Bellevue surprises Lakes through the air, wins 31-14 to advance to 3A state quarterfinals
It’s no secret the Bellevue Wolverines have a potent rushing attack with their famous Wing-T offense, but the Wolverines showed off something else in Friday’s 31-14 victory over Lakes in the opening round of the 3A state tournament – a very efficient passing game.
The Wolverines jumped on the Lancers early with two touchdown passes to senior Joshua Goates, one coming from senior Alex Reid for 30 yards on a halfback pass, and the other coming from junior Bryson Sleeper for 46 yards. The two scores gave the Wolverines (8-2) a 14-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter and forced the Lancers to fight from behind for the entire game.
“I thought we did a good job against the run, early,” Lakes head coach Dave Miller said. “They caught us on a couple of those play-actions when the (defensive backs) fall asleep a little and think run, run, run. We coached it all week, and we just fell asleep a little bit on it. They put the ball on the money. The halfback pass is tough, you try to stop the run and the guy threw a perfect dime over there. Those first couple of passes hurt.”
The Lancers also had difficulty getting their own running game going. After rushing for 182 yards and three touchdowns a week ago in a win over Snohomish, sophomore running back Devon Nofoa-Masoe managed just three yards on two carries on Friday. The Lancers managed just 45 rushing yards, most of which came on scrambles by junior quarterback Justin Brennan late in the game.
Brennan tried to keep his team in the game through the air, completing 20 of his 34 passing attempts for 284 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw one interception.
“He’s done that all year,” Miller said. “He’s going to be special. He’s very athletic and he sees the field. He did a good job, but yeah, we had a hard time running the football. I was kind of surprised. They did a good job, but I think our offensive line didn’t have our best night of the year, for sure. We’ll look at the film and try to correct it, but it’s tough when it’s the last game of the year.”
The Lancers (7-3) made it interesting with 14 points in the second half, but Bellevue senior running back Alex Reid helped keep them at bay with 137 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns, both of which came in the second half.
The Lancers didn’t play as well as they might have liked, but Miller was proud of his team’s effort, both Friday and all season long.
“I’m really proud of our seniors,” Miller said. “They’ve led us all season long, and they’ve been committed for four years. I’m going to miss them like crazy. They gave us everything you can ask for. Even tonight, the kids just fought hard.”
BOX SCORE
At Bellevue Memorial Stadium (Bellevue H.S.)
Lakes 0 0 6 8 - 14
Bellevue 14 0 3 14 - 31
SCORING PLAYS
B – Joshua Goates 30 pass from Alex Reid (Nicholas Barros-Barreto kick)
B – Goates 46 pass from Bryson Sleeper (Nicholas Barros-Barreto kick)
B – Barros-Barreto 31 FG
L – Tyler Mackay 28 pass from Justin Brennan (kick failed)
B – Reid 26 run (Barros-Barreto kick)
L – Justin Smith 30 pass from Brennan (two-point conversion successful)
B – Reid 30 run (Barros-Barreto kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Passing: L – Justin Brennan 20-34-2-284. B – Alex Reid 1-2-1-30; Bryson Sleeper 2-2-0-56; Joby Schneider 2-2-0-47.
Rushing: L – Devon Nofoa-Masoe 2-3; Justin Brennan 8-43; Abel Patu 1-(-1); Justin Drayton 3-6. B – Joby Schneider 23-94; Alex Reid 15-137-2; Bryson Sleeper 2-(-4); Chase Taylor 2-14; William Wang 1-2.
Receiving: L – Abel Patu 4-34; Devon Nofoa-Masoe 4-13; Tyler Mackay 6-96-1; Rafi Mbuja 4-40; Jaedon Hall 3-65; Justin Drayton 1-6; Justin Smith 1-30-1. B – Joshua Goates 2-76-2; Tim Underwood 1-40; Alex Reid 2-17.
This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 11:44 PM.