Eagles beat Woodinville 28-21, state playoffs next
November 3, 2009
By Bob Taylor
The Issaquah High School football team, which dodged a bullet Oct. 30, aims for its main target for this season: the 4A state tournament.
Issaquah, 6-3, plays Kentwood, 7-2, at 7 p.m. Nov. 6 at Kent’s French Field. It will be rematch of last season’s first-round clash won by Issaquah 31-28.
“We had a 31-14 lead going into the fourth quarter and they (Kentwood) came back to make it interesting,” Issaquah coach Chris Bennett said. “Kentwood is a good team with some good athletes and some good running backs. We will need to be solid against the run when we play them.”
Issaquah had star running back Grant Gellatly the last time it played Kentwood. He rushed for 313 yards against the Conquerors. This time the Eagles might not have Gellatly, who has been out most of the season because of a hamstring injury.
The Eagles, who finished second to Skyline in the 4A KingCo Conference Crest Division standings this season, earned their preliminary round berth Oct. 30 with a 28-21 playoff victory against Woodinville at Bothell’s Pop Keeney Stadium.
Issaquah built up a commanding 28-7 lead and then held off Woodinville down the stretch to win the contest. In the fourth quarter, Woodinville scored on a drive and then recovered an onside kick. The Falcons took advantage of the miscue when quarterback Brett Arrivey connected with Ryland Longoni on a 31-yard touchdown pass.
“We had played well and I really felt we controlled the game until they came back within 30 seconds to make it close. We were able to run off some clock though on our next series and that helped,” Bennett said.
Until the fourth quarter, it had been a Ryan Bergman to Evan Peterson show. Bergman, Issaquah’s senior quarterback, had connected with Peterson, a junior wide receiver, on three touchdown passes.
The Eagles opened their scoring in the second quarter when Bergman hit Mitchell Blair on a 33-yard touchdown pass. After Woodinville tied the score following a 29-yard run by Alec Schwend, the Eagles came back to lead 14-7 at halftime when Bergman and Peterson connected on 9-yard touchdown pass.
In the third quarter, Bergman and Peterson hit scoring passes of 65 and 24 yards as the Eagles stretched their lead.
Bergman finished the game, hitting 15 of 28 passes for 268 yards. Peterson caught eight passes for 171 yards. He has caught 71 passes this season, tying the school single-season mark. Peterson has also caught 17 touchdown passes.
“Ryan and Evan have had phenomenal seasons,” Bennett said. “With Grant dinged up this season, we have had to look to other ways to score. We’ve had some guys really step up for us.”
One of the players who has provided Issaquah with a consistent rushing effort is junior Taylor Wyman, who had 94 yards on 22 carries against Woodinville.
Defensively, the Eagles had solid efforts from Nik Landdeck, Greg Finch and Wyman. Landdeck had 11 tackles.
“I’m proud of the way they hung in there and overcame some adversity in the fourth quarter,” Bennett said. “It was a good win.”
Bob Taylor: 392-6434, ext. 236, or bobtaylor@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.
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