This is now the 2nd season in a row in which there will not be a GSHL team playing at the Tacoma Dome for a state championship.

However, there is still one former member of the GSHL who will be.

The Tumwater T-Birds defeated East Valley of Spokane 63-27 Monday in the 2A Semifinals, and will face the same Archbishop Murphy team who ended the Monarchs season.

Tumwater was a member of the AAA GSHL from 1993-1996.

During those 4 seasons, the Thunderbirds went 34-0 and won 4 league championships and 1 state championship in 1993.

Tumwater will be playing their first state title game in the Tacoma Dome. Their 4 other finals appearances were all in the old Kingdome (1987, 1989, 1990, 1993)

NOTE: Tumwater had a non-league game on Nov 6th, however we do not know the opponent or score.

Saturday afternoon at the Tacoma Dome, the Mark Morris Monarchs can do just that.

The Monarchs did a few things Saturday that no other team has done all season when playing the top ranked Wildcats.

One, Mark Morris took the opening drive 80 yards in 12 plays eating up 6:55 and scored a touchdown to jump ahead 6-0. Only two other schools had even held a lead on Archbishop Murphy all season. 3A Kennedy led 7-6 before losing 45-28, and Lakewood did go up 6-0 after a quick strike 65 yard touchdown pass just 23 seconds into the game, Murphy then led 35-14 in the 4th before winning 35-28.

Two, Mark Morris then ran back an interception 78 yards for another touchdown and took a 12-0 lead. No other team had ever led by more than 6 points all season.

Three, Mark Morris led after 1 quarter 12-0. No other team led after 1 quarter of play vs the Wildcats this season. Only W.F. West had a  tie score, 7-7, after 1. Archbishop Murphy’s average score after 1 quarter through their first 12 games had been 17.3-2.4. Only 4 other teams had even scored a touchdown in the opening quarter.

Four, Mark Morris held Archbishop Murphy to 0 points after 1 quarter. The Wildcats had never been held without a score in the opening quarter, having scored an average of 17+ pts through their first 12 games. 5 times they scored 21+ including 35 in last weeks 58-13 win over Interlake.

Unfortunately for Mark Morris, there was still 3 more quarters of football to play.

Over the next 36 minutes Archbishop Murphy looked all of the #1 ranked team in the state, putting up 14 points in each of the next 3 quarters, and leading 42-12 before the Monarchs scored on the final play of the game.

The Wildcats were just flat out too fast, and too sharp for Mark Morris.

After the opening drive, in which QB Seth Pedersen hit Zach Tackwell on a 38 yard touchdown pass on 4th and 10, the Monarchs struggled just to get first downs.

It’s not like the Monarchs played a bad game, or looked sloppy on offense. Many times a Mark Morris play appeared to be well on it’s way to a 20+ yard gain, only to have 2, sometimes even 4-5 Wildcat defenders fly in and stop the play for little or no gain, sometimes even 5+ yard losses.

It did not help that after taking their 12-0 lead, the Monarchs threw interceptions on their next 2 offensive possessions.

The Wildcats had 3 RB’s rush for 80+ yards and ran for 410 yards as a team compared to just 88 for the Monarchs.

Jeremy Wolf did provide the 2 other bright spots for Mark Morris. Wolf ran back the interception 78 yards for the touchdown in the 1st quarter, and scored on a 7 yard run, diving to the pylon, as the clock expired in the 4th quarter.

With the loss Mark Morris falls to 9-4 on the season and finished tied for 3rd in state at the 2A level with East Valley of Spokane. The Monarchs season is over.

Experts Picks

Bryan – Archbishop Murphy √
Mike – Archbishop Murphy √
Cody – Archbishop Murphy √

Read more – The Daily News
Read more – The Everett Herald

FINAL

Team 1 2 3 4 Total 12 0 0 6 18 0 14 14 14 42 First Quarter MM – Zack Tackwell 38 pass from Seth Pedersen (kick blocked) MM – Jeremy Wolf 78 interception return (run failed) Second quarter ATM – Alex Galgano 65 run (kick good) ATM – Galgano 1 run (kick good) Third quarter ATM – Alex Kramer 16 run (kick good) ATM – Eneliko Tevaga 33 run (kick good) Forth quarter ATM – Brandon Byrne 25 pass from Austin VanderWel (kick good) ATM -Hans VanderWel 32 run (kick good) MM – Wolf 7 run (no kick attempted) Leaders Rushing – MM – Wolf 9-48, Dan Feeney 9-21, Nikko Asbell 6-12, Jacob Hamlik 1-7; ATM – Galgano 14-110, Alex Kramer 8-108, Hans VanderWel 10-80, Morgan Masanda 3-26, Tevaga 7-42, Austin VanderWel 2-18, Cameron Guy 1-6. Passing – MM – Pederson 6-14-2-86, Wolf 1-2-0-9; ATM – Austin VanderWel 3-6-1-48. Receiving – Zack Tackwell 1-38, Asbell 2-26, Wolf 9-13 Keigan Baker 1-9, Feeney 1-9 Dalton Thacker 1-0; ATM – Bryne 2-52, Galgano 1 (-6).

CLASS 4A

Ferris 14 Bellarmine Prep 10 FINAL

• LIVE in-game updates

CLASS 2A

Tumwater 63 East Valley 27 FINAL

• LIVE Radio feed
• LIVE in-game updates

Saturday

CLASS 4A

Skyline 35 Curtis 34 FINAL

CLASS 3A

Kamiakin 45 Capital 18 FINAL

CLASS 2A

Archbishop Murphy 42 Mark Morris 18 FINAL

Friday

CLASS 3A

Bellevue 35 Lakes 7 FINAL

Friday

CLASS 3A

Bellevue 35 Lakes 7 FINAL

Saturday

CLASS 4A

Skyline vs Curtis 7 pm

CLASS 3A

Capital at Kamiakin 1 pm

Monday

CLASS 4A

Bellarmine Prep vs Ferris 5 pm

CLASS 2A

Tumwater vs East Valley 2 pm

Archbishop Murphy destroyed Interlake 58-13 in the Quarterfinals to advance to the 1 p.m. matchup at the Tacoma Dome this Saturday.

Archbishop Murphy defeated R.A. Long 35-10 in the first round of last years 2A playoffs, the only time Archbishop Murphy has faced a GSHL team in the playoffs.

Bellarmine Prep 28 Bothell 21 FINAL
Ferris 13 Chiawana 7 FINAL

CLASS 3A

Kamiakin 44 Mount Spokane 13 FINAL

CLASS 2A

Archbishop Murphy 58 Interlake 13 FINAL
East Valley 48 Prosser 28 FINAL
Tumwater 49 Burlington-Edison 8 FINAL

Friday Finals

4A

Curtis 31 Auburn 0 FINAL
Skyline 42 Issaquah 21 FINAL

3A

Lakes 27 Camas 24 FINAL OT
Bellevue 35  Liberty 0 FINAL
Capital 13 O’Dea 12  FINAL

2A

Mark Morris 36 Anacortes 31 FINAL

After the first quarter of play things were looking very good for the Monarchs.

Sam Wichard picked off Shahawks QB Cody Clup midway through the first quarter. A big run by Mark Morris RB Willie Fujioka put the ball deep into Seahawks territory, where a few plays later Dan Feeney punched in his first rushing touchdown on the night from 1 yard out. Feeney also ran in the 2 pt conversion for a 8-0 Monarchs lead.

After stopping Anacortes on down at the Monarchs 32, Nikko Asbell ripped of a 48 yard run to set up Feeney’s second touchdown of the game, this one from 20 yards out, giving Mark Morris a 14-0 lead with 45 seconds left in the quarter.

The Seahawks however were not ready to just roll over and give up.

Just 2 minutes later the Seahawks were on the board when Culp hit Andre Bolton from 3 yards out. After stopping Mark Morris on a 4th and 6 at their 31, the Seahawks go right down the field and score on a 4 yard touchdown run from RB Preston Madden.  A botched snap on the PAT keep the Monarchs up 14-13 at the half.

Late in the 3rd quarter Dan Feeney came knocking once more and this time punched one in from 9 yards out. Feeney again ran in the 2 point conversion and the Monarchs led 22-13 with 4:36 left in the 3rd. Things were looking as though the Monarchs were about to pull away with this one.

Not so fast my friends, as Lee Corso would say.

Culp hit Jackson Kirkpatrick on a 49 yard bomb down to the Monarchs 20 setting up another touchdown run by Presont Madden, this one from a yard out.

The Seahawks then recovered an onside kick at the Monarchs 40 which set up another deep pass from Culp to Kirkpatrick, this one from 40 yards out for the score. So just 2:21 seconds after Feeney’s 3rd touchdown of the game put Mark Morris up 22-13, the Seahawaks had their first lead of the game at 25-22.

It did not take long for Mark Morris to get that lead back however.

In just a short 3:02 the Monarchs drove the length of the field thanks to a couple of long runs by Feeney and Jeremy Wolf. On 3rd and goal at the Anacortes 3, Nikko Asbell ran in the go-ahead touchdown. Wolf ran in the 2 point conversion and the Monarchs were back on top 30-25 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game.

Preston Madden’s 42 yard scamper on the next drive helped set up a 1 yard quarterback keeper by Culp. The 2 point pass play was no good and the Seahawks were back up 31-30 with 7:33 to go.

Mark Morris again traded runs by Feeney, Wolf and Asbell, and with 2:14 left to play, Dan Feeney punched in his 4th rushing touchdown of the game, this one from 3 yards out to give Mark Morris the lead once again. The Seahawks did stop the 2 point run attempt leaving the score at 36-31 Monarchs.

Anacortes had one final push but turned the ball over on downs with just under a minute to play giving Mark Morris the hard fought victory.

Dan Feeney finished the night with 157 yards rushing on 26 carries and 4 rushing touchdowns. Fellow Monarchs RB Nikko Asbell had 100 yards rushing on just 7 carries while Jeremy Wolf had 122 rushing yards on 15 carries, 116 of those came in the 2nd half.

Anacortes RB Preston Madden finished the game with 125 rushing yards on 23 carries and a pair of touchdowns.

Mark Morris improves to 9-3 on the season with the win. The Monarchs will play the winner of #1 Archbishop Murphy vs Interlake, Saturday at the Tacoma Dome, 1:00 p.m. in the WIAA 2A Semifinals.

Experts Picks

Bryan – Mark Morris √
Mike – Mark Morris √
Cody – Mark Morris √

HD VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS WILL BE UP SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Read more – The Daily News

FINAL

Team 1 2 3 4 Total 0 13 12 6 31 14 0 8 14 36 first quarter MM – Dan Feeney 1 run (Feeney run) MM – Feeney 20 run (run failed) seond quarter ANA – Andre Bolton 3 pass from Cody Culp (Jackson Kirkpatrick kick) ANA – Preston Madden 4 run (kick failed) third quarter MM – Feeney 9 run (Feeney run) ANA – Madden 1 run (kick failed) ANA – Kirkpatrick 40 pass from Culp (kick failed) forth quarter MM – Nikko Asbell 3 run (Jeremy Wolf run) ANA – Culp 1 run (pass failed) MM – Feeney 3 run (run fail)

On a 4th and goal form the 5, Lakes coach Dave Miller went for the win. He got it.

Lakes RB Levonte Littlejohn sprinted 5 yards to the right and scored his 3rd rushing touchdown of the night sending the Lancers to the Tacoma Dome where they will meet the Bellevue Wolverines in the WIAA 3A Semifinals.

The game started out with 3 consecutive punts as 2 of the top 3A teams in the state (Camas ranked #3, Lakes ranked #6) felt each other out.

On the Papermakers second drive, things started to click and Addison Owen found his power runner shoes. Owen had several big runs on the 9 play 58 yard drive, that QB Tony Gennaro capped off with a 1 yard quarterback sneak. With 2:43 left in the opening quarter Camas led 7-0.

Lakes and Camas then each turned the ball over on downs.

On the Lancers first play after Camas could not pick up a first down at the Lakes 34, we saw our first flash of how good Littlejohn was. The Lakes RB busted past the line and riped off a nice 26 yard run, however he fumbled the football and Camas recovered it at their 40.

Following a Camas 3 and out, Lakes went 77 yards in 5 plays using less than 2 minutes of game clock, and tied the game with FB Artem Petryakov powered his way in from 3 yards out.

Camas with a very nice 10 play 67 yard drive eating up 4:44 of the clock and going back up 14-7 when Gennaro hit WR Jonathan Warner on a beautiful fade pass in the left corner of the end zone.

Lakes once again took no time to move down the field. After returning the kickoff to the 40, Lancers QB Cedric Dozier ran 55 yards on the first snap down to the Camas 5. 2 plays later Dozier flipped the option pitch to Littlejohn for the 4 yard touchdown run, tying the game at 14. The drive only took 48 seconds to go 60 yards in 3 plays.

On the Papermakers second drive of the 3rd quarter, they put together their best drive of the night, going 93 yards in 9 plays. Gennaro hit Jeremy Faulkner for a 26 yard pass, then hit Kyle Ervin for 8 more. Addison Owen had several 5+ yard runs as well. Tony Gennaro ran 15 yards down to the Lakes 2, setting up Owen’s 1 yard touchdown in which he dove up and over the line and in for the score. The 4:10 second drive left Camas up once more, now at 21-14 with 4:40 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

Lakes however once again had an answer. Littlejohn had runs of 8,25,3,23 and finally 2 yards on the 8 play 72 yard drive to tie the game at 21 with 1:54 left in the 3rd.

Early in the 4th it looked like Lakes might take their first lead of the game when the Lancers drove 58 yards down to the Camas 27, however on 4th and 10 Dozier ran up the middle and only got 9.

With 6:19 remaining in regulaion, Camas went on a potential game winning drive. Addison Owen picked up a 4th and 1, then 2 plays later ran 37 yards down to the Lakes 14. The drive stalled at the 8 and Roldan Alcobendas missed a 26 yard field goal with 2:20 left in the game, ending a 10 play 64 yard drive.

Lakes then used up the final 2:20 driving 69 yards down to the Camas 11 and with 3 seconds left in the game, Bo Wittig missed a 28 yard field goal forcing overtime.

Camas had the ball first, and after a couple of Owen runs got them down to the 19, Alcobendas hit the 36 yard field goal to put Camas up 24-21.

That’s when Lakes took over. Lavonte Littlejohn lost 3 yards on their first play, then gained 7. On 3rd down, Littlejohn ran down to the 15. On 4th and 5 Lakes went for it, and Littlejohn delivered a 13 yard run down to the Camas 2. After 2 attempts to punch it in up the middle, Camas stopped the big FB Petryakov both times, setting up a 3rd and goal at the 1. Lakes was then called for a false start, backing up the Lancers to the 6. Littlejohn only picked up a yard on 3rd down setting up the 4th and goal from the 5. That’s when Lakes again went for the win and Littlejohn ran right and found the end zone and the Lakes win.

Lavonte Littlejohn finished the game with 260 yards rushing on 30 carries and 3 touchdowns. QB Cedric Dozier ran for 152 yards on 21 carries.

Addison Owen finished the game with 166 rushing yards on 30 carries and Tony Gennaro was 17 of 25 for 167 yards and the 1 touchdown. Jeremy Faulkner had 8 catches for 108 yards and made several clutch catches in the game.

Camas falls to 11-1 on the season with the loss. Thats the 2nd time in 6 years that Lakes has come down to Camas and defeated an undefeated Camas Papermakers team in the playoffs. In 2005 Camas was 10-0 when they lost to Lakes 20-3 in the first round of the playoffs.

Experts Picks

Bryan – Camas x
Mike – Camas x
Cody – Camas x

Read more – The Columbian

FINAL OT

Team 1 2 3 4 OT Total 0 14 7 0 6 27 7 7 7 0 3 24 first quarter CAM – Tony Gennaro 1 run (Roldan Alcobendas kick) second quarter LAK – Artem Petryakov 3 run (Bo Wittig kick) CAM – Jonathan Warner 10 pass from Gennaro (Alcobendas kick) LAK – Lavonte Littlejohn 4 run (Wittig kick) third quarter CAM – Addison Owen 1 run (Alcobendas kick) LAK – Littlejohn 2 run (Wittig kick) overtime CAM – Roldan Alcobendas 36 FG LAK – Littlejohn 5 run (no kick) Leaders Rushing — Lakes: Littlejohn 30-260, Cedric Dozier 21-152. Camas: Owen 30-166, Gennaro 9-56. Passing — Lakes: Dozier 2-4-0-3. Camas: Gennaro 17-25-1-167. Receiving — Lakes: Cedric Turner 1-8, Ashten Agor 1-(minus-5). Camas: Faulkner 8-108, Owen 4-27, Miguel Salamanca 3-15, Warner 1-10, Kyle Ervin 1-7.

The broadcast will be over at sportsbeatradio.com and will start at 7:20 p.m. for a 7:30 p.m. kick off.

The first round was not so kind to the GSHL as we are now down to just 2 schools carrying the flag. I don’t know if there is a flag or not, but Camas and Mark Morris are the only ones left in the GSHL.  The 2A continued to be a rough go for our experts as both Cody and Bryan only went 4-4 in their picks and Mike went 3-5. Bryan and Mike did both go 8-0 in their 3A picks and Mike and Cody both went 7-1 in their 4A picks. Cody picked the Tumwater upset over Lynden, ending the Lyons 22 game win streak and assuring us a new 2A champion in 2010. Overall Bryan and Mike both went 18-6 while Cody went 17-7. Cody was the only one who picked Juanita to beat Camas. Too bad for Cody the Rebels Offense could not put up a single point on the Papermakers Defense. Among our armchair experts out there, gymteacher went 21-3, again bit by the 2A bug, going 16-0 in the 4A and 3A picks but just 5-3 in the 2A. 40 was the only other to pick 20 or more, going 20-4, with a strong 8-0 3A round. 40 cracked the 100 pick mark and is now at 101-23 and in 1st place by 4 games over Mike at 97-27. wsumj (the regular season champ) is 5 games back at 96-28. Bryan is just 6 games back at 95-29 and Cody is now 8 back at 93-31.

We all agree on 11 of the 12 games this week. Only Bryan is picking the 2 time defending 3A state champs to lose this week to a team they have already defeated this season. He did pick Liberty to knock off Bellevue when he filled out his bracket last week, so at least he is sticking with his pick. We all 3 are picking both GSHL teams wo win as Cody is now back on the Camas bandwagon. Last week we went 15-4 on games in which all 3 of us picked the same team and we are 79-15 this season when we all agree.

Game	Bryan (95-29)	Mike (97-27)	Cody (93-31)	Notes on the game.
4A
#2 Curtis (11-0) at Auburn (9-2)	Curtis	Curtis	Curtis	Auburn’ run game was just too much last week in their 28-21 win at Skyview. Curtis struggled a bit with Eastlake in their 21-14 win last week. The Vikings have been held to 31 and 21 points this post season, both season lows.Curtis defeated Auburn 41-14 back in week 6 at Curtis.
#1 Skyline (10-1) at #9 Issaquah (9-2)	Skyline	Skyline	Skyline	Skyline squeaked out a 16-14 win 2 weeks ago over Central Kitsap then rolled to a 34-7 win over Rogers last week. Issaquah hammered Marysville-Pilchuck 49-13 last week. Skyline defeated Issaquah 35-6 back in week 5 at Skyline.
#6 Bothell (9-2) at Bellarmine Prep (10-1)	Bothell	Bothell	Bothell	Bothell has probably the 2 most impressive wins this post season among the 4A schools. They defeated Union 42-21 then rolled #5 Kentwood 49-14 last week. Bellarmine Prep has had 2 confortable wins this post season defeating Kentridge 31-7 then Arlington 38-19 last week.
#3 Ferris (11-0) at #6 Chiawana (10-0)	Ferris	Ferris	Ferris	Chiawana is looking to make a Union Titan type of playoff run in only their 2nd year. The Riverhawks have won their 2 post season games by a combined score of 65-17. Ferris is looking to make a return trip to the 4A finals, and is looking well on track. The Saxons have won their 2 post season games by a combined score of 81-20.
3A
#6 Lakes (10-1) at #3 Camas (11-0)	Camas	Camas	Camas	Camas is coming off their first playoff win in school history, a 20-13 win over #4 Juanita where the Papermakers defense shut down the Rebels powerful run game. Lakes enters the game with another great run game. The Lancers defeated Camas 20-3 in the first round of the 2005 3A playoffs.
#8 Liberty (8-3) at #1 Bellevue (10-1)	Liberty	Bellevue	Bellevue	Bellevue edged Liberty 23-20 in week 9 to win the 3A KingCo title. Liberty edged Mt. Si for a second time this season last week 20-17, while Bellevue simply rolled up Timberline like it was nobody’s business 58-14. Bellevue defeated Liberty in last years 3A finals 23-17 to win back-to-back 3A championships.
#10 O’Dea (10-1) at #2 Capital (11-0)	Capital	Capital	Capital	Capital started the 2010 season with an impressive 28-0 win at O’Dea and have not looked back. The Cougars have won their 2 post season games by a combined score of 124-7. O’Dea has not lost since that week 1 game with Capital. The Irish have won 10 in a row, all by 14 or more points.
#7 Mount Spokane (9-1) at #5 Kamiakin (11-0)	Kamiakin	Kamiakin	Kamiakin	Kamiakin continues to roll. The Braves put the hammer down on Kelso last week leading 50-0 midway through the 3rd quarter on their way to a 50-6 win, and have now scored 50+ points 4x this season. Mt. Spokane has only the 1 loss to 4A #3 Ferris, when the Wildcats lost 35-14 back in week 6. Mt. Spokane beat University for the 2nd time this season last week 48-35.
2A
Burlington-Edison (8-3) at #3 Tumwater (9-1)	Tumwater	Tumwater	Tumwater	Tumwater went up to Lynden and knocked off the defending 2A champion Lions 21-10, ending their 22 game win streak. Burlington-Edison lost 3 in a row to finish the regular season but have won their 2 post season games by a combined score of 87-25.
East Valley (Spk) (6-5) at #5 Prosser (10-1)	Prosser	Prosser	Prosser	#5 Prosser has won 10 in a row since a 28-0 week 1 loss at 3A #5 Kamiakin. The Mustangs just got past Othello last week 14-6. East Valley has now won 5 in a row following their 1-5 start to the season. The Knights knocked off Clarkston last week 36-27, a team who they had lost to 21-6 in week 5.
Anacortes (8-3) at Mark Morris (8-3)	Mark Morris	Mark Morris	Mark Morris	Mark Morris has won 7 of their last 8 games and appear to be on a roll. Their running game has powered the Monarchs to 3 straight wins, and helped overcome a 17-0 deficit last week in their 38-24 win over Foster. Anacortes just keeps finding ways to win. The Seahawks had huge night running the football last week in their 28-14 win over Lindbergh.
#1 Archbishop Murphy (11-0) at Interlake (3-8)	Archbishop Murphy	Archbishop Murphy	Archbishop Murphy	Interlake may be 3-8, but they have lost to 5 playoff teams that are either 4A or 3A schools. The Saints knocked off 9-1 Port Angeles 47-26 last week to advance to the Quarterfinals. Archbishop Murphy had little trouble last week with #4 W.F. West in their 28-14 win. The Wildcats were held to under 35 for the first time all season in the win.