Olympia shows grit in playoff loss to top-ranked Woodinville
The 2017 football season ended for the Olympia Bears with a 28-7 loss to No. 1-ranked Woodinville at Pop Keeney Stadium in Bothell on Saturday, first-year head coach Steve Davis learned a lot about his team in the process.
The Bears gave the undefeated Falcons all they could handle for the first 24 minutes of the game, before surrendering points in the second half, which put the game out of reach. Still, it was one of the biggest challenges the Falcons have faced all season.
“I knew we had the character and the kids had the fortitude to do that,” Davis said. “We play as hard as anybody. There are times we’re outsized, there are times we’re not as quick as everybody, but I’ll take our effort against anybody in the state. From the first down, to the last down, our kids just battle and battle.”
That was the story for the Bears on Saturday. While the offense couldn’t get much going throughout the contest, Olympia’s defense kept the game scoreless for almost the entire first half.
The only points in the first two quarters came on a 2-yard run by Woodinville senior running back Matthew Jones with 19 seconds to play before halftime. The run came just five plays after an interception by junior Miles Mustarde with 46 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Falcons took advantage of the short field, but it was an otherwise brilliant defensive effort in the first half by the Bears.
“It all starts with our defensive coaches and our defensive coordinator Dennis Graham,” Davis said. “The hours he puts in to film study and just studying the game in general is just absolutely exceptional. The kids just buy into that. He has the kids in the right spot at the right time and the kids just buy in, led by our senior class. This is one of the best senior classes I’ve ever had in the 26 years I’ve been at Olympia.”
Davis was and assistant coach for the past 25 years before taking over as head coach this season.
The Falcons scored early with 4:52 to play in the third quarter to go up 14-0 and added to that lead moments later by taking advantage of a second interception thrown by Olympia senior quarterback Ketner Young. This time, Woodinville senior quarterback Jaden Sheffey scored on a 22-yard run to give the Falcons a 21-0 lead.
Young threw three interceptions in the game, including two to Woodinville sophomore Cage Schenk.
Olympia struggled with the ball throughout the game. The offense managed just 116 yards of total offense, with many of those yards coming in the fourth quarter.
“It really is just that Woodinville is that good,” Davis said. “We see some great defenses in our league, and we just couldn’t get anything going. …That front four was just incredibly fast and we couldn’t get anything done.”
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OLYMPIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | - | 7 |
WOODINVILLE | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | - | 28 |
SCORING SUMMARY
W – Matthew Jones 2 run (Blake Glessner kick)
W – Brett Accimus 4 run (Glessner kick)
W – Jaden Sheffey 22 run (Glessner kick)
W – Noah Stifle 28 pass from Sheffey (Glessner kick)
O – Owen Shea 9 run (kick good)
INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS
RUSHING – Olympia: Owen Shea 17-75; Thomas Steele 1-1; Ketner Young 10-(-4); Garrett Iyall 1-1. Woodinville: Brett Accimus 11-76; Matthew Jones 16-77; Jaden Sheffey 11-26; Wyatt Lane 3-4.
PASSING – Olympia: Ketner Young 8-23-3-43. Woodinville: Jaden Sheffey 15-24-0-146.
RECEIVING – Olympia: Cameron Kendall 1-10; Owen Shea 3-4; Thomas Steele 1-(-3); Adam Berg 1-1; Garrett Iyall 2-31. Woodinville: Brett Accimus 2-19; Noah Stifle 7-89; Nash Fouch 4-24; Tyler Owens 2-14.
This story was originally published November 5, 2017 at 12:02 AM with the headline "Olympia shows grit in playoff loss to top-ranked Woodinville."