Bethel’s late-game rally falls short in 21-20 state quarterfinal loss to Kennewick
With 25 seconds to go in the fourth quarter of Bethel’s Class 3A state quarterfinal matchup against visiting Kennewick at Art Crate Field on Saturday night, Braves’ quarterback Kekoa Visperas connected with receiver Cameron Parker for a 43-yard touchdown pass, putting No. 4 Bethel within one point of tying the game.
It was a perfect throw and catch and an unlikely, late-game heroic drive from an offense that has largely struggled for most of the evening. But Bethel still needed to make the extra point.
And Bethel’s kicker — who had been lights out the entire season — had his point after touchdown kick attempt blocked, effectively sealing a wild 21-20 win for No. 5 Kennewick.
“Heartbreaking loss,” said Bethel running back Will Latu.
The Braves weren’t quite done yet after the blocked extra point, successfully converting an onside kick afterward to retake possession. Visperas’ went for a Hail Mary attempt to Will Latu in the game’s final seconds, which fell incomplete.
“I knew that was my read,” Visperas said. “I didn’t feel like anyone else was really open. I know if Will sliced the middle like he did against Garfield, that was going to be open. We just knew that was going to be the attack.”
It was a bizarre, three-hour high school football game, stretched out by several officiating meetings that lasted several minutes, discussing routine calls, including an approximately 20-minute stoppage of play for a routine 5-yard penalty called on Kennewick in the third quarter.
According to Bethel coach Mark Iddins, he was told the long stoppage in play was due to Kennewick coaches protesting the illegal procedure call.
“I’ve never seen anything like that, where they were protesting a call and it was a 20-minute break, when we had some momentum going for us,” Iddins said. “That was tough. I had a tough time with that one.”
Regardless, Bethel had chances to win the game and failed to capitalize, repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot with costly penalties which stalled drives.
“They’re a good defensive team,” Iddins said. “They’re really solid on defense and they’re really solid on what they do. They definitely made a lot of plays. What frustrated me was how many penalties we had on offense where it was stupid false starts, holding penalties. It’s hard to win games against tough teams when you’re doing that.”
Bethel quarterback Kekoa Visperas completed 16-of-33 passes for 216 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions, also rushing four times for 23 yards and a touchdown. Will Latu led the running backs with 16 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown. Puka Sokimi caught eight passes for 84 yards and Cameron Parker hauled in three receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
Kennewick was paced by a strong rushing attack. Sophomore Myles Mayovsky rushed 23 times for 106 yards and senior Ethan Woolery rushed 14 times for 62 yards in the win. Quarterback Elijah Tanner completed 7-of-14 passes for 49 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, also rushing seven times for 14 yards and two touchdowns.
Even with Kennewick scoring with 1:06 to play to take a 21-14 lead, Bethel never gave up hope that a comeback was imminent.
“We’re never going to stop fighting until the clock hits zero,” Latu said. “We tried to do it one last time. It just didn’t go our way today.”
Iddins said he was proud of the fight his team showed.
“I was proud of the way we battled,” Iddins said. “We never gave up. It’s been that way all year. We felt like we had a group that could make a run. Just felt like we could keep it going. Unfortunate that it ends.”
