WALLA WALLA — The Neah Bay Red Devils played No. 1 seed DeSales tough in the state football quarterfinals, but DeSales finished the game on a 22-0 run to pull away in the fourth quarter for a 58-24 win.
The loss ends Neah Bay’s season with a record of 8-3.
Coach TJ Greene said that one of the top starters on the team, Caleb Cummins, went out with an injury in the second half and DeSales took advantage during that 22-0 stretch.
“That opened it up for DeSales,” Greene said. “You can’t control Injuries. Give credit to our seniors. They battled all the way to the end. They had no die in them.”
DeSales, a private Catholic school in Walla Walla, came in to the game 10-0, ranked No. 2 in the state in Ratings Percentage Index and was seeded No. 1 in the state playoffs. The Red Devils were seeded No. 9 and earned the right to play DeSales by beating No. 8 Garfield-Palouse 60-54 last week in Colfax.
After making a 457-mile trip to play Garfield-Palouse near the Idaho border, the Red Devils made a 459-mile trek to Walla Walla near the Oregon boarder to play the Fighting Irish. That’s a combined 1,832 miles of travel in seven days for the Red Devils.
DeSales got off to a fast start, building up a lead of 18-0 in the first half. However, near the end of the second quarter, Cummins recovered a fumble and ran it back 62 yards to make it 18-8 at the half.
After a Neah Bay touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, the Red Devils remained within striking distance at 36-24 with 11 minutes left to play. DeSales scored three touchdowns in a span of four minutes, getting one score on defense on a pick six, to salt the game away.
The Red Devils don’t play a lot of passing teams at the 1B level and DeSales had a great passing game. Fighting Irish quarterback Cohen Wood finished with 359 yards passing and five touchdowns.
It was the third straight year that the Red Devils made it to at least the state quarterfinals. They made it the quarterfinals in 2024, the semifinals in 2023 and the championship game in 2022.
Neah Bay graduates seniors Kane Greene, Tyler Swan, LeAnthony Jimmicum, Elijha Malinowski and others.
Greene said the Red Devils do return Cummins, who really came into his own this season, and speedster Jontae Akin, whom he said is one of the fastest football players in the state. Center Robert Arnold and tight end Eugene Ray are also coming back.
The Red Devils also have a big group of sophomores and a huge group of eighth-graders, who played in a youth football league this season, joining the team next year.
