stride for a 29-yard TD pass and a 12-0 halftime lead.
“They beat us on some stuff that we shouldn’t have allowed,” McCaulley said.
“But I think the biggest thing is they outcoached us and outplayed us.
“I think maybe we came in a little overconfident.”
Despite good field position, the Red Devils were unable to get untracked offensively in the first half.
Three drives ended on turnover on downs, one inside the Lummi red zone, and Neah Bay lost two fumbles.
“We just didn’t come out prepared,” Rwehabura Munyagi Jr. said.
“We took them too lightly in the beginning. And we just made too many mistakes and didn’t do our jobs on defense.
“And we couldn’t run the ball at all. They keyed on Cole [Svec] a lot and we couldn’t get it past them.”
More trouble moving the football came after halftime when Munyagi was intercepted to end one series, and another drive ended just shy of the red zone.
The Blackhawks’ lead grew after a 33-yard TD pass from Casimir to Lane made it 18-0 after three quarters.
But Neah Bay wouldn’t roll over.
Munyagi found Kenrick Doherty Jr. all alone for a 39-yard TD pass on the first play of the final quarter.
“And then we finally got something going and took advantage of the keys they were showing and tricked them a little bit,” McCaulley said.
The Red Devils forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Lummi possession and Hank Hoskins fumbled the punt snap, gifting the ball back to Neah Bay at the Blackhawks’ 40-yard line.
Calamity befell the Red Devils on the next play.
A botched handoff between Munyagi and Svec resulted in a turnover.
A play later, Lane caught an inside shovel pass from Casimir and bounced outside for a 57-yard TD.
Still, Neah Bay was not finished.
Munyagi launched a deep ball to an on-running Cameron Buzzell for a 60-yard TD on the next play from scrimmage.
But Svec was knocked out of the game with a neck stinger on the 2-point conversion attempt, ending the day for the reigning Class 1B Associated Press State Player of the Year.
He finished with 20 carries for 89 yards.
After a defensive stop, Neah Bay marched 95 yards in 22 plays, converting on three fourth-down attempts, including a 5-yard QB draw by Munyagi for a score to pull within 26-20 with 1:48 to play.
Buzzell said he and Munyagi tried to rally the team.
“I think Rweha and I were the ones who talked to everybody, to try to push everybody forward even though we didn’t have Cole, we didn’t have Anthony [Bitegeko], we didn’t have Isaiah [Knaus],” Buzzell said.
“We just had to keep on pushing. We were still in it.”
Bitegeko and Knaus also were lost for the game to injuries.
But Neah Bay’s onside kick attempt was short of the required 10 yards, and Lummi fell on the ball and ran out the clock on the Red Devils’ season.
“We just beat ourselves,” Buzzell said.
“I can’t express that enough. We should have been in that game a lot quicker than the last minutes of the fourth quarter.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
