Hawks crushed by last second field goal

BATTLE GROUND – With nine seconds remaining in their Class 2A high school state quarterfinal playoff football game, Hockinson coach Rick Steele told his players that if they blocked Sedro Woolley’s attempt at a game-winning field goal the Hawks would go into overtime and they had all the momentum to defeat the defending state champions.

Something went terribly wrong in that final nine seconds of regulation.

Hockinson was able to block the attempted 24-yard field goal, which took place on third down, but the Cubs recovered the fumble with one second left on the clock. As coaches, players and fans in District Stadium struggled to sort out the events on the field, Sedro Woolley lined up for another game-winning attempt and this time the Adrian Vasquez kick from 30 yards out sailed through the uprights to end Hockinson’s pursuit of its own state title.

“It was crushing,’’ Steele said of the sequence of events that ended his team’s season. “The coaching staff, the kids were thinking that we were going into overtime and we’ve going to win this darn football game.

“It was tough, tough, tough, for our kids to see their team sprint, scream and run all over the field while our kids were laying on the ground realizing it was all over,’’ Steele said. “It was tough for the coaches. It was tough for the kids. It was tough for the parents. I think it was the toughest way to lose a football game I’ve had in the 28 years I’ve been coaching football.’’

Steele said he had told his team that not only did he strongly believe they would win an overtime period against Sedro Woolley – a belief bolstered by the fact that Hockinson had twice overcome deficits to the Cubs in the game – but he also told his players that if they beat the defending champs he was confident they would win next week’s semifinal game as well.

“We told the kids if we win this football game we’re going to be in the state championship football game because I didn’t think next week’s game was going to be as tough as Sedro Woolley,’’ Steele confessed.

But that plan was thwarted in those final nine seconds. Steele said much of the confusion was the result of the fact that most blocked kicks turn into a change of possession, regardless of who recovers the fumble.

“Everybody thinks that because that’s the way it is on extra points but that’s not the way it is on field goals,’’ Steele said. “When we blocked that field goal, if the ball would have crossed the line of scrimmage and they would have fell on it it would have been our ball. But, the fact that it stayed behind the line of scrimmage and they fell on it, it was still their ball. It was very confusing.’’

And, because the kick was attempted on third down, not fourth down, Sedro Woolley had one more chance to run a play and used it to attempt the second field goal.

“That’s the weirdest way I’ve ever lost a football game,’’ Steele said. “At the end of the day, they made the field goal and they’re moving on and we’re not.’’

In the first half, there seemed to be little doubt that Sedro Woolley would be the team moving on as the Cubs bulled their way to a 21-7 halftime lead, thanks in large part to their 146 rushing yards as a team in the first two quarters.

Hockinson’s lone first half score came on a 1-yard run by Kedrick Johnson.

At halftime, Steele and his coaches made a defensive adjustment that paid immediate dividends in the third quarter when the Hawks held Sedro Woolley to no first downs on its first three possessions of the second half.

Hockinson’s offense took advantage of the opportunities created by the Hawks’ defense, scoring two unanswered touchdowns in the third quarter. First, quarterback Canon Racanelli scored on a 1-yard run and then he found Johnson for a 13-yard touchdown pass to knot the score at 21-21 heading into the final period of play.

Sedro Wooley’s Carter Crosby scored his second touchdown of the game to put the Cubs back on top, 28-21 in the fourth quarter. Unfazed, the Hawks responded, this time with a 45-yarder from Racanelli to Bailey Jones to tied the game 28-28.

“It was a great football game,’’ Steele said. “I think at halftime everybody thought we were done,’’ Steele said. “Sedro Woolley was playing really well and we were having a hard time figuring out their run game. We made a few adjustments at halftime and we told the kids to remember what happened on this same field last year. We knew we could play with Sedro Woolley. We just needed to fix a couple of things and get our confidence back and make a run and that’s exactly what happened.’’

The game from last year that Steele was referring to was Hockinson’s 24-21 victory over Black Hills in a crossover playoff game that seemingly changed the Hawks’ football fortunes for the rest of time. The victory was Hockinson’s first-ever playoff win and sent them into the state playoffs for the first time.

A year later, the Hawks are staring back at consecutive 11-1 seasons, back-to-back trips to the state quarterfinals and a near-miss, heartbreaking loss to the defending state champs.

“It’s been amazing,’’ Steele said of the past two seasons. “We always tell the kids that football is 90 percent mental. Before, we had a nasty habit of playing to the level of our competition. We now know what playing at Washington state playoff level football is all about so we’re going to keep playing at that level from here on out. We’re 22-2 in our last two seasons and we’re going to keep that going. We’ve got a bright future.

“We’ve had a fantastic season,’’ Steele said. “I told our kids to walk out of that stadium holding their heads high. They’ve got a lot to feel proud about.’’