Bonney Lake’s dream season ends with 47-7 loss to No. 1 Eastside Catholic in state quarterfinals
No Bonney Lake High School football team has ever played in a state quarterfinal game like this year’s team did Friday night.
Coach Jason Silbaugh’s eyes began to swell talking about his team, and not because it had just lost 47-7 to top-ranked and defending 3A state champion Eastside Catholic underneath the Space Needle at Memorial Stadium.
“The fact that we were playing here and nobody thought we would be,” Silbaugh said. “I don’t think anybody thought we could ever do it. I think that is the biggest part, is seeing this and that they deserved to be here. No matter what anybody says, they deserve to be here. It’s awesome.”
And for almost three minutes in the first quarter, Bonney Lake (7-5) did to Eastside Catholic (11-0) what no other team in the state of Washington had done.
Have a lead.
The fact that we were playing here and nobody thought we would be. I don’t think anybody thought we could ever do it. I think that is the biggest part, is seeing this and that they deserved to be here. No matter what anybody says, they deserve to be here. It’s awesome.
Bonney Lake coach Jason Silbaugh
Eastside Catholic quarterback Harley Kirsch hit Matt Laris for a 33-yard touchdown on fourth-and-14 on its opening drive after Bonney Lake defensive lineman Caleb Davis had sacked Kirsch twice.
The Crusaders missed the extra point, though, and Bonney Lake responded with a 12-play, 72-yard drive that ended with Dane Wagner’s 22-yard TD pass to running back Ethen Koepke — Koepke’s eighth touchdown in the Panthers’ three postseason games.
The only other time Eastside Catholic has trailed in a game this year was its season opener against Oceanside of California (a 49-13 Crusaders win).
“It took us a little time to transition to their run game stuff,” Eastside Catholic coach Jeremy Thielbahr said. “Last week was so much more of a spread team (Auburn Mountainview). We had to be more physical tonight.”
Eastside Catholic then scored 41 unanswered points.
Kirsch, a Cornell commit, was nearly flawless. He completed 20 of 23 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns, not including one rushing touchdown, before exiting in the fourth quarter with Eastside Catholic comfortably ahead.
“Our quarterback is phenomenal,” Thielbahr said. “The way Harley Kirsch plays … he’s just so accurate, he’s so good with his eyes. Harley has always run the show, but he’s got such great command right now.”
Kirsch eclipsed 3,000 passing yards for the season on Friday — the second consecutive year he’s thrown for 3,000 yards.
“I’m excited to head to the (Tacoma) Dome and get out of this cold weather and be in the Final Four,” Kirsch said. “That’s a great accomplishment. Hopefully we can win and make a championship run and have a happy ending.”
Senior receiver Matt Laris had nine catches for 183 yards and both Hunter Bryant and Devon Arbis-Jackson had more than 85 receiving yards.
With all that talent on the other side, Bonney Lake needed to play mistake-free like it played in last week’s victory over previously unbeaten Lincoln — the Panthers’ first state victory in school history.
But they fumbled on their second possession of the game, trailing by a touchdown, and Eastside Catholic scored again to take a 21-7 lead.
Silbaugh afterward said he was simply exhausted. This was a team that started the season 2-3, was down to its third-string quarterback and had to beat Peninsula in the regular-season finale just to reach the postseason.
“It’s been such a hard year just because of the adversity we’ve dealt with, the injuries — every week it seemed like something,” Silbaugh said. “But I’m so proud of our kids. I’m proud of them. That’s the bottom line. Every single one of these kids played their heart out all year.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Bonney Lake’s dream season ends with 47-7 loss to No. 1 Eastside Catholic in state quarterfinals."