Blue Devils outrun Saxons
On Walla Walla’s first drive, Ferris knew exactly what the Blue Devils would do.
Walla Walla promptly drove 50 yards on eight rushes for a touchdown, laying the groundwork for the Blue Devils’ workmanlike 23-12 win over Ferris in a State 4A play-in game at Central Valley High School.
Jake Klingeberg, the Big Nine Conference’s leading rusher, carried 29 times for 159 yards as Walla Walla (7-4) dominated the first half on the ground, putting Ferris (7-3) in too deep a hole to dig out of in the second half.
“They are a very physical team,” Ferris head coach Clarence Hough said. “30 (Klingenberg) is a load, their quarterback runs like a deer and their linemen come off quick and try to beat you up.”
Klingenberg ran for 120 yards on 15 attempts in the first half and quarterback Kenny Baisch added 49 yards rushing as the Blue Devils built a 23-6 lead.
Walla Walla held the ball for 17:24 of the half, running 37 plays to Ferris’ 12, as it hammered out drives by running Klingenberg up the middle time and time again.
Klingenberg finished off the Blue Devils’ first drive with a 1-yard plunge, then on the next drive, set up Baisch’s 7-yard touchdown with a 65-yard run over the left guard.
“We aren’t that tricky,” Walla Walla head coach Marc Yonts said. “We have to fight and claw for everything we get. We got our pad level down, got off the ball and set the tone. Then we could play the field position game and try to force them to play with a long field.”
Ferris answered right after the Blue Devils went up 13-0, as junior quarterback Caleb Rath ran a quarterback counter around the right end for a 65-yard touchdown, pulling the Saxons to 13-6 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
“Their quarterback is a stud,” Yonts said of Rath, who ran for 130 yards on 10 carries while throwing for 108 yards. “That counter gave us fits early.”
Walla Walla took over late in the first quarter, and went on a 10-play, 68-yard drive lasting 5:36, capped by a 29-yard touchdown pass from Baisch to Zac Young and a 20-6 lead. Young was the target of four of Baisch’s five completions for 68 yards.
Ferris bounced back on the first possession of the second half, as Ryan Murphy picked up 27 yards on a counter, followed by Rath for 17 on the ground.
Rath then hit wideout Steve Stockton on a screen, and Stockton followed a nice block by fellow receiver Robert Davis into the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown to cut Walla Walla’s lead to 23-12.
“They are electric out there,” Yonts said of Ferris’ spread offense. “They’ve got guys all over the field.”
Ferris began to slow down Klingenberg and the Blue Devils in the second half, as the fullback only rushed for 39 yards after the break against a defense spurred by Saxons senior middle linebacker Curtis Heyamoto, whom Yonts called “one of the better football players we’ve seen this year.”
But the Saxons couldn’t put together another scoring drive, as Ferris punted twice, failed to convert on a fourth down deep in Blue Devils’ territory and turned over the ball on an interception by Baisch at midfield on its last-gasp effort.
“We had another chance to score,” Hough said. “But against a team like that, there isn’t much margin for error. That’s a good group of kids. I’m sorry to see them go.”
Pasco 49, University 6
The top-ranked Bulldogs (10-0) flexed their muscle on the Titans, rushing for 392 yards in an easy win at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco.
Tony Coburn rushed eight times for 167 yards, including touchdowns of 61 and 47 yards, and Nebraska-bound Leon Jackson carried 16 times for 181 yards and two scores, one of 90 yards.
Kris O’Connor carried 26 times for 115 yards for the Titans (6-5). Matt Hanna caught seven passes for 103 yards and a touchdown.
Walla Walla travels to Pasco on Saturday for the first round of the state playoffs. Pasco beat the Blue Devils 55-20 early in the season.