State football: Freeman scores late, 2-point conversion stopped short; defending champion Okanogan advances to semifinal
The brackets said Friday’s State 2B quarterfinal was a matchup of the fourth and fifth seeds. But when the defending state champion is involved, it always feels like a title game.
The showdown between fourth-seeded Freeman and fifth-seeded Okanogan, with matching 9-2 records, lived up to the billing. In the end, the defending champions advanced once again – barely.
Freeman scored with 33 seconds left to make it a two-point game, but after senior quarterback Logan Schultz bobbled the snap he was swarmed by Okanogan defenders and stopped short of tying the score. The Bulldogs preserved a 34-32 road victory and moved into a state semifinal next week.
“I think our seniors feel like they could play in the state championship, and us coaches believe that we could have,” Freeman coach Michael McKeown said. “I think that’s why the emotion is high, and it’s so hard on our kids, because although we know that (Okanogan) is a great team, and we knew it was going to be a dog fight, and it’s hard for them. It’s hard every time.”
Schultz led a four-play scoring drive, hitting Daniel Smith with a 21-yard touchdown pass with 33 second left. But the botched conversion and flubbed onside kick sealed the win for Okanogan.
“When it comes to big-time games, you put the ball in your best player’s hands, and he got us there,” Freeman coach Michael McKeown said of Schultz. “He’s got us to this point. It just didn’t go our way.”
Okanogan opened the second half with seven-play, 64-yard drive, culminated by Tatum Gunn’s 17-yard TD run to tie it 20-all. It stayed that way until 6:16 left in the fourth quarter, when Gunn plunged in from the 2 and added a two-point conversion.
Schultz went 4-of-5 passing on the next drive and took it the last 4 yards for a score, but the conversion was stuffed and Freeman trailed by two with 4:39 to go.
The Scotties forced a three-and-out and took the ball at their 43 after a punt. But on fourth-and-7 at the Okanogan 35, Wesley Allen stepped in front of a short route for an interception and went the distance for a TD to make it 34-26. Okanogan was called for excessive celebration, and the extra-long extra-point attempt was short, leaving Freeman one last shot.
A short kickoff gave Freeman the ball at its 47. Schultz hit Jaet Cole for gains of 13 and 8 yards, then found Smith for 11 before going back to him for the 21-yard TD.
But Schultz muffed the low snap on the two-point try, and Okanogan held on for the win.
“We’ve got an amazing team, amazing kids, amazing community,” McKeown said. “It’s a special place, and special kids, for sure.”
Freeman was forced to punt on its first possession and Okanogan took it at its 14. The Bulldogs marched 86 yards over 11 plays, culminated by Tatum Gumm’s 5-yard touchdown carry. The two-point conversion attempt was stuffed, and Okanogan led 6-0 with 4:26 left in the first quarter.
The Scotties offense failed to activate and punted again, but Gumm fumbled and Freeman’s Daniel Smith recovered at the Okanogan 40. Five plays later Schultz hit Cole on a 29-yard slant for a TD, and the extra point put Freeman up 7-6 after one.
The teams traded punts and penalties through much of the early going in the second. Freeman’s Levi Wellner forced and recovered a fumble at Okanogan’s 23 and the return set up first-and-goal at the 9, where Schultz carried it in. The conversion failed, and Freeman led 13-6 with 6:38 left in the half.
Okanogan’s Wesley Allen broke off a 57-yard TD run to make it a one-point game, but Freeman responded with a seven-play, 72-yard drive – boosted by two Okanogan personal fouls penalties – and Schultz hit William DuMars with a 14-yard touchdown pass for a 20-12 lead at the half.