Eastlake head coach Gene Dales gathered his football team on a brisk Tuesday night at Lake Washington High School and gave them a simple reminder — they had only just taken the first step toward their ultimate goal.
“To the kids’ credit, now we’ve got a chance to get ourselves into the playoffs with a victory on Saturday,” he said, after defeating Newport 14-7 in a three-team tiebreaker and clinching the No. 3 seed in the KingCo Crest.
The win earned the Wolves a matchup with the No. 2 team from the Crown, Inglemoor, at noon, Saturday, Oct. 31 at Pop Keeney Stadium in Bothell.
Eastlake, which entered Tuesday’s tiebreaker with a bye in the first game, started slow against a Newport squad that had just defeated Redmond 6-0 in game one.
The Knights took a 7-0 lead in the first half (the first of two 12-minute quarters) when Ross Quarre broke free for a 33-yard touchdown on Newport’s first offensive play. The score came at the 10:59 mark of the first half, after Eastlake running back Cam Hunt fumbled on the Wolves’ third play from scrimmage.
“On that first play, where they scored, I think all of our hearts just sank,” Hunt said. “We really had to pick it up.”
Hunt certainly did that.
The senior, who carried the ball 16 times for 100 yards, got Eastlake on the board with just 9 seconds left in the first half, via a pass from quarterback Kelby McCorkle. Rolling to his left, McCorkle was forced back to his right where he found a wide open Hunt. The 6-foot, 196-pound back did the rest, taking the ball untouched into the end zone from 8 yards out.
Hunt struck again at the 7:42 mark of the second half, breaking 36-yards up the middle field on a handoff for the go-ahead score.
“He’s an explosive player,” Dales said.” He’s got an awful lot of talent. Getting him out in the open field is always kind of fun to watch.”
Eastlake could have put the game away for good in the final minutes, but after getting within Newport’s 5-yard line, the Wolves were called for a series of penalties, including an ineligible receiver down field, a false start, and back-to-back delay of game penalties. Devon deAlteriis then missed a 27-yard field goal, giving the ball back to the Knights at their own 20 with 1:31 left in the game.
“Those were interesting events that happened there, that was pretty crazy,” Dales said.
Newport marched down the Eastlake 42, but the Wolves forced two incompletions from quarterback Isaac Dotson, turning the ball over on downs.
“Even though we made a lot of mistakes, we really didn’t give up, and I’m just proud of my teammates right now,” Hunt said.
Eastlake (2-3, 5-3) started its season with three straight non-league wins before dropping its first three league games. The Wolves won their final two regular-season games, and with losses from Newport and Redmond were able to get into the tiebreaker.
“It’s the ups and downs of the season,” Dales said. “We could have flicked it in but we’re a little more resilient than that and now we’re back in the playoff hunt.”
Newport 6, Redmond 0
Newport won the opening game of the three-team tiebreaker, beating Redmond 6-0. The Knights scored the game’s lone touchdown at the 9:12 mark of the first half when Quarre broke loose on a 22-yard run. The Mustangs committed five turnovers — two on fumbles, and three on downs.
Newport (2-3, 4-4) will face Roosevelt at 5:30 p.m., Saturday in a crossover game at Seattle Memorial Stadium, and Redmond (2-3, 2-6) will end its season in a crossover contest Friday against Lake Washington.
