Fresno State’s Hill interviews at UW

SEATTLE — The candidacy of Fresno State’s Pat Hill for the Washington coaching job may have taken a more serious turn Saturday.

A Washington football source told The Times that Hill interviewed with UW officials on Saturday. The Fresno Bee reported on its Fresno State football blog that Hill boarded a flight to Seattle early Saturday morning, and his car was parked in the airport parking lot. The Bee cited two unidentified airport employees.

Another source told The Times the Huskies are expected to interview Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly this week. Kelly led Cincinnati to a 10-2 record and the Big East championship this season.

A University of Washington official said the school would not comment on the search.

Fresno State athletic director Thomas Boeh would neither confirm nor deny that UW had contacted him about talking with Hill. However, he told the Bee that Hill had “earned the right to look at other opportunities” because of his 12 years as coach of the Bulldogs.

There have been indications of strong interest by UW in Hill since Washington began searching for a replacement for Tyrone Willingham in late October.

Hill, 56, is known to be interested in the position, and he also has close ties with Alabama coach Nick Saban, who was hired by UW president Mark Emmert in 1999 to coach at Louisiana State. Emmert and UW athletic director Scott Woodward are known to value the opinion of Saban, who worked alongside Hill as an assistant with the Cleveland Browns from 1992 to 1994.

Finances don’t figure to be an issue with Hill, who has a contract through 2010 paying him roughly $1.2 million per season with no buyout penalty, according to the Bee. Willingham made roughly $1.6 million per season.

The Bee reported that Hill is expected to return to Fresno tonight for the team’s annual awards banquet.

Fresno State finished the regular season 7-5 after a 61-10 loss at Boise State on Friday. One of the Bulldogs’ wins was a 36-31 victory at UCLA.

Hill is 92-60 in 12 seasons at Fresno State. The Bulldogs have won only a share of one Western Athletic Conference title under Hill but have played in eight bowl games and are eligible for one this season.

The only coach confirmed to have interviewed for the job is Notre Dame offensive coordinator Michael Haywood, who was in Seattle two weeks ago.

One source said Washington contacted Texas Tech coach Mike Leach last week, but Leach said he wouldn’t talk about any job until after his team had completed its regular season. Tech finished its regular season with a win over Baylor on Saturday.

The Huskies will finish their season Saturday at California, a game that will mark the finale for Willingham. He agreed to coach the final five games after being told he wouldn’t be retained.

Woodward has given no strict timeline for a decision but said early- to mid-December was most realistic.

— Bob Condotta/The Seattle Times

Durbin uses legs to lead Mustangs to finals

MOSES LAKE — With 60 touchdown passes last year and another 60 this season, Jordan Durbin should have no surprises left. It’s all been done, and it’s all been caught on film.

Except what he did on Saturday.

With his star receiver sidelined and his top running back hobbled, Prosser’s senior quarterback unleashed a rarely seen dimension — his legs — in a 41-28 victory over Burlington-Edison that sends the Mustangs into next week’s Class 2A championship in the Tacoma Dome.

In a semifinal game otherwise dominated by Prosser, Durbin squashed the one brief swell of momentum the Tigers had with an 84-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.

Not a broken-play scramble, a designed run called to do exactly what it did — break Burlington’s back.

“I haven’t run the ball that much this year because stuff like that we set aside for the playoffs,” said Durbin, who for the first time in his career led a game in rushing with 102 yards. “I got my name called a couple times today and I was happy to hear that.”

Durbin’s first running call seemed big enough — a 14-yard scamper on fourth-and-3 that led directly to a touchdown with no time left in the first half. After the run, Durbin connected with Matt Young on a 10-yard scoring pass to take a 14-0 lead into the break.

Prosser quickly took a 21-0 lead on its first possession of the third quarter, and that’s when B-E made its bid to get back in the game. After drawing within 21-7, the Tigers had Prosser pinned deep and facing third-and-10.

Momentum was beginning the swing at Lions Field.

And then Durbin got the call again.

“The snap was a little high, which was great because I kind of delayed it,” he said. “I broke to the right, got in a lane and saw a bunch of green grass in front of me. I was a little shocked and just kept thinking, ‘Don’t get caught.’”

He did — 84 yards later by his celebrating teammates in the end zone.

“College guys always ask, ‘Can he run?’ Yeah, he can run,” affirmed Prosser coach Tom Moore with a smile. “We don’t use that earlier in the season because we want him healthy. He broke one against Lynden (also in a semifinal) last year. He can definitely run.”

Not only did the breakaway dash deflate Burlington’s notion of a comeback, but it kept Prosser’s offense humming despite being without its two biggest weapons. Two-way standout Kirby Moore caught the first of Durbin’s three touchdown passes in the first quarter but took the rest of the afternoon off to protect a hard hit to the head, and running back Dylan Bolt exited in the third quarter with an ankle injury shortly after scoring his 12th touchdown of the season.

The Mustangs still rolled up 445 yards and got a rugged effort from their defense, which held B-E to a single score through three quarters.

“A lot of guys stepped up when we needed it,” said senior linebacker Sep Boyle, who was in on 11 tackles. “When we had guys get hurt, the coaches said, ‘It’s on you guys.’ We took care of our business.”

Kyle Schuetze, another senior linebacker, was in on 12 tackles, and sophomore Dominic Garza intercepted a pass late in the second quarter when B-E was threatening.

The Tigers (11-2), who fell to Prosser 42-7 in last year’s title game, did grind out 172 yards on the ground in an attempt to outslug Prosser. But only three of 45 runs went for 10 yards or more.

“I love a game like this. Hit ‘em hard and play ‘em tough,” Boyle said. “We did a great job reading their guards and center and we didn’t go for the tricks.”

Prosser’s postseason rematch theme continues next week with Lynden upsetting Archbishop Murphy 21-13 in Saturday’s other semifinal.

The Mustangs (13-0), who ousted Lynden 47-30 in last year’s semifinals, will meet the Lions (11-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the program’s eighth championship appearance since 1991.

Burlington-Edison	0	0	7	21	—	28
Prosser	7	7	13	14	—	41
Pro — Kirby Moore 17 pass from Jordan Durbin (Miguel Munoz kick) Pro — Matt Young 10 pass from Durbin (Munoz kick) Pro — Dylan Bolt 13 run (Munoz kick) BE — Cole Sager 2 pass from Dylan Boe (Andrew Furney kick) Pro — Durbin 84 run (kick failed) Pro — Miguel Godinez 2 run (Munoz kick) BE — Stetson Shearer 2 run (Furney kick) Pro — Young 27 pass from Durbin (Munoz kick) BE — Mikey Sanchez 83 kickoff return (Furney kick) BE — Troy O’Neill 6 pass from Boe (Furney kick) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — BE, Shearer 13-72, Sager 16-67, Sanchez 5-34, Boe 6-8, Jeff Adams 5-8, Team 1-minus 11. Pro, Durbin 6-102, Bolt 13-77, Godinez 12-48, Moore 1-5, Dominic Garza 1-2. PASSING — BE, Boe 9-16-1-85, Shearer 1-1-0-2. Pro, Durbin 16-25-0-211. RECEIVING — BE, Sanchez 4-57, O’Neill 3-22, Travis Denham 1-4, Boe 1-2, Sager 1-2. Pro, Anthony Flores 9-92, Moore 3-71, Young 2-37, Garza 2-11.

Prosser rolls even without Moore

MOSES LAKE — First, Kirby Moore got knocked into next week.

Then his Prosser teammates made sure the Mustangs got there.

Moore, the record-setting receiver whose next football stop will be at Boise State as a go-to receiver for older brother Kellen, doesn’t remember much about what happened in the first half of Prosser’s 41-28 semifinal drubbing of Burlington-Edison.

While he was being tackled at the end of his game-opening kickoff return, Moore’s helmeted head slammed onto the artificial turf. Although he popped up, jogged to the huddle and caught two passes on that opening drive — including a 17-yard touchdown grab — he wasn’t quite himself. Since Moore also plays on the first-team defense, it wasn’t until late in the first quarter before his coaches realized he was a little woozy and pulled him from the lineup.

“I don’t remember much about it,” Moore said after the game. “I just had a real headache, and I got a little dizzy. I played through it on that first drive, but after that I was pretty out of it.”

The Mustangs, though — even without 1,000-yard rusher Dylan Bolt and Prosser’s only lineman with any real size (6-foot-6, 275-pound Kody Hartley), both out most of the second half with injuries — were not out of it.

Without Moore, who has caught more touchdown passes (92, including a state-record 31 this season) than any high school player in history, quarterback Jordan Durbin simply had to find other targets.

“Someone had to step up — and we all did,” said Matt Young, who caught two of Durbin’s three touchdown passes.

No one stepped up more than senior wideout Anthony Flores, who overcame a rough start to haul in nine Durbin passes worth 92 yards.

“We kind of have that bond together,” Durbin said of Flores. “If Kirby goes down, he knows he’s the guy.”

“He made some clutch plays,” Young said of Flores. “Some of those catches he made, I don’t even know how he made them.”

The most remarkable pass-and-catch of the game, though, had to be Durbin’s 10-yard missile to Young on the last play of the first half. With the Mustangs nursing a tenuous 7-0 lead and only three seconds remaining on the clock, Prosser called a play in which one of the two receivers on the left side runs a post and the other runs a fade to the corner. When the safety cheated over to cover the post route, that left Young open on the fade — but only for a split-second.

“I didn’t think I could get it in there,” Durbin said. “The window closed pretty fast.”

But he whistled the ball to Young, who pulled it in as easy as a Tuesday afternoon practice pass for the touchdown and a 14-0 halftime lead.

“Matt Young is a very good player, and a lot of people are going to notice that,” Kirby Moore said after the game. “He can really play.”

So, too, can Moore — and he should be back in the Mustangs’ lineup again when they face Lynden in Saturday’s 1 p.m. championship game at the Tacoma Dome.

“He could have played the second half,” Mustangs coach Tom Moore said. “But we felt like we didn’t need him.”

YVCC rallies to beat Clackamas

LONGVIEW — Nico Sandoval’s tip-in with 1.6 seconds to play boosted Yakima Valley to an 87-86 victory over highly-touted Clackamas on Saturday in the Red Devil Classic at Lower Columbia College.

The win improved the Yaks to 4-1 and put them into a 4 p.m. championship game today against host LCC.

YVCC, down 62-50 with about six minutes left, rallied to take the lead in the final minute only to have the Cougars’ Austin Dunn score with nine seconds to play for an 86-85 Clackamas lead.

After a Yakima Valley timeout, Sandoval singlehandedly broke the Cougars’ full-court press and passed to LeMar Anglin, who missed a shot in heavy traffic.

“It was one of those shots where LeMar was probably fouled, but they never call it late,” YVCC coach Ray Funk said. “But Nico sneaked around to the other side and tipped it in.”

Rico Wilkins scored 28 points to lead the Yaks, who after totaling 28 turnovers in Friday night’s win over Everett committed only 13 against Clackamas.

Dennis Wilson had 13 points, Anglin 12 and Jody Johnson had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sandoval, who did not commit a turnover, had eight points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.

Dunn had 24 points and Chehales Tapscott totaled 22 points and 10 boards for Clackamas.

CLACKAMAS — J.C. Cook 5-15 2-5 14, Jeff Dorman 5-12 2-4 13, Chehales Tapscott 9-15 4-7 22, Austin Dunn 8-13 6-6 24, Wilde 3-7 0-0 6, Fife 1-2 1-2 3, Martin 1-2 0-0 2, Manley 0-0 0-0 0, King 1-3 0-4 2. Totals 33-69 15-28 86.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Rico Wilkins 10-26 4-4 28, Jody Johnson 4-11 3-4 11, Dennis Wilson 6-12 0-2 13, Sandoval 2-6 4-4 8, LeMar Anglin 4-14 4-6 12, B. Wilson 4-10 0-2 9, Holliday 0-1 0-0 0, Thornton 2-2 2-3 6, Gillispie 0-1 0-0 0, Spellman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-83 17-25 87.

Halftime — Clackamas 45, Yakima Valley 40. 3-point goals — CCC 5-13 (Cook 2-4, Dorman 1-3, Dunn 2-4, Wilde 0-1); YVCC 6-17 (B. Wilson 1-3, Wilkins 4-9, D. Wilson 1-5). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — CCC 48 (Tapscott 10); YVCC 49 (Johnson 10). Assists — CCC 17 (Dorman 4, Dunn 4); YVCC 16 (Sandoval 5). Turnovers — CCC 21, YVCC 13. Total fouls — CCC 19, YVCC 22.

CWU bounces back with win

BELMONT, Calif. — Jake Beitinger scored 21 points in limited playing time and Matt Penoncello added 19 as 11th-ranked Central Washington beat UC San Diego 78-70 in the Notre Dame de Namur Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday.

The victory, coming after a disappointing loss to Sonoma State the previous evening, improved the Wildcats to 2-1. They’ll next compete in the Shilo Inn Invitational on Friday and Saturday at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho.

Against San Diego (1-2), a team Sparling expects to finish in the upper echelon on the California Collegiate Athletic Association, Central shot 52 percent including 11 for 21 from 3-point range.

Beitinger was 7 for 10 from the field, including 2 for 3 from long range, while playing only 21 minutes due to foul trouble. Penoncello was 7 for 11 overall and 4 for 7 from long distance.

They offset a deliberate Tritons offense led by 31 points from Jordan Lawley, a 6-foot-4 small forward.

“He’s as good as anyone we’ll see this season,” Sparling said. “We played extremely well defensively against a system that’s tough to guard. They ran the shot clock down to five (seconds) or less on a lot of possessions, and sometimes they’d still hit one from 25 feet.”

CWU led by 17 points before San Diego rallied, then converted enough free throws to seal the win.

“That’s the way we should play 40 minutes of basketball,” Sparling said. “It was fun to watch.”

CENTRAL WASHINGTON — Clift 1-1 0-0 3, Woods 4-11 0-0 9, Matt Penoncello 7-11 1-3 19, Spevak 3-6 1-1 8, Jake Beitinger 7-10 5-6 21, Monti 1-3 2-4 5, Scott 1-3 0-0 3, Foote 1-5 4-4 6, Sivak 1-1 0-0 2, Sprinker 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-52 13-18 78.

UC SAN DIEGO — Alan Husted 4-9 0-0 11, Kelvin Kim 3-8 3-4 11, Jordan Lawley 9-17 9-12 31, Darryl Lawlor 0-3 1-2 1, Christian Hatch 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan 1-1 0-0 2, Shane Poppen 2-4 10-12 14, Ruiz 0-1 0-0 0, Maulhardt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-43 23-30 70.

Halftime — Central Washington 44, UC San Diego 34. 3-point goals — CWU 11-21 (Penoncello 4-7, Beitinger 2-3, Clift 1-1, Monti 1-3, Spevak 1-3, Woods 1-2, Scott 1-2); UCSD 9-19 (Lawley 4-6, Husted 3-4, Kim 2-6, Lawlor 0-2, Ruiz 0-1). Fouled out — Poppen. Rebounds — CWU 28 (Spevak 7, Woods 7); UCSD 25 (Poppen 7). Assists — CWU 18 (Spevak 6); UCSD 11 (Kim 3, Lawley 3). Turnovers — CWU 12, UCSD 13. Total fouls — CWU 19, UCSD 19.

Yakima Valley falls to CSI alums

TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Brittany Weaver scored 14 points to lead five Yakima Valley players in double figures, but the Yaks were defeated Saturday by the Idaho All Stars 87-78 in their final game of the CSI Thanksgiving Tournament at College of Southern Idaho.

It was YVCC’s third straight defeat in the tourney, leaving its record at 3-3. The losses came against imposing competition, however, including Saturday’s game against alums from CSI’s powerful program.

Kaitlin McBride, Nicole DeRosier and Nicole Fenumiai had 12 points each for the Yaks, who shot only 37 percent to the All Stars’ 51. Chelsey Nill added 11 points.

Weaver led Yakima Valley rebounders with nine, while the All Stars’ Jennifer Cannon totaled 27 points and 16 boards to help her team outscore the Yaks 45-35 in the second half.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Brittany Weaver 5-13 1-3 14, Kaitlin McBride 5-6 2-6 12, Nicole DeRosier 5-16 0-0 12, Urquhart 0-1 1-2 1, Shaw 0-5 0-0 0, Fulton 0-1 2-2 2, Swetzof 0-2 2-2 2, Druffle 0-1 1-2 1, Gough 3-7 0-0 8, Chelsey Nill 4-10 0-0 11, Belcher 1-1 0-0 3, Nicole Fenumiai 4-9 4-6 12. Totals 27-72 13-23 78.

IDAHO ALL STARS — Sears 1-6 0-0 3, Ashley Baker 8-11 0-0 17, Leah Holloway 4-6 4-6 12, Jennifer Cannon 8-17 10-14 27, Hope 3-6 0-0 6, Bingham 0-2 0-0 0, Knight 1-4 0-2 2, Ka Shippen 8-13 4-5 20. Totals 33-65 18-27 87.

Halftime — Yakima Valley 43, Idaho All Stars 42. 3-point goals — YVCC 11-32 (Weaver 3-8, DeRosier 2-7, Shaw 0-4, Swetzof 0-1, Druffle 0-1, Gough 2-6, Nill 3-4, Belcher 1-1); IAS 3-7 (Sears 1-4, Baker 1-2, Cannon 1-1). Fouled out — McBride, Baker, Knight. Rebounds — YVCC 36 (Weaver 9); IAS 48 (Cannon 16). Assists — YVCC 19 (Weaver 5, Fulton 5); IAS 24 (Sears 10). Turnovers — YVCC 14, IAS 19. Total fouls — YVCC 22, IAS 23.

Ike goes 2-0 in jamboree

YAKIMA — Taylor Elmo totaled 22 points as Eisenhower won both of its 10-minute games in the Ike Jamboree on Saturday night.

Highland and Selah were 1-1, White Swan and Toppenish 1-0-1 and Naches Valley was 0-2 despite getting 13 points from Brandon Gillespie.

Prosser vs. Burlington-Edison photo gallery

All photos by Kris Holland/Yakima Herald-Republic

Photos published here are available for purchase through the Yakima Herald-Republic and Pictopia.com. Photos, each suitable for framing, are delivered on archive-quality paper.

See the online photo reprint order form.

Tigers the latest familiar foe for Mustangs

YAKIMA — It seems the deeper Prosser’s football team goes into the postseason, the more familiar its opponents become.

First round: Selah in a CWAC rematch.

Quarterfinal: Othello in another conference rerun.

Today’s semifinal: Burlington-Edison in a repeat of the 2007 Class 2A state championship.

But while the Tigers are viewing their clash with top-ranked Prosser in Moses Lake as “unfinished business,” the Mustangs are focused on only one thing — a return to Tacoma for another crack at a title.

“It’s a whole different year,” stressed senior quarterback Jordan Durbin, who threw for 255 yards in last year’s 42-7 drubbing of B-E. “We’ve got some guys back and so do they, but we’re both different teams now. And just because we had a big game against them last year, nobody’s overconfident about it this time.”

Perhaps not overconfident but definitely motivated in light of comments this week from Burlington-Edison coach Bruce Shearer, who appears to carry a grudge not only for last year’s title loss but against Prosser’s entire program.

“They ran the score up on us, like they did with a lot of teams last year,” Shearer told the Skagit Valley Herald. “I know there’s a lot of people in the state of Washington that would like to see us beat them. Setting records at the expense of high school kids is not the right thing to do, and that’s what they’ve been doing since I’ve been here.”

Those words will likely get some play in Prosser’s locker room prior to today’s 3 p.m. kickoff at Lions Field, a recently renovated facility that includes FieldTurf — the surface used at Pasco’s Edgar Brown Stadium — and new home-side bleachers.

Pre-game talk aside, the keys in today’s semifinal are centered with each team’s defense.

Burlington-Edison was strafed by Prosser in last year’s championship for 458 yards — 203 rushing and 255 passing. And even though the Tigers felt it was their mistakes (four turnovers) that foiled the day, they allowed 22 first downs and forced only one punt.

But while B-E must address the issue of better handling Prosser’s offensive schemes, the Mustangs must do a better job defending the run in the wake of last week’s hard-fought quarterfinal win. Othello’s Lee Gomez rushed 30 times for 235 yards, the most against Prosser in nine years.

That’s exactly where the Tigers hope to have success — on the ground with running backs Cole Sager and Jeff Adams — in an effort to sustain long drives and keep Prosser’s offense off the field.

“They will find different ways to outnumber you at the point of attack, be it with their wishbone backs or pulling linemen,” pointed out Doug Fassler, Prosser’s defensive coordinator. “They run the ball very well and ask their quarterback (Dylan Boe) to do just enough to keep you honest with the passing game. He is a sophomore and he will be a good one, but they really count on their running game to move the chains.”

Sager has rushed for 1,019 yards and scored 18 touchdowns, but it was Shearer’s son, Stetson, who ran for 83 yards and a touchdown to help rally B-E to a 14-7 quarterfinal win over Pullman in Spokane last week.

“We really have to stay disciplined with our linebacker reads,” said Fassler, “and play what we see.”

The Tigers’ stout defense has had only one bad night, a 41-23 loss a month ago at Lynden, which is playing Archbishop Murphy in today’s other semifinal. The Tigers have racked up 30 interceptions, and Sager had two big picks in the second half against Pullman.

“It’s a good matchup with strength on strength,” said Durbin, who has a 70-percent completion rate with 57 touchdowns and six interceptions. “They’re a typical westside team. They like to grind it out and be the tough guys.”

Class 2A semifinal preview

Prosser (12-0) vs. Burlington-Edison (11-1)

When: Today, 3 p.m.

Where: Lions Field, Moses Lake.

Tickets: $9 adults, $7 students.

At stake: A trip to the Tacoma Dome for the championship game on Dec. 6. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

On the other side: Archbishop Murphy (12-0) and Lynden (10-2) meet in the other semifinal today in the Tacoma Dome. Game time is 10 a.m.

State rankings for semifinalists: 1, Prosser; 2, Archbishop Murphy; 5, Lynden; 7, Burlington-Edison.

Playoff history: Prosser is 7-1 in state semifinal games and Burlington is 3-1. Prosser’s history is much more recent, making all eight semifinal appearances since 1991.

Stat leaders — RB: Cole Sager (BE) 133-1,019-13 TDs; Dylan Bolt (P) 154-1,004-11 TDs. QB: Dylan Boe (BE) 54-122-906-7 TDs; Jordan Durbin (P) 229-327-3,411-57 TDs. WR: Troy O’Neill (BE) 28-538-4 TDs; Kirby Moore (P) 114-1,788-30 TDs.

Record watch: While Kirby Moore owns the state record for career receiving TDs with 91 he’s not far from adding the all-purpose record. With 95, adding interception and punt returns, Moore is three away from breaking the mark set by Elma’s Todd Basler in 2002. … BE junior Andrew Furney has kicked 12 field goals (19 career) and is two away from tying the single-season state record.

Next Page »