WCK advances to title game

MOSES LAKE--We can speak of it now in real terms without fear of jinxing; only one game remains now for No. 2 Wilbur-Creston-Keller. With their explosive 66-22 win over No. 3 Mossyrock in a State 1B Playoff Semifinal last Saturday, Nov. 25, the Wildcats lifted their season record to 11-0.

They have earned the right to play for the State 1B Championship at 11 a.m. Friday against No. 1 Liberty Bell at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium.

Before we take a deep dive into WCK's biggest win yet, we must take one step back and inform readers that the WIAA's Athlete of the Week for the sport of football in Week #No. 11, encompassing WCK's 98-44 State Quarterfinal win against Naselle, was (of course) Wildcat Kalub Dreger.

Quoting the WIAA's official announcement: "Wilbur-Creston-Keller senior running back Kalub Dreger helped lead the Wildcats to a 98-44 Quarterfinal victory over Naselle in Moses Lake. The senior speedster rushed for 396 yards on 18 carries, scoring six touchdowns. He had scoring runs of 88, 75, 55, 45, 38, and 4 yards. Defensively, he recorded two solo tackles and three assists."

Mossyrock was fully committed to stopping Dreger after viewing his exploits against Naselle on video. But opponents have learned they can't stop No. 5, they can only hope to contain him. Perhaps the Vikings should be congratulated for "holding" Dreger to 110 rushing yards on 14 carries (including two touchdowns). But the problem in battling a "3-Headed Monster" is that once you've dealt with one threat, two heads remain.

With so much defensive attention focused out on the edges, the middle of the field opened up for Preston Michel, who was (finally) the leading ground-gainer for WCK with 132 rushing yards on 22 tough carries (including 3 touchdowns). Then there was Kallen Maioho, who ran more times than usual as he was denied his prime pitchout target. Maioho added 53 rushing yards on 9 carries, but his most effective running often came with the passing game.

Mossyrock might have felt that their size on the line would help contain WCK's quarterback in the pocket, but #4 kept rolling out away from pressure, then threw strikes downfield on 8 of 9 passing attempts for 4 touchdowns to three different receivers. In fact, Maioho's lone interception of the afternoon came on a 50-50 ball near the goal line that was worth the gamble. (Kallen would get that turnover back with a pick of his own later in the game.)

Dreger added some all-purpose yardage to his total with two receptions for 97 yards (both for touchdowns). Michel was open four times for catches totaling 77 yards, including one reception where he was so wide open that Preston had time to try to hand the ball off to Treven Houston so he could score the touchdown. Syrius Smoger got to show off his tight end hands with two receptions for 59 yards including yet another T.D..

Mossyrock's big guys couldn't match WCK's speed; at times it seemed like the Vikings were playing Whack-a-Mole with heavy clubs in a prairie dog town. Needless to say, they seldom connected. And the Viking's big running back, Marshal Brockway (at 5'9" and 245 lbs) averaged barely two yards per carry against a Wildcat Defense that was "on point" all day long. In fact, the vaunted Mossyrock running attack was reduced to just 41 rushing yards, and their passing game added just 103 yards total. In contrast, WCK rang up 318 rushing yards and 233 passing yards for 551 total yards of offense.

This is how it all happened. The Wildcats were back in Moses Lake at Lion's Field, where they had triumphed over Naselle in the State Quarterfinal a week earlier. "Back in Black" by AC-DC was one of the pregame songs blaring over the speakers as the teams warned up. And the 'Cats were back in their "black shirts" (jerseys, more correctly), signifying, among other things, defensive supremacy. Mossyrock would have the ball for only four plays against the Wildcat Defense in its opening possession, sandwiched between two scoring drives of eight plays apiece by WCK

WCK had the ball first last Saturday, with the usual offensive result. After covering the expected onside kick, the Wildcats drove a 50-yard field in eight plays, mixing inside runs off tackle by Kalub Dreger and Preston Michel. Only two pitches went outside to Dreger during the series, one for 11 yards on 4th-and-2, then for the opening touchdown of 4 yards. Kalub took another pitchout from Kallen Maioho for the successful conversion run and an 8-0 lead.

Viking workhorse Marshall Brockway gained just a single yard in his first carry against a Wildcat defense perhaps feeling a bit disrespected as some had predicted that WCK would be vanquished by Mossyrock, the highest ranked team from the west side of the state. After Viking quarterback Easton Kolb was gang-tackled for no gain on 4th-and-2, the Wildcats took the ball over on downs at the 40-yard line.

That was way too short a field to leave for the Wildcat Offense. Even though Michel and Dreger shared the longest gains of the 8-play drive at just 7 yards apiece, Preston still scored with a 1-yard plunge. Although Michel was stopped short on the extra point attempt, WCK was up 14-0 with only 2:11 left in the first quarter. When Mossyrock finally got the ball back, a disputed interference call after close coverage by Michel in the secondary was fortunately nullified by a flag for illegal motion. Adam Oates made his displeasure known with a sack of Kolb for a 4-yard loss on the next play. Tight coverage by Dreger led to an incompletion on 3rd-and-long, then the discombobulated Vikings drew a delay of game penalty. Kolb scrambled for less than half of the yards needed on 4th-and-18, so the Wildcats took the ball over again at their own 40-yard line.

After Maioho was surrounded for a 5-yard loss on first down, he broke out WCK's passing game, which the Vikings hadn't seen at all on the Naselle video. Kallen rolled out and threw a strike to Michel for 15 yards and a first down at mid-field. Three plays later, instead of pitching the ball to Dreger, Maioho threw beyond the line of scrimmage to a wide-open #5 for a 48-yard touchdown. A false start penalty doomed WCK's conversion attempt, but a rare interception of Maioho by Brockway did no damage as the play was dead as soon as it happened. And the Wildcats now held a 20-0 advantage.

Mossyrock finally answered on their third possession, aided by what WCK coaches felt was a blind side block that took Maioho off his feet while Zachary Munoz (who took over at quarterback after Kolb apparently suffered a lower leg injury that hampered him the rest of the day) completed a screen pass to Peyton McClure for a 48-yard touchdown. On the conversion attempt, Munoz rolled away from pressure and hit Hunter Isom with a short pass for two points, making the score 20-8.

The Vikings gained an extra possession when a Maioho pass that sailed high toward Syrius Smoger near the goal line was picked off by Brockway at the 6-yard line. Yet the big running back could gain only 4 yards on his next two carries and the Norsemen had to punt out of the end zone after another delay of game penalty. WCK didn't bother to drop a returner back for the punt and took over at the 48-yard line. After two runs by Michel, Maioho made no mistake with his next throw, a screen pass to Smoger that Syrius ran with 41 yards with for the next touchdown. Gavin DeBord snuck inside for a successful conversion run to get on the score sheet and put WCK up 28-8.

That was the opening salvo in a period of just 3:10 when the Wildcats basically iced the game with three touchdowns while allowing only one to the opponents. Dustin Strozyk worked his magic with a high-bouncing onside kick that was fumbled by the Vikings and recovered by an unknown Wildcat at the 49-yard line. On the very next play, Maioho found Dreger running free in the secondary again on a crossing pattern and hit him with a scoring pass of 49 yards just 14 seconds after Smoger's score. Speaking of whom, Syrius added 2 extra points with some misdirection on the conversion run for a 36-8 lead.

WCK began thinking in terms of a running clock, but Mossyrock delayed that plan with a 49-yard scoring drive. The Vikings were aided by a facemask penalty added to a pass from Kolb (who had returned to his Q.B. position) to Isom that took the ball from the 42-yard line all the way to the 14-yard line. Still, they had barely enough to score as Kolb reached across the goal line on 4th-and-inches for the T.D. The aroused Wildcat Defense threw Brockway for a loss on the conversion attempt, leaving the score at 36-14 with 1:01 left in the first half.

That was just enough time for the 'Cats to score again on a 60-yard drive. Maioho passed to Michel for 20 yards, then spiked the ball to save a time out. Kallen didn't pass on the next play, taking advantage of a seam to run 24 yards. Head Coach Darin Reppe pulled out a winner during the ensuing time out, as Maioho tossed a screen pass to Michel, who was so wide open he tried to hand the ball off to his escort, Treven Houston, for the touchdown. But Preston had already stepped across the goal line for 6 more points and ran the ball himself for another successful conversion with a direct snap in the Wildcat formation. Just 13 seconds remained in the half, only enough time for a quick return of the ensuing kickoff and a short pass from Kolb to Munoz before the horn sounded.

WCK was up 44-14 and within two scores of a running clock that would accelerate the end for Mossyrock, which received the third quarter kickoff. Maioho foiled that Viking drive with his interception on 4th-and-12 at the 48-yard line. WCK's coaches had changed up some blocking assignments with halftime adjustments and Dreger drew dividends, diving through a hole in the middle instead of heading for the edge on a 49-yard touchdown jaunt. Maioho threw to Michel for extra points to increase the lead to 52-14 less than two minutes into the second half.

Mossyrock went four-and-out after Kolb basically sacked himself rather than take another Wildcat hit on his injured leg. From the 43-yard line, WCK's offense thanked him properly with a six-play scoring drive that ignited the running clock. Michel picked up 12 yards right up the middle, then Dreger again cut inside instead of outside for 15 more yards. It was Preston who capped the series with a 1-yard plunge across the goal line (barely). Maioho was buried on the play and came off the field slowly, causing Wildcat fans some concern as Michel took another direct snap for 2 extra points to make the lead 60-14 with 5:27 left in the third period, surpassing the 40-point target to trigger a running clock the rest of the way.

Michel also recovered another onside gem by Strozyk on the ensuing kickoff to steal another possession away from Mossyrock. The last thing the Vikings wanted to see at that point was Maioho returning to the field. Yet he did, and on 3rd-and-14, Kallen hit Preston with a 27-yard pass, but "The Rock" was later able to take the ball over on downs when Maioho was dropped in the backfield for a loss on 4th-and-2 as the third quarter ended.

WCK's defensive line was really getting after the Viking quarterback at this point. Oates added another sack for a 7-yard loss; Houston, Cole Snider, and R.J. Dreger also notched sacks during the game. Soon, the Vikings had to punt again on 4th-and-22, but a disputed roughing penalty let them off the hook (that is, until the Wildcat Defense forced yet another punt only four plays later).

It took only two plays for WCK to capitalize again, as Michel capped the Wildcat scoring total with a 45-yard romp to "the house". The conversion try was a hot mess, with various laterals resulting in nothing good, so the score remained 66-14. As just about all opponents have done when the Wildcat starters left the field, Mossyrock's first team remained while the second team tried to contain them. Just two plays after the ensuing kickoff, Kolb connected with Isom one more time for their final T.D., and Munoz added 2 extra points with a pitchout to make the final margin 66-22. Chase Lutton and T.J. Stoothoff accounted for the last carries for WCK as the clock ran out.

"We did a really good job defensively, taking away their 'bread and butter', said Coach Reppe. Offensively, the Wildcats were able to take advantage of Mossyrock's determination to take away outside pitchouts, as other things opened up inside and "we were quite efficient in the passing game", according to the coach.

As for Liberty Bell, well, they are the No. 1 seed because the Mountain Lions are the defending State 1B Champions and are undefeated with a schedule that was quite varied since they played an independent schedule without a league affiliation.

"They like to spread the field and use their team speed to score," said Coach Reppe after studying them on video.

Lion quarterback Lucien Paz likes to hand the ball off or throw to brother Remington Paz and (another brother?) Grayden Paz. If it comes down to a track meet, the Wildcats would apparently be quite happy to match their speed to the Mountain Lions to see who is really the fastest.

The Wildcats left early Thursday morning with a stop planned at Moses Lake for one last practice on the Lion's Field turf they have had so much success on in the past couple of weeks before eating and going on across the pass. Coach Reppe hopes some Wildcat fans will be able to make the trip to Husky Stadium (even though it's a weekday and a workday for many). Those who do will see the biggest game in Wildcat Football history, regardless of the outcome.

Let's finish with inspiring words from Herb Brooks, who coached the US Olympic hockey team to their greatest upset against the vaunted Soviet team at Lake Placid back in 1980:

"Great moments are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here...that's what you've earned here (today). One game. You were meant to be here. This is your time. Now go out there and take it."