There were numerous key Tiger plays that led to Burlington-Edison’s 14-7 2A quarterfinal win over the Pullman Greyhounds last Saturday afternoon at Spokane’s Gonzaga Prep Stadium. Aside from the Tigers sixth possession that ate up five minutes of the clock in the third quarter, ending in Stetson Shearer’s 3-yard touchdown run after taking quarterback Dylan Boe’s pitch and following great lead blocks to his left to jump inside the front left corner end-zone pylon. Aside from the Tiger offensive line (Beau Bridgman, Hayden Spevacek, Jacob Schifferl, Alex Graves, Brandon Ellerman and Conner Nelson) providing Dylan Boe enough time to drop a long pass right into the hands of wide receiver Troy O’Neill’s outstretched hands on the run for a 79-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. There were just so many other non-scoring Tiger plays that deserve mention.
In the first quarter, Burlington-Edison fumbled their fourth play from scrimmage. Pullman recovered it at the Tiger 43-yard line. A Pullman false start penalty on third-and-six forced the Greyhounds to pass. Tigers survived a serious threat as Dillon Johnson’s rush of Pullman quarterback Cody Peterson hurried his pass attempt which fell short and led Pullman to turn the ball over on downs.
Pullman’s fourth drive, in the second, which started at their own 8-yard line thanks to Andrew Furney’s 36-yard punt, tallied four rushing first downs as Jared Byers bashed his way downfield and Cody Weber reeled off a 34-yard sweep around right. Already leading 7-0, the Greyhounds were poised to score again with the ball on the Tiger 6-yard line. A five yard offsides penalty set them back to the 11. Weber took the snap and with plenty of time, confidently lobbed a high pass to a wide-open Jaron Hodge running backwards in the right side of the end-zone. Weber did not see Cole Sager staying at home in his zone from his outside linebacker position. Sager read the pass, backed up and jumped to snag the soft pass for an interception to stop Pullman’s drive.
The Tigers used up five minutes of the clock in the middle of the third as Cole Sager returned a punt to midfield. Stetson Shearer took a pitch running to his right and was met by Jared Byers out in the flat and was buried for an 8-yard loss. Tigers decided to give the ball to Shearer again immediately after that loss and he delivered a 17-yard rush up the middle for a first down at the Pullman 40-yard line. After several short yard gains, the Tigers found themselves with a fourth-and-6 situation. Dylan Boe faked a pair of hand-offs, turned and followed hugh blocks by Graves, Ellerman and Shearer for a 15-yard run to sustain the Burlington-Edison drive. Shearer finished the drive with his 3-yard sweep left for the Tigers’ first score.
Pullman threw long on third-and-5 from their own 42. Jaron Hodge had a five yard lead on Tiger cornerback Cody Larson, but as the ball was in the air, Hodge had to slow up and come back for the ball. This allowed Larson to catch up to Hodge and stick out his right hand where Hodge appeared to be ready to accept the pass. Larson then batted away the pass in what could have been a 58-yard play action pass touchdown for Pullman.
Following the Tigers’ 79-yard touchdown bomb, Pullman started their fourth quarter drive from the 20-yard line after an Andrew Furney kickoff touchback. The Greyhounds rushed back up the field with big carries by Byers and Lance Keithley. Nate Swanger dashed around right for a 30-yard gainer to get Pullman in the red zone. With Weber taking the snap from shotgun, the Greyhounds broke into the same play they attempted a touchdown pass with in the second, but in reverse. This time, Sager was backing the line on the opposite side, too, and backed up to intercept yet another Weber pass attempt. The intended receiver, tight end Jaime Fertakis, was again wide-open. Sager read the same play twice and extinguished Pullman’s drive.
Many times throughout the game, as Pullman sent running backs up through the middle, Anthony Ibarra was there to wrap his arms around the ball carrier and hold him until Jacob Bates or Dillon Johnson or Cole Sager could come in and help tackle the Greyhounds’ big backs. Many times as Pullman ran the ball outside, Dion Wise used his speed, game intensity and big frame to either trip up their backs with one hand for no gain or knock them sideways with his inertia. Ibarra and Wise arguably had their best games of the season on defense.
But most impressively, Stetson Shearer, who has walked off the field under his own power multiple times this season, found himself doing just that yet again, holding a towel up to his face after head coach Bruce Shearer and team medical assistant Mike Skjei attended to him in the fourth quarter. It was unknown exactly what happened, but after the game it was confirmed that Shearer had broken his nose on the play.
Not five minutes later was Shearer putting on his helmet and jogging out to the Tiger huddle on offense. The first play from scrimmage on that drive, Shearer was the lead blocker on a 5-yard carry by Sager. The next play, Shearer gained six with the ball.
If that doesn’t encapsulate the team’s toughness and will to win, then we at SkagitRadio.com are at a loss to figure out what it would be. For that, Stetson Shearer surely deserves our Summit Bank / Skagit City Signs MVP of the game.
NEXT GAME: 2A Semifinals, Saturday November 29, Moses Lake HS (Lions Field) 3pm vs. Prosser Mustangs
2Q 10:38 PUL 5 YD RUN LANCE KEITHLEY (HODGE KICK) PLAYS: 9 | YARDS: 82
3Q 3:12 B-E 3 YD RUN STETSON SHEARER (FURNEY KICK) PLAYS: 10 | YARDS: 54
4Q 9:49 B-E 79 YD PASS DYLAN BOE TO TROY O’NEILL (FURNEY KICK) PLAYS: 4 | YARDS: 67
B-E
RUSHING YARDS: 192
PASSING YARDS: 82
TOTAL OFFENSE: 274
FIRST DOWNS: 11
PENALTIES: 2/15
TURNOVERS: 1 FUMBLE, 1 INT
Rushing: Shearer 14-99, Sager 12-62, Adams 7-34. Passing: Boe 2-4-82-0, Sager 0-1-0-1. Receiving: O’Neill 1-79, Denham 1-3.
PULLMAN
RUSHING YARDS: 309
PASSING YARDS: 61
TOTAL OFFENSE: 370
FIRST DOWNS: 13
PENALTIES: 6/55
TURNOVERS: 2 INTs
Rushing: Weber 15-127, Byers 13-92, L. Keithley 15-87. Passing: Peterson 3-7-29-0, Weber 1-1-30-2. Receiving: M. Scourey 1-15, Fertakis 1-14, Swanger 1-30.
Tagged as:
Alex Graves,
Andrew Furney,
Anthony Ibarra,
Beau Bridgman,
Brandon Ellerman,
burlington-edison tigers football,
Cole Sager,
Conner Nelson,
dylan boe,
Hayden Spevacek,
jacob bates,
Jacob Schifferl,
Northwest Washington Prep Football Playoffs,
Stetson Shearer,
Troy O'Neill,
washington state 2A playoffs
