Deep backfield helps Bonney Lake High football to program’s most successful season ever

The Bonney Lake High football team has been on quite the roll these past few weeks, pulling off one upset after another as the Panthers marched into the Class 3A state quarterfinals.

But that run ended Friday when Bonney Lake was overmatched against 3A defending state champion Eastside Catholic (11-0) at Seattle Memorial Stadium, as the Panthers lost, 47-7.

After the game, coach Jason Silbaugh had one message for his players, as this Bonney Lake team went deeper into the postseason than any team coached by Silbaugh: “This loss does not tarnish your legacy.”

“We reached farther than anyone thought we could,” he said. “Me and the coaches knew we had something with this team at the start of the season ... how we got here wasn’t the way we drew it up.”

Bonney Lake’s lone score came late in the first quarter when Ethan Koepke pulled down a Dane Wagner 22-yard pass for the score. The score was Koepke’s eighth touchdown during the Panther’s postseason run.

After the loss, some seniors couldn’t hold back the raw emotions of the game — the heartfelt loss of a season coming to an end.

“It feels great to be able to reach this far ... to be able to help my team when it mattered most for us,” Koepke said while holding back tears. “It feels great what we were able to do this year. The loss hurts, but I’m glad I played with those guys.”

“These guys played hard and no one gave up — no matter if people believed in us, we believed in each other,” Jordan Cozzi said.

That belief led Bonney Lake (7-5) deeper into the postseason than many predicted at the start of the season.

“Nobody ever believes in us — they take us lightly,” junior Jason Day said. “By the time the second half rolls around, they’re like ‘Oh, okay, they’re hanging around. They can actually do this.’ They don’t realize it until it happens.”

That, in a nutshell, has been Bonney Lake’s run into the 3A quarterfinals.

“It was a big win for us and we came through ... it was a great win and it was a great touchdown,” said Patrick Oxile, who had the game-clinching interception return that sealed Bonney Lake’s first-round win over Lincoln.

Bonney Lake wasn’t supposed to be the team to make it this far. The Panthers weren’t even considered by many to be a playoff team. Yet here they stand deep into the November postseason.

The Panthers’ trio of running backs consistently broke the backs of defenses, paving the way for the historic run through the postseason.

“These guys earned it. They worked hard at practice every week, and they just believe,” Silbaugh said after Bonney Lake upset Lincoln, 35-28, last week. “They believe they’re going to win.”

Behind the inspirational postseason run of Koepke, the bulldozing work of Day or the playmaking ability of Marcus Hamilton, Bonney Lake earned their date with the Crusaders.

Back in August, Silbaugh went into the season preparing to have a balanced offense behind senior quarterback Dane Wagner. The tools are there as Wagner and senior receiver Jordan Cozzi were preparing to feed off the work of the ground game. Why not when three running backs make life miserable for defenses, forcing them up in the box and opening up the passing game? It was a strategy Silbaugh believed could help Bonney Lake sneak in back then.

But then Wagner went down with an injury early in the season.

“Me going down early in the season put a damper on our season for four or five games,” Wagner said. “Other than that, we overcame it. It was adversity like the coach had been saying — it helped us grow (and) it helped us establish our run.”

Bonney Lake had to rediscover itself when Wagner went down. The season hinged on the backs of three players.

Growth and retooling

With Wagner down, Bonney Lake didn’t simply overhaul the offense; the Panthers retooled it to work with what they had on hand. And what they had was a dynamic backfield that rose to the occasion.

“I really think playing in (the SPSL) prepares you — makes you better,” Hamilton said.

Bonney Lake’s league season had its ups and downs, as the teams which finished above them — Sumner, Lakes, Auburn Mountainview — each handed the Panthers a double-digit loss. But the games they needed to win, the Panthers did, culminating in a 13-10 victory over defending league champion Peninsula on Oct. 30.

“Even in the losses, they still believed they had a chance to win,” Silbaugh admitted after the playoff-clinching win over Peninsula. “It’s amazing to see how much heart they leave out on the field.”

In each and every win this season, Day was the workhorse, using every bit of his 5-foot-8, 185-pound frame to punish defensive linemen, all in the effort to tire out opponents so the big plays can go to work.

“I like the work, and if Marcus or Ethan can get a big run, it’s a win for us,” Day said.

Even with little yards against the Seahawks, Day still provided enough. Peninsula looked tired and out of sorts when Wagner found Hamilton before the playmaker went to work on the 44-yard, game-deciding touchdown.

“That Peninsula game is where we all started to gel — where we started to believe we could do this,” Hamilton said.

The run ends

Even with Bonney Lake’s run ending against Eastside Catholic on Saturday, it doesn’t mean what happened over the previous weeks is any less important going forward. This was a young Panther squad, with just 19 seniors on the roster.

The young players made significant strides to make it this far, especially with a season of uncertainty. Wagner, a senior, said it best: “The younger guys stepped it up this season.”

“They did not back down from any challenge, and as a senior, I appreciate that,” Cozzi said. “There’s good things ahead for this program.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Deep backfield helps Bonney Lake High football to program’s most successful season ever."