It happened faster than a blink of an eye for Issaquah.
Before the first quarter of Saturday’s Emerald City Kickoff Classic finale was over, the Eagles committed two costly turnovers, and were in a 20-0 hole to Bothell.
“I don’t think it could have started any worse,” Issaquah head coach Chris Bennett said.
The deficit grew to 29-0 at the midway point of the second quarter, and the Eagles never recovered, en route to a 36-14 loss at Qwest Field.
“We have a lot of guys who were a little wide-eyed and a little shell-shocked right out of the gate,” Bennett said.
Senior quarterback Ryan Bergman fell victim to a pair of early mistakes.
His first varsity pass attempt was intercepted deep in Eagle territory when a receiver failed to run the proper route.
“He kind of went to his second route, and it was covered but he tried to force it,” Bennett said.
Bothell transformed the turnover into quick points, when Luke Pruolx scampered free for a 22-yard score. The Cougars scored once more on a nine-play, 55-yard drive after quarterback Mitchell Muller connected with Dylan McKey on a 12-yard touchdown pass.
The Cougars weren’t done, however. On the next Issaquah series, with Bergman dropping back from his own 15-yard line, Bothell blitzed and forced the quarterback to fumble into the end zone. Bobby Gagnon recovered it for another TD and a 20-0 lead.
“I wasn’t too happy with my performance at all,” Bergman said. “It’s just a learning experience, that’s the way I look at it, especially for me. I think it opened up my eyes to what varsity football is really like and I’m ready for next week now. I’m forgetting this week.”
After allowing one more touchdown, and a field goal, Issaquah finally found an answer.
Bergman, who started the game completing one of seven passes, connected on five straight. He pushed the Eagles down the field, completing a 16-play, 5 minute, 41 second drive with a 6-yard TD pass to Evan Peterson.
Bergman, who finished 18-for-32 with 155 yards, hit Peterson once more, this time on a 14-yard fade route to the right corner of the end zone.
“Ryan kind of started to find his legs a little bit,” Bennett said. “He’s going to be good for us. This is a good learning tool for him and he showed signs he’s going to be able to play for us.”
Issaquah was without the services of all-state running back Grant Gellatly, who was out nursing a hamstring. Bennett said he might be back in their next game, but he doesn’t want to rush things.
Bothell was led by Pruolx, who had 160 yards on 25 carries. Muller was 10-for-17, passing for 104 yards, two TDs and one INT.
The Cougars lost to the Eagles twice last season, including a state quarterfinal defeat.
“It was a nice win, but as far as redemption, I don’t know,” Bothell head coach Tom Bainter said. “It’s better than losing three in a row, I’ll tell you that.”
Bennett said he hopes his team learned something after the tough defeat.
“We’ll grow a lot from this,” he said. “This obviously isn’t the outcome we wanted. We’ll be a better team for it. We’ve got some guys who grew up a little bit, and we’ll take those experiences on to next week.”
Issaquah will face Mount Si (0-1) at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 11 at Mount Si.
