Olympia advances to state in football

By Grant Clark | For The Olympian • Published November 08, 2008

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OLYMPIA – Two years ago, Eastlake strolled into Ingersoll Stadium and put an end to Olympia's football season.

The Bears finally got the chance to return the favor.

Willie Willard tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Garrett Hull and Olympia's defense overcame a slow start by dominating the second half as the Narrows League champions advanced to the Class 4A state playoffs with a convincing 42-21 victory over the Wolves on Saturday.

"That was a heck of a test for us right there," said Olympia coach Bill Beattie. "(Eastlake) plays in a the best league in the state, the Kingco, and all their losses this year were to top-ranked, playoff teams. We knew we were going to have our hands full. Credit the seniors for keeping this team focused and the offense and defense for making the correct adjustments at halftime."

Olympia (10-0) advances to the state playoffs for the fourth consecutive year and the sixth time since moving up to the 4A classification in 1999.

The Bears now will look to snap a three-game losing streak in the state playoffs.

They lost in the first round last year to Oak Harbor (30-21) and in 2006 to Eastlake (17-7) and in the quarterfinals to Cascade (Everett) (28-7) in 2005.

Olympia will host Narrows League foe Central Kitsap (7-3) Saturday in the first round of the state tournament. The Cougars advanced by defeating Snohomish, 49-13.

Olympia found itself in unfamiliar territory late in the second quarter, trailing 14-7, before rallying for two Willard touchdown passes to Hull in the final 3 1/2 minutes of the first half to claim a 21-14 lead at the intermission.

Eastlake (6-4) dominated the first quarter time of possession, holding a 21-5 advantage in plays.

However, the Bears made the most of their minimal first quarter snaps, getting a 78-yard touchdown run from Dylan Parsons on the game's second play.

Eastlake answered by scoring on its first two possessions — a feat no team has done against the Bears stingy defense this season.

Stephen Nasca punched it in from a yard out mid-way through the first quarter and Kelby McCorkle hit Paul Wright on a 10-yard scoring strike, giving the Wolves a seven-point lead — making the Bears' largest deficit this season.

Olympia struck back behind the arm of Willard as the senior signal caller connected on 6 of 9 pass attempts for 151 yards in the second quarter, hitting Brandon Maguire on a 57-yard reception and Hull on touchdown passes of 22 and 45 yards, the latter coming with 22 seconds to play in the first half.

After surrendering a season-high 211 yards in the first half Olympia's defense returned to form in the third quarter, holding the Wolves to just 4 total yards in the quarter while taking a 28-14 lead on Jordan Pine's 2-yard touchdown run with 21 seconds to play in the third.

Pine's second touchdown run, a 1-yard plunge with 6 1/2 to play, sealed the victory by pushing Olympia to a 35-14 lead. Willard finished 12-of-18 for 209 yards and three touchdowns with Hull grabbing five catches for 106 yards.

Parsons, the team's leading rusher, had 86 yards on 6 carries. The senior briefly left the game with an injured right knee, but did return and saw limited action

"We're going to get him checked out on Monday," Beattie said. "It doesn't appear to be a knee, but maybe a muscle, so that's a positive."