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It was after last year’s loss to Archbishop Murphy in the first round of the Class 2A football state playoffs; the Wildcats had ended the season for Gueller’s Chehalis High for the second straight year. On the long road home from Everett, he pondered his decision-making and wondered if he had done enough as the Bearcats’ starting quarterback in their 28-14 loss to a team that went on to play for the state title.
Flash forward a little more than a year – Nov. 18, to be exact – and Gueller recalled the bus ride back from Marysville after a 33-18 state quarterfinal victory over Lakewood as “the best feeling ever.”
“I want two more bus rides like that,” Gueller said.
For the first time in school history, the Bearcats (10-2) are in the state semifinals and face top-ranked Lynden (12-0) today at 10 a.m. at the Tacoma Dome.
Despite being the third seed from the 2A Evergreen Conference, the Bearcats forged their playoff path on a revived surge. In the past three weeks, their growth has been “exponential,” according to Gueller, with wins over Hockinson (34-7), Sequim (52-21) and now Lakewood. But there’s still room for more improvement, he says.
“We haven’t played perfect,” Gueller said. “Everybody believes we can get better and continue working and improving, but we’ve found who we are. We’ve not done what we’re supposed to do and what our goal is.”
Gueller is a three-sport athlete at Chehalis, and earlier this month signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Washington State. He has been a two-year starting quarterback and was a wide receiver as a sophomore. Earlier this year, in a nonleague game against Mark Morris, he caught four passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns. He was named first-team all-conference at quarterback, completing 54 percent of his passes for 1,162 yards and 13 touchdowns.
But thanks to the team’s transformation into a more run-oriented offense, Gueller, at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, has flourished as a runner, too.
After a 21-14 overtime win over Centralia and a 52-6 blowout loss to North Thurston, coach Bob Wollan started tinkering with the Bearcats’ offense. Wollan figured he needed to utilize the team’s best athlete in the running game. If the Bearcats were to go down, their workhorse, as Wollan called Gueller, was going to be running the football.
It worked.
Gueller has totaled almost 1,000 all-purpose yards in three playoff games. He has run for 659 yards, including a 264-yard, three-touchdown performance on 22 carries against Lakewood – more than double his previous high of 10 carries in a game. His season totals are 1,285 rushing yards on 110 carries with 15 touchdowns.
“He’s been quite a show the past few weeks,” Wollan said. “We’ve leaned on him. He’s a phenomenal athlete.”
Whatever needs to be done to help the team win is just fine with Gueller.
“I just really want to win,” he said.
With two losses coming via blowouts to conference foes Tumwater (42-7) and North Thurston, little might’ve been expected of the Bearcats in the playoffs – despite advancing to the quarterfinals three of the past six years. Their toughest opponent will be undefeated Lynden, which has been ranked No. 1 all season. Lynden defeated North Thurston, 29-26, on Nov. 12 at South Sound Stadium.
The Lions have a history of success in the playoffs, having made the semifinals in eight of the past 11 seasons with three state titles since 2006. Lynden is led by junior quarterback Josh Kraght, who has completed 70 percent of his passes for nearly 2,000 yards and 23 touchdowns.
“We’re going to be challenged every step of the way in all phases, and that’s what is expected,” Wollan said. “Offensively, (Lynden has) a ton of weapons. It’s going to be a huge challenge for us defensively.”
However, Gueller and his teammates love being the underdogs.
“What’s there to lose if we’ve overachieved already?” Gueller said. “We have more and more people starting to believe in us. I know everyone in crimson believes in us.
“If we play the best we can, I know we can do it. There’s no doubt in my mind that we can’t win.”
Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473 mwochnick@theolympian.com
