King’s keeps league crown on SWHS homecoming

Published 9:00 am Wednesday, October 15, 2014

South Whidbey High School crowned seniors Anders Bergquist and Abby Hodson as the Falcons’ homecoming king and queen Friday night, but the King’s Knights left as rulers.

South Whidbey scored the first and last points in the 1A Cascade Conference match, but not nearly enough in between to counter King’s offense which powered its way to a 34-19 victory.

“Deven [Damerau] was running the ball great, we were blocking hard up front, we had a lot of energy,” said Falcon senior Mo Hamsa. “We knew we were the underdogs coming into this game, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“If we executed our sets properly in the second half, like we did in the first half, this is our game all the way,” he added.

For a half, South Whidbey appeared to have the league-leading King’s squad in check. The Falcons scored on their opening drive—despite a bizarre delay of game penalty on South Whidbey for a late start—on its homecoming night. The Falcons were set up on the score by a pair of positive-yardage runs by senior quarterback Parker Collins and Damerau, a senior running back. A deep pass from Collins to Hamsa put the Falcons on the 2-yard line, setting up Collins’ first touchdown, and junior receiver Charlie Patterson’s extra point kick put South Whidbey ahead 7-0.

“He just delivers and I just catch the ball,” said Hamsa, in his first year playing Falcon football.

King’s answered in a hurry. A few runs and a deep throw put the Knights on the 4-yard line for Knight sophomore Andrew Cline to score. Near the end of the first quarter, King’s scored again with a quarterback run by sophomore Corey Kispert who dove in and knocked the pylon over with the ball, putting the Knights ahead 13-7.

South Whidbey answered after Collins picked off Kispert’s pass and ran it to the Knights’ 22-yard line. On fourth down, Collins hit Patterson for the first down on a quick slant route in the middle of the field. After an incompletion, Collins took the ball in himself 11 yards for the touchdown. Patterson’s extra point kick tied the game with 54 seconds left in the first half.

The Knights (4-0 Cascade Conference, 4-2 overall) pulled ahead from a 13-13 halftime tie. A change at the quarterback position for King’s worked well, as junior Koa Wilkins replaced Kispert in the third quarter. Wilkins scored on his first drive, about five minutes into the quarter, on a 16-yard run that gave King’s the lead.

But King’s offense scored on its first two possessions of the second half to cushion the lead, while the Knights defense forced the Falcons to punt when three runs couldn’t produce a first down.

South Whidbey (1-3 conference, 1-5 overall) wasn’t able to put together a long drive again until late in the fourth quarter. The Falcons took possession trailing 34-13 with 5:24 left. Collins was hitting receivers on quick throws for 5 yards, 6 yards, a big gain of 17 yards. But an interception off a tipped throw stalled the drive at the Knights 30-yard line.

Both teams’ running games were strong. The Falcons scored two rushing touchdowns, both by senior quarterback Parker Collins, and were led by senior running back Deven Damerau, who had the kind of night where his first carry went for 34 yards.

South Whidbey hit the field without a few essential players, namely junior receiver and kicker Anthony Eveland, junior linebacker Xavier Wilson, and junior lineman Thomas Rasmussen.

Only three games remain in the regular season for South Whidbey, at Cedarcrest on Oct. 17, hosting Lakewood on Oct. 24, and at Sultan on Oct. 31. The final game of the season could be a huge one, as Cedar Park Christian, South Whidbey and Sultan each have only one league win. Only the top two 1A teams from the Cascade Conference get to play in the 1A District 1 tournament. King’s appears to have the first seed secured. The second, and final berth, however, could still be South Whidbey, which also lost to Cedar Park Christian.

“We’re just focusing on the next game,” Hamsa said. “It’s the only one that matters. That’s a Coach Tormey quote.”