Diezel Wilkinson leads East Valley to three-way tiebreaker win and berth to state
The East Valley Knights, who are still trying to figure out exactly who they are, will get at least one more week to find out.
In a three-team playoff for the Greater Spokane League’s No. 2 berth into the State 2A playoffs, East Valley knocked off West Valley 21-20 in a “minigame” consisting of two 10-minute halves, then stopped Clarkston 10-7 to reach the postseason for the first time under coach Tom Griggs and the first since 2013 .
The games were shifted from University High to Central Valley on Friday after U-Hi was shut down after a “potential threat” was posted on social media.
The Knights turned to sophomore quarterback Diezel Wilkinson at halftime of their third game of the season, a 50-18 win over North Central.
His first start for EV came at Clarkston, where the Bantams pulled out a 9-7 win.
“There was some adversity for us, going down there and playing in front of their fans and with their referees,” Wilkinson said. “This was a different game.”
“We’re still trying to figure out just who we are with Diezel at quarterback,” Griggs said. “We’re keeping things pretty simple and just trying to pound the rock and that’s working for us. We have two backs, Diezel and Joe Hofstee, who run well and I give all the credit in the world to our offensive line because those guys have really stepped up for us.”
In the return match, Wilkinson led the Knights 75 yards with the opening kick. While it took five plays for East Valley to reach the end zone after earning a first-and-goal at the Clarkston 1, Wilkinson deked one Bantams defender in the EV backfield and stiff-armed another at the line of scrimmage to score from 4 yards out to cap a drive that took almost half of the 10-minute half.
The East Valley defense stopped Clarkston on the next possession. After the teams traded punts, EV came up with a huge play on third-and-23 at its 25-yard line when Chris Bergman picked off a Carter Steinwand pass at the 34.
With 1 second left in the half, the Knights lined up for a 43-yard field-goal attempt. Kicker Alonzo Vargas, who doubles as an interior offensive and defensive lineman, bounced the kick off the crossbar and the ball spun its way over to give the Knights a 10-0 halftime lead.
“I think we have him dialed in now,” Griggs said of Vargas. “But you know, that’s one of our weapons and you have to get plays like that.”
Clarkston returned the favor by scoring on the opening drive of the second half, aided by a roughing-the-kicker penalty that gave the Bantams a first-and-goal followed by a roughing-the-passer penalty that gave them a first down at the EV 1.
From there, the Knights’ defense gave up little.
“That’s the kind of attitude our defensive coach, (David) Kim, has developed with them,” Griggs said. “He’s a guy who played for me and is now back coaching for me. He has our defensive playing tough.”
Clarkston got the ball at its 10 with just over 1 minute left, but on third-and-5 from the 15, Steinwand threw into a crowd at the 30. The ball was tipped and Wilkinson, playing center field for the EV defense, stepped up to snatch it out of the air and effectively end the game.
“The coaches have been telling me all week that I need to work on my backpedal,” he said. “The ball just laid out there for me perfectly and I was able to make a big play.”
Griggs said the staff must wait for the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association to post the playoff bracket Sunday to learn who they play next.
“From there, it’s a gentleman’s agreement between coaches that we trade two games of film with each other,” he said. “We’ll prepare from there.”
East Valley 21, West Valley 20: After playing to a 14-all tie after one 10-minute half and working through a scoreless second, the Knights scored first in the tiebreaker period on a 1-yard run from Wilkinson.
West Valley answered and opted to attempt a two-point conversion rather than play a second overtime. A high snap over quarterback Raesean Eaton’s head ended the game along with the Eagles’ season.