State football: Elijah Newman scores 3 TDs, West Valley rolls Aberdeen 48-7; rest of GSL sent home in Round of 32
West Valley finished the season as the No. 5 team in the state by RPI – but the RPI calculations didn’t take into account the Eagles loss to 1A Lakeside or its win over Idaho 4A Timberlake. Regardless, they were matched up against Aberdeen, which was the No. 13 RPI, leaving many to wonder what happened in the seeding committee meeting.
The Eagles played on Saturday like they had a point to prove.
Elijah Newman carried 19 times for 135 yards with three touchdowns and the Eagles (9-1) eliminated the visiting Bobcats (7-4) 48-7 in a 2A Round-of-32 game and advanced to the state football playoffs.
“I love this little field,” West Valley coach Craig Whitney said. “Grass was our friend today.”
Aberdeen beat Mark Morris 18-0 on Tuesday in a District 4 play-in game. The Bobcats lost starting RB Riley Wixson in the first quarter with an apparent leg injury. The Eagles limited quarterback Mason Hill to 13-of-24 passing for 124 yards and held the Aberdeen rushing attack to 83 yards.
“Senior night against North Central, we talked about if you play well and you finish well, there’s a chance you’d have another home game,” Whitney said. “I said, ‘I can’t promise you that with the way (rankings) have been going,’ but we can do our part and work towards that.”
“I think (the committee) did us a little dirty,” Newman said. “We did our thing out there every week. We proved our point today.”
West Valley dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
“I just have to trust my team, follow my blocks and just do me out there,” Newman said.
“Our O-line really came to play today, and each week they’ve kind of prided themselves on getting a little bit better,” Whitney said. “At the start of the year, we we’re trying to figure ourselves out. You know, every team kind of does that, and we progressively got a little bit better each week.”
West Valley’s Erik Borg took the opening kickoff at the 11 and returned it to the 42. Seven plays later Zettle broke around left end, scrambled through the middle of the field, and took it to the end zone at the right sideline for an early 7-0 lead.
Aberdeen had third-and-long at the WV 24, but Hill was stripped on a scramble and it was scooped up by the Eagles’ Kainen Jaklitsch, who returned it 65 yards to the Aberdeen 1.
On the next play, Newman took it off-tackle for a touchdown. The extra point was no good, and West Valley led 13-0 with 2:57 left in the first.
Aberdeen went three-and-out, and the punt snap went over the punter’s head. West Valley’s Robert Avery recovered the fumble and cruised into the end zone to put the Eagles up 20-0 late in the quarter.
Hill connected with Gabe Matthews for 23 yards, then with Adonis Hammonds for 22 and had third-and-goal at the WV 1, where Waylon Palmer carried it in to get the Bobcats on the board early in the second.
But West Valley recovered the onside kick, and 10 plays later Newman plowed in from the 2 for a 27-7 halftime lead.
On Aberdeen’s first possession of the second half the Bobcats faced fourth-and-1 at the WV 11, but Sam Schreiber was stopped for no gain resulting in a turnover on downs.
“We’ve given up some yards here-and-there,” Whitney said. “But it’s the points that matter.”
The Eagles went on a 14-play, 89-yard drive, culminated by Newman’s 37-yard touchdown run on the second play of the fourth quarter for a 34-7 lead.
Two more Aberdeen turnovers on downs turned into two more West Valley touchdowns to prompt a running clock.
“We talked all week about how we’ve earned this opportunity to be in the top 32 and you got to prove it each week, and it starts today,” Whitney said. “So it’s a one-game season, and now we’ve got one more week to live.”
Roundup
Eastlake 21, Mead 14: The Panthers were stopped on a fourth-and-1 from the Eastlake 17 late in the fourth quarter and the Wolves (5-4) held on to eliminate Mead (6-4) in a 3A round-of-32 game.
The Panthers got second-half touchdowns from Cooper Smith, a 19-yard reception, and Max Faagau, a 2-yard run. Faagau finished with 30 carries for 245 yards.
Eastside Catholic 48, University 0: The No. 7-ranked Crusaders (8-1) eliminated the Titans (5-6) in a 3A round-of-32 game.
Orting 56, East Valley 0: The No. 3-ranked Cardinals (10-0) eliminated the visiting Knights (5-5) in a 2A round-of-32 game.
Archbishop Murphy 51, Pullman 7: The No. 1-ranked Wildcats (9-0) eliminated the Greyhounds (4-6) in a 2A round-of-32 game.
East Valley (Yakima) 56, Rogers 0: Braden Albrecht and Cody Gasseling rushed for two touchdowns apiece, Greyson Stevens caught two, and the No. 2 ranked Red Devils (9-0) eliminated the visiting Pirates (5-5) in a 2A round-of-32 game.