After wild weekend, Panthers only local team remaining in state playoffs

The fall sports season is about to come to a close, and only one local team remains in the playoffs: the Bonney Lake High football team.

Not many believed this Panther team would be the lone representative this late in the season, but after some weekend upsets of local teams, this how things have shaken out. It’s a black and teal November.

“It feels incredible because these kids just show no-quit in their game,” Bonney Lake coach Jason Silbaugh said after his Panthers upset 3A third-ranked Lincoln, 35-28, on Friday. “They believe in themselves and they play to that belief … it’s just incredible.”

As Bonney Lake enjoys the highest of highs — before coming back to reality as it faces top-ranked and defending 3A champion Eastside Catholic next — other teams have seen their season sunk by unpredictability this time of season is known for.

Who’d have thought Bonney Lake and not fourth-ranked Sumner was going to be in the 3A quarterfinals? The strange days of November.

Defending 1A state champions Cascade Christian’s last-second loss, 25-22, on Montesano quarterback Jake Herzog’s 50-yard Hail Mary was the perfect embodiment of this weekend’s actions.

“We had a game like this before back in 2006,” Cascade Christian coach Randy 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. That’s a class organization (Montesano) and I told (coach) Terry (Jensen) that if we had to lose to somebody, let it be him. But it hurts.”

As the Cougars struggled in contain the Bulldog offense, and as the offense struggled to move the ball for three and half quarters, it looked like this wasn’t Cascade Christian’s night. Then the Cougars flipped a 19-7 deficit into a 22-19 lead with 44 seconds left in the game. It was exciting, it was fast and it was Cougar football at its best. Then the improbable happened.

Herzog wiggled, squeezed and shook off any would-be tacklers moving the ball to midfield with 13 seconds remaining. The next play, Herzog took off but fumbled it to drain the clock out. But the call was reversed. Herzog had snagged the ball out of bounds with 3 seconds left and plenty of time for the Bulldogs miracle in the rain.

Last Tuesday, the Puyallup High girls soccer team had a tough travel day as it hit the road to Yakima to face West Valley in the opening round of the 4A state tournament. The Vikings suffered a 1-0 loss, ending their season after reclaiming the 4A South Puget Sound League crown.

For Sumner, the Spartans dropped their game at home to Arlington, 1-0, after facing a tough keeper that has given up little all season.

Knowing both teams, there’s no blame and no complaints. Just get back to work and get better as a team, because next year they’ll right their ships.

Arguably the toughest loss all weekend comes from Emerald Ridge High volleyball’s state loss to SPSL South rival Curtis in the 4A state finals.

This Emerald Ridge team making it that far says a lot about the coaching and the talent, as back-to-back second-place finishes are nothing to be ashamed of. But losing the championship to the school’s biggest rival these past two season hurts, especially losing state to the one team that stripped the Jaguars of their SPSL championship run.

But these are teams led by great coaches who have instilled a philosophy of success within each program. Yes, the talent has enough quality and is deep enough to prevent any slip-ups for each team.

Each of these losses is a teachable moment — lessons each team is sure to learn from.

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 4:40 PM with the headline "After wild weekend, Panthers only local team remaining in state playoffs."