Prep football: Montesano’s miracle last-second touchdown sinks Cascade Christian

Jake Herzog’s 50-yard prayer as time expired lifted No. 10 Montesano to a 25-22 victory over defending state champions Cascade Christian in a wild finish at Sunset Chev Stadium on Saturday.

After No. 7 Cascade Christian erased a deficit to take a 22-19 lead with 33 seconds left, Herzog willed his Bulldogs teammates to midfield. After avoiding a sack, Herzog was able to scramble 12 yards — then a fumble by the sidelines looked like it gave the Cougars the win.

But it was Herzog who grabbed the ball with a foot out of bounds.

“The ref said I was out of bounds when I recovered the fumble,” the Bulldogs quarterback said.

That play and call put three seconds back on the clock and gave Montesano one more chance from the 50. The play was drawn up for Evergreen League MVP Kylar Prante.

Cascade Christian (8-2) broke through the line, but Herzog avoided two would-be tacklers to fire off a deep pass to Prante, who caught it and ran in for the game-winning 50-yard touchdown as Montesano (9-2) defeated Cascade Christian for the first time in school history.

“I had a clear mind … I saw the corner up and I threw it as hard as I could,” Herzog said.

“I wasn’t really thinking much about anything,” Prante said of his thoughts as the pass came his way. “I was just really happy with the 10 other guys on the field.”

Cascade Christian trailed Montesano for nearly the entire game, but with time running out and trailing the Bulldogs by two scores, the Cougars started fighting back.

With 6:34 remaining, Cascade Christian quarterback Josh Seaton began connecting with big passes to Austin Carder.

The connection moved Cascade Christian inside Montesano territory for the second time all game. Cougars running back Kyle Milton finished the drive with a 10-yard bulldozing run to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 19-14.

Herzog was able to move the ball to midfield, but the Cougars defense tightened up, forcing a turnover on downs with 1:54 left.

Facing a fourth-and-10, Seaton again connected with Carder, who shook off a defender before running it to the 4-yard line, and one play later Milton plowed his way in for Cascade Christian’s only lead, 22-19.

Only to set up the late Montesano miracle.

“You know, they never panicked,” Montesano coach Terry Jensen said of his team’s composure. “Kylar Prante and Jake Herzog made a great play. … I can’t believe it. I can’t remember if we ever won a game on a last-minute play.”

The loss brought bad memories to Cascade Christian coach Randy Davis.

“We had a game like this before back in 2006,” Davis said. “We were down by two scores and then we went up like we did here. And we lost that one on the last play of the game as well.”

Milton led the way as Seaton converted the two-point conversion with a diving run to push the lead to a field-goal margin.

Then the improbable happened.

“The mood after Cascade Christian took the lead was we talked about believing just like the 2012 who won state did,” Prante said of the teams approach to the game’s final series.

The loss ends the defending Cascade Christian, the defending 1A state champions, season and gives Montesano their first victory over the Cougars.

“That’s a class organization and I told Terry (Jensen) that if we had to lose to somebody, let it be him,” Davis said. “But it hurts.”

CLASS 4A

At Graham-Kapowsin 38, Mount Si 13: Even by committee, the No. 4 Eagles seemingly can run the football on any defense with ease — and did Saturday at Art Crate Field.

Kobe Merriweather rushed for 184 yards on 32 carries, and Aaron Wright chipped in with 149 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Graham-Kapowsin kept the Wildcats’ high-flying passing attack grounded.

The Eagles will host No. 2 Lake Stevens next weekend in the 4A quarterfinals.

Ninth-grader Dylan Morris threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes to Beau Blowers (15 yards) and Josiah Kekoa (13) as the Eagles built a 21-0 lead with 2:35 remaining in the first half.

After that, the Graham-Kapowsin rushing attack took over, finishing with 346 yards on 54 attempts.

“They have just gotten better and better,” Eagles coach Eric Kurle said. “And today it was dumping (rain) so hard … we had to run the ball. Our kids blocked really well up front. We didn’t get any really big runs, but we got 7-8 yards per carry.”

At Moses Lake 28, Bellarmine Prep 27: Coach Brian Jensen had the Chiefs right where he wanted them — on the leg of placekicker Bryce Bendixen at the end of the game.

But Bendixen’s 37-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide left with 30 seconds remaining, and Moses Lake survived at Lions Field.

The Chiefs took a 28-27 lead on quarterback Wes Harrington’s 1-yard sneak with 3:50 to go. Their drive ate up nearly eight minutes.

But Bellarmine Prep converted a fourth-and-11 on Christian Moore’s 15-yard completion to Blake Wilcoxen at the Chiefs’ 21 with 1:20 to go.

“We didn’t want to do anything crazy, but just run to the middle of the field and run the clock down,” Jensen said.

Bendixen had made two field goals earlier in the game before missing the last kick. He had also hit a 34-yard field goal to beat Olympia in overtime earlier this season.

Moore completed 20 of 24 passes for 234 yards. Ahmad Lewis rushed 25 times for 79 yards and a pair of third-quarter touchdowns.

CLASS 3A

Lakes 53, at Kamiakin 27: Play-calling is easy when quarterback Jaiave Magalei is under center.

Magalei passed for 279 yards and a pair of touchdowns, rushed for 117 yards and three scores, and the eighth-ranked Lancers won at Lampson Stadium in Kennewick.

With the win, Lakes will host a 3A quarterfinal game for the first time since 2011. It plays Kennewick, which beat Wilson later Saturday on the same field.

Magalei broke a 20-20 tie with his 9-yard touchdown scamper with 3:57 to go in the first half. Nearly three minutes later, he added another one — a 3-yard score.

“He ran the ball like crazy,” Lakes coach Dave Miller said. “We did a lot of zone-read stuff, and he kept it more than he usually does.

“It is nice having a quarterback that makes great decisions.”

Ninth-ranked Kamiakin trimmed it to 34-27 on Zach Borisch’s 27-yard scoring strike to Darreon Moore early in the third quarter. But Lakes responded six minutes later with Elijah McMillon’s 1-yard touchdown plunge, and the Lancers were never threatened after that.

Andrew Bostic had 103 rushing yards on 20 carries. Chris Hunter caught nine passes for 139 yards and a touchdown.

“We are just playing great,” Miller said. “We are pretty darned excited about next week. It will be nice to be back home.”

At Kennewick 20, Wilson 13: Ramon Gutierrez’s 31-yard touchdown scamper with 9  1/2 minutes to go was the back-breaking score, and the Lions advanced to the 3A quarterfinals for the first time since 2011 with a victory at Lampson Stadium.

Trailing 14-0, the Rams reached the Kennewick 27-yard line at the end of the third quarter. But a hands-to-the-face penalty backed them up 15 yards, and the drive stalled.

Gutierrez popped the long touchdown run two minutes later for a 20-0 Kennewick lead.

The Rams rallied for two touchdowns in five minutes — the first on Alex Motonaga’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Martin Jones, and then a Motonaga 2-yard quarterback keeper with 3:32 to go.

Kennewick ran out the clock, converting a third-and-10 on a screen pass, and picking up other first downs on runs of 12 and 13 yards in the final three minutes.

CLASS 1A

At Colville 29, Eatonville 0: Four Indians players rushed for touchdowns, and the defending state runner-up rolled to a home victory over the Cruisers.

It was the first time Eatonville had been shut out in the state playoffs since losing 42-0 to Pullman in the 2A quarterfinals in 2003.

The Indians took a 7-0 lead on William Burton’s 70-yard touchdown scamper just 4  1/2 minutes into the game.

They went up 15-0 on a safety after sacking Eatonville quarterback Jacob McCormick with 2:17 to go in the first half.

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 12:08 AM with the headline "Prep football: Montesano’s miracle last-second touchdown sinks Cascade Christian."