They’re called ‘extra’ points for a reason

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — The moral of this story offers a subtle but crucial twist to the old adage, it’s why they play the games.

Saturday in Tomlinson Stadium, with an overflow crowd celebrating a Central Washington touchdown with only six seconds to play, all were reminded why touchdowns count for six points and not seven.

And why the points after are called extra.

Garrett Rolsma, who has been to the CWU’s kicking game what Mike Reilly was to its passing game, has been as close to certainty as one could be in such situations. He had converted 99 consecutive PATs before having one blocked three weeks ago at Western Oregon, and served as a shining symbol of coach Blaine Bennett’s well-groomed special teams.

So the instant that Mike Waller slid to the turf with a 15-yard scoring strike from Cole Morgan in his clutches, it seemed certain that the Wildcats would take their new lease on Division II playoff life into overtime against Northwest Missouri State.

Down 21-20, the only thing needed was an extra point.

Following for the jubilant Wildcats, however, was an abrupt reminder that there’s no such thing as a sure thing.

The snap from Kevin Rowe was true, the hold from Johnny Spevak firm. But the boot from Rolsma barely became airborne when it was smacked — along with the emotions of the home team and an overflow crowd — directly back to earth.

Such occurrences are not that rare. But when one ends a team’s season after 12 straight wins, and dashes its dream of a national championship, it assumes the aura of unprecedence.

Consider the quiet but candid appraisal of Morgan, who after serving as a backup at first Washington State and then Western Washington, had finally become a starter five games ago.

“This is my first loss as a college quarterback,” he said. “Most quarterbacks get the opportunity to learn from a loss. I don’t, and that’s what hurts.”

Bennett, himself a quarterback, clearly understood. He hugged and thanked Morgan, smiling through perhaps a bit of redness in his eyes.

And when asked for general comments on the game, Bennett said, “my first comment is that everyone should stand up when Buddy Wood walks into a room.”

No kidding.

In the final game of a legendary career, the senior linebacker had no fewer than 19 tackles — a personal high and a total that pushed his career number to the top of the school’s list.

Wood, Morgan, Rolsma and Prince Hall, the latter managing nine tackles while playing on a bum leg, epitomized the maturity Bennett frequently alluded to when praising his band of 23 seniors.

But those wondering how or why Central lost Saturday, blocked PAT notwithstanding, should consider this: Northwest Missouri’s seniors are 51-6.

Next Saturday they will oppose California (Pa.) in their fourth consecutive playoff semifinal and, should they survive that challenge, will participate in their program’s fifth straight national championship game.

Though the Bearcats have lost the previous four, the program is seeking a third title under veteran coach Mel Tjeerdsma.

Asked if Central was the best opponent his team had met, Tjeerdsma said, “Yeah — oh, yeah. But us coaches can talk all we want. It’s the players who play, and all of our guys afterward said this team was the best they’d seen.”

Morgan and Hall were among several key players who came to CWU for this one exhilarating run. And their efforts will not soon be forgotten.

Especially by Wood, Rolsma and other seniors who during their Wildcat careers finished 38-11.

Not bad, particularly when one considers they did it under three different coaches.

So among the elements made clear Saturday is that Central’s program has not yet reached the year-in, year-out powerhouse status of Northwest Missouri’s.

But also, if it came within an extra point of taking a really good Bearcat team into overtime, it is decidedly on the right track.

CWU-NW Missouri State photo gallery

Photos from Saturday’s NCAA Division II national quarterfinal football game between Central Washington and Northwest Missouri State at Tomlinson Stadium in Ellensburg, Wash. All photos by Andy Sawyer of the Yakima Herald-Republic.

End of the road for Bulldogs

West Valley of Spokane grabs early lead and hangs on for victory ||

SPOKANE, Wash. — In a clash of unbeatens fighting for the same take, the first hand played Saturday proved to be the winner.

West Valley bolted to a 17-point lead in the first half and held on for a 24-17 victory over top-ranked Ellensburg in a Class 2A state semifinal football game at Joe Albi Stadium.

Recovering from the early three-score deficit, the Bulldogs twice cut the margin to a touchdown in the second half but the Eagles preserved the victory by running out the final six minutes of the clock.

PHOTO GALLERY

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“We dug ourselves a hole and battled back, but we had some miscues at big moments that turned out to be the difference,” said Ellensburg coach Randy Affholter. “We had our chances, but they played without making mistakes and we made some.”

West Valley (13-0) will play defending champion Lynden (12-1) in the 2A state championship game at 10 a.m. next Saturday in the Tacoma Dome.

The Eagles survived with a punishing running game — 44 carries for 256 yards — and a swarming defense that held Ellensburg to a season-low 17 points.

“We wanted to try and control the clock and keep the ball out of (quarterback Ethan) Sterkel’s hands,” said WV coach Craig Whitney. “Offensively and defensively our linemen wanted to prove something tonight. Our 13-0 record is for real, it didn’t just miraculously pop out of the sky.”

Drew Clausen ran for a touchdown and threw for another to help West Valley open a 17-0 lead, but Ellensburg came to life with a three-play, 74-yard drive that made it 17-7 just before the break on Sterkel’s short pass to Adam Haberman.

The Bulldogs cut the score to 17-10 in the third quarter, but a blocked punt gave WV the ball on Ellensburg’s 8 and Clausen ran for the touchdown and a 24-10 lead early in the final period.

“That blocked punt killed us,” Affholter said.

After Ellensburg used up half the fourth quarter to close to within 24-17 on Connor Meehan’s short dive, West Valley ground out the remainder of the game.

“We just went with what worked,” said Clausen, who passed for 106 yards and ran for 63. “We came out hot and usually don’t. We’re usually a second-half team.”

Sterkel completed 12 of 21 passes for 172 yards and led his team in rushing with 39 yards on 16 carries. Haberman caught five passes and Sungyoung Lee snagged three for 87 yards.

The Bulldogs did not commit a turnover and were flagged for only one penalty. But West Valley, which has reached the state title game entirely through the CWAC with wins over Selah, Othello and Ellensburg, was nearly as clean with no turnovers and just two penalties.

“We can’t look back on this with too much disappointment,” Affholter said. “We played extremely well for a long stretch and today we just made a couple mistakes and lost to a very good team.”

Ellensburg finished an unbeaten run through the CWAC, set a school record with 12 wins and rode an offense that averaged 40 points a game.

The Bulldogs were especially tough away from home, clinching the conference title at Othello and defeating Mark Morris last week in Kennewick.

“We played something like seven opponents ranked in the top 10 and that’s a pretty hard thing to do week in and week out,” Affholter said. “And a lot of those were on the road. There’s a lot to be proud of when these kids look back on it.”

• Mike Vlahovich of the (Spokane) Spokesman-Review contributed to this report.

Ellensburg 0 7 3 7 — 17 West Valley 10 7 0 7 — 24

WV — Drew Clausen 1 run (Randall Harris kick) WV — FG Harris 29 WV — Mitch Peterson 28 pass from Clausen (Harris kick) Ell — Adam Haberman 9 pass from Ethan Sterkel (Sterkel kick) Ell — FG Sterkel 20 WV — Clausen 5 run (Harris kick) Ell — Connor Meehan 1 run (Sterkel kick) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — Ellensburg, Sterkel 16-39, Mike McKinney 5-33, Meehan 6-22. West Valley, Ellsworth 12-96, Smith 18-97, Clausen 14-63. PASSING — Ellensburg, Sterkel 12-21-0-172. West Valley, Clausen 6-9-0-106. RECEIVING — Ellensburg, Sungyoung Lee 3-87, Haberman 5-51, Kramer Ferrell 3-34, Blaze Affholter 1-0. West Valley, Peterson 2-72, Dahlstrom 1-27, Schoesler 1-5, Ellsworth 1-2, Smith 1-0.

Ellensburg-West Valley photo gallery

Photos from Saturday’s Class 2A state semifinal football game between Ellensburg and West Valley of Spokane at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane, Wash. All photos by Young Kwak, special to the Yakima Herald-Republic.

State Football results/schedule

Class 4A

Semifinal scores

Ferris 46, Skyview 41

Skyline 31, Bothell 26

Saturday’s championship

Ferris (10-3) vs. Skyline (11-2), Tacoma Dome, 7:30 p.m.

Class 3A

Semifinal scores

Liberty 17, Lakes 14

Bellevue 19, Union 13

Friday’s championship

Liberty (12-1) vs. Bellevue (11-2), Tacoma Dome, 7:30 p.m.

Class 2A

Semifinal scores

West Valley-Spokane 24, Ellensburg 17

Lynden 38, Archbishop Murphy 14

Saturday’s championship

Lynden (12-1) vs. West Valley (13-0), Tacoma Dome, 10 a.m.

Class 1A

Semifinal scores

Connell 37, Chelan 14

Cascade Christian 28, Nooksack Valley 12

Saturday’s championship

Connell (13-0) vs. Cascade Christian (13-0), Tacoma Dome, 1 p.m.

Class 2B

Semifinal scores

Colfax 19, DeSales 0

Adna 25, Tacoma Baptist 11

Saturday’s championship

Colfax (12-0) vs. Adna (12-0), Tacoma Dome, 4 p.m.

Class 1B

Semifinal scores

Lummi 64, Neah Bay 36

Tri-Cities Prep 42, Cusick 26

Friday’s championship

Lummi (9-3) vs. Tri-Cities Prep (10-2), Tacoma Dome, 4 p.m.

CWU men roll past Colorado Springs

NAMPA, Idaho — Jon Clift scored 20 points to lead a balanced Central Washington attack as the Wildcats rolled to a 113-83 win over UC-Colorado Springs in the NNU Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday.

Chris Sprinker had 18 points, Humberto Perez and Riley Sivak 14 each and Toussaint Tyler 10 for CWU, which improved to 2-1.

Roby Clyde had a game-high 11 rebounds as Central out-boarded UCCS 52-36.

The Wildcats shot 44 percent en route to a 49-41 halftime lead, then hit 59 percent in the second half while outscoring the Mountain Lions 64-42.

Central continues its non-conference schedule Friday against BYU-Hawaii in the SPU Tournament in Seattle.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON — Jon Clift 7-9 3-5 20, Chris Sprinker 7-10 4-4 18, Humberto Perez 4-7 3-3 14, Riley Sivak 5-9 4-4 14, Toussaint Tyler 3-7 2-4 10, Clyde 4-5 1-5 9, Cook 2-7 2-2 7, Gibler 3-6 1-4 7, Miller 2-7 2-2 6, Nelson 2-5 0-2 4, Snowden 2-4 0-0 4, Shelton 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 41-78 22-37 113.

UC-COLORADO SPRINGS — Ben Feilmeier 4-15 5-6 16, Brent Jones 5-7 4-4 15, Scott Sublousky 4-10 4-5 13, Jordan McClung 4-12 3-5 13, Alex Snyder 3-4 6-7 12, Hill 2-4 4-6 8, Hristou 1-5 0-0 3, Howe 1-4 0-0 3, Klausner 0-1 0-0 0, Link 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-63 26-35 83.

Halftime — CWU 49, UCCS 41. 3-point goals — CWU 9-23 (Perez 3-5, Clift 3-4, Tyler 2-4, Cook 1-3, Miller 0-3, Snowden 0-2, Shelton 0-1, Sprinker 0-1); UCCS 9-31 (Feilmeier 3-10, McClung 2-7, Jones 1-1, Howe 1-4, Sublousky 1-5, Hristou 1-2, Hill 0-2). Fouled out — Snyder. Rebounds — CWU 52 (Clyde 11); UCCS 36 (McClung 8). Assists — CWU 21 (Clyde 4); UCCS 19 (Feilmeier 5); Total fouls — CWU 25, UCCS 26.

Yaks fall to Clackamas in OT

LONGVIEW, Wash. — “If it’s Yakima Valley and Clackamas, it must be overtime,” Yaks coach Ray Funk said Saturday night.

And sure enough, YVCC had engaged the Cougars in an extra session for the third straight time, this time falling in the Lower Columbia Thanksgiving Classic semifinals 92-87.

Yakima Valley lost to Clackamas in OT in the tournament a year ago, then succumbed in double-overtime in the NWAACC Tournament to the eventual champions.

Damar Wilson scored 23 points for the Yaks, who conclude tourney play today. Jordan Kidd had 17, Ryan Dornik 12 and Derrick January 11, but the Yaks shot only 40 percent and were outrebounded 52-39 — including 23-12 on the offensive glass — and committed 28 turnovers.

“We’re talented and athletic,” Funk said, “but we have a habit of coasting on some of that. We need to learn that you can’t always rely on your vertical leap.

“But in the big picture, this team is young and these are good games to have early. You can learn a lot about yourselves as a team if you take these losses correctly.”

The Yaks return home Saturday to host Bellevue.

Clackamas’ Jeff Dorman led all scorers with 29 points.

CLACKAMAS — Michaud 1-1 0-0 2, Dickson 1-3 1-2 3, Lee 0-0 0-0 0, Robbins 0-3 0-0 0, Jeff Dorman 9-25 8-10 29, Brandon Troxel 5-10 4-6 15, E.J. Manley 4-9 5-6 14, Dulany 3-9 2-2 9, Richardson 2-4 4-9 8, Derrick Hayes 5-11 2-2 12, Barber 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-75 26-37 92.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Skelton 3-7 0-0 7, Blodgett 0-1 0-0 0, Damar Wilson 9-17 4-6 23, Evans 1-6 0-0 2, McGee 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Kidd 5-10 7-7 17, Brown 0-1 1-4 1, Ryan Dornik 4-6 2-2 12, Derrick January 2-9 7-8 11, Kirvin 4-5 1-2 9, Gream 1-3 3-4 5. Totals 29-65 25-33 87.

Halftime — Clackamas 38, Yakima Valley 32. 3-point goals — Clackamas 6-18 (Dorman 3-8, Trovel 1-2, Manley 1-4, Dulany 1-4), Yakima Valley 4-20 (Dornik 2-4, Skelton 1-4, Wilson 1-5). Rebounds — Clackamas 52 (Hayes 12, Manley 9, Dickson 8), Yakima Valley 39 (Wilson 7, Kirvin 6). Total fouls — Clackamas 28, Yakima Valley 29. Fouled out: January. Assists — Clackamas 9, Yakima Valley 13 (Skelton 6). Turnovers — Clackamas 25, Yakima Valley 28. Blocks — Clackamas 0, Yakima Valley 4 (Wilson 2). Steals — Clackamas 12 (Dorman 4), Yakima Valley 7 (Wilson 3).

Russell scores 17 in CWU loss

NAMPA, Idaho — Sophie Russell scored 17 points, but only one other Central Washington player scored in double figures Saturday as the Wildcats fell to Cal State Stanislaus 69-59 in the NNU Thanksgiving Classic.

Sara Bergner had 10 points for CWU (0-4). Kati Busi scored 19 for Stanislaus (1-1), which shot 47 percent (26 for 55) to the Wildcats’ 38 (19 for 50).

Central will host San Francisco’s Academy of Art on Saturday.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON — Sophie Russell 5-8 7-10 17, Sara Bergner 2-5 5-6 10, Brittany Duerr 3-7 0-0 7, Afoa -2-4 2-2 6, Jacobs 3-6 0-0 6, Fernandez 1-4 2-2 5, Albrecht 2-7 0-1 4, Murdoch 1-6 0-0 2, Betteridge 0-2 2-3 2, WalkingChild 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 19-50 18-24 59.

CAL STATE STANISLAUS — Katie Busi 9-17 1-2 19, Christin Gowan 6-9 0-0 16, Jeanette Rowe 6-9 0-0 12, Marshall 2-5 5-6 9, Bertomen 1-4 3-4 5, Padilla 1-3 2-2 4, Olveda 0-5 2-2 2, Lees 1-2 0-0 2, Olson 0-0 0-0 0, Santiago 0-0 0-0 0, Embry 0-0 0-0 0, Christ 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 13-16 69.

Halftime — CSSU 33, CWU 25. 3-point goals — CWU 3-17 (Duerr 1-4, Fernandez 1-4, Bergner 1-2, Murdoch 0-3, Betteridge 0-1, Jacobs 0-1, Afoa 0-1, Russell 0-1); CSSU 4-17 (Gowan 4-5, Rowe 0-2, Bertomen 0-2, Olveda 0-5, Lees 0-1, Busi 0-3). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — CWU 35 (Afoa 7); CSSU 30 (Busi 12). Assists — CWU 4 (four with 1); CSSU 14 (Gowan 8). Total fouls — CWU 16, CSSU 20.

WS, Ike boys 2-0 in jamboree

YAKIMA, Wash. — White Swan went 2-0 in the first varsity session and Eisenhower matched that in the evening session at Saturday’s annual boys jamboree at Eisenhower.

Session I (JV): Highland d. Eisenhower; Toppenish d. White Swan; Toppenish d. Highland; Eisenhower d. White Swan.

Session II (varsity): Highland d. Eisenhower; White Swan d. Toppenish; Toppenish d. Highland; White Swan d. Eisenhower.

Session III (JV): Selah d. Eisenhower; Granger d. Naches Valley; Granger d. Selah; Eisenhower d. Naches Valley.

Session IV (varsity): Eisenhower d. Selah; Granger d. Naches Valley; Selah d. Granger; Eisenhower d. Naches Valley.

TOPPENISH GIRLS JAMBOREE: Davis and host Toppenish went 1-0-1 on Saturday in a four-team jamboree that featured 10-minute contests. Selah was 1-1.

Scores: Davis 17, Selah 15; Toppenish 25, Riverside Christian 4; Selah 21, Riverside Christian 16; Toppenish 12, Davis 12.

11/29/09 Letter to Sports

All-league selection process is flawed

To the sports editor — I agree with Karen Thompson (Letters to sports, Nov. 22). All-league teams should be the best.

When you lead the CBBN in assists with 14 and goals scored on your team with 13, you should certainly qualify for first team. When you either assisted or scored on over 50 percent of the total goals scored by your team, you should certainly qualify for first team. When you have 40 points for the season (two points for a goal and one point for an assist) which is one point shy of a single season record for your school, you should certainly qualify for first team.

Is the selection process flawed? Let’s make good decisions.

Richard Allen

Yakima

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