Jamaal Kearse lives one floor down from his much-heralded brother, Jermaine, in the same apartment building in Seattle.
That is only significant because when it comes to University of Washington football accomplishments between the brothers from Lakes High School, Jamaal would be better suited to hide out in the basement while Jermaine lives it up in the penthouse.
As fate would have it Saturday, the Kearse brother most responsible for preserving UW’s heart-thumping 31-23 victory over California at Husky Stadium was the younger one – the sibling who had never played offense or defense in college.
When strong-side linebacker John Timu exited late in the third quarter with what appeared to be a serious neck injury – he was carried off on a stretcher and placed in an ambulance – Jamaal Kearse came on as the replacement.
And on the team’s late-game defensive stand, Jamaal Kearse made two of the most important plays in keeping the Bears out of the end zone.
“It was great for a young guy like that to get into a critical moment and make big plays,” UW cornerback Desmond Trufant said. “That is going to boost his confidence.”
Heck, Jamaal Kearse was just excited to be elevated to the No. 1 kickoff coverage unit before the game Saturday – and crunched returner Brendan Bigelow so hard on a play in the first half, the Huskies’ sideline went wild.
“That was a pretty good moment,” Jamaal Kearse said.
Timu went down like a ton of bricks after colliding with Bears running back Isi Sofele with 1:45 remaining in the third quarter. In came Jamaal Kearse, a redshirt freshman, to finish the game.
“I just know at that time when you get thrown into a situation like that, your head is kind of spinning,” UW defensive back Quinton Richardson said. “You don’t know what to do. You don’t want to do the wrong thing, but you are also not trying to think about it too much. He came in and did a great job executing.”
Driving for the tying touchdown, the Bears had a first-and-goal from Huskies’ 2 with less than a minute remaining.
On first down, the Bears called for a quick-hit pass to tight end Anthony Miller, which Jamaal Kearse snuffed out beautifully.
“Jamaal … is out there in the heat of the battle, and he made a fantastic play on the tight end on the goal line on kind of a trick play,” UW defensive coordinator Nick Holt said.
On the next play, Cal went to Sofele on a left-side run. Jamaal Kearse met him head on, and dropped him for a 1-yard gain.
“I was trying to play the way I do in practice … and eliminate all the jitters,” Jamaal Kearse said.
Two plays later, with the Huskies’ game-saving stand complete, Jamaal Kearse walked off a victor – and his older brother, Jermaine, was waiting to celebrate.
“He was saying I was balling it out there today,” Jamaal Kearse said. “Just normal big-brother stuff.”
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442 Todd.milles@thenewstribune.com
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