The Issaquah Eagles had been there before.
The Eagles had lost nail-biters to the Skyline Spartans (31-28) and Eastlake Wolves (23-20) earlier this season and now had a 34-28 lead against the Newport Knights late in the fourth quarter.
Following an Issaquah punt, the Knights’ had possession of the ball at their own 13-yard line with 1:47 remaining in regulation. Issaquah’s defense rose to the occasion, forcing the Knights to turn the ball over on downs with 32 seconds left at their own 21-yard line, sealing the hard-fought 34-28 win on Oct. 9 at Newport High School in Bellevue. Issaquah improved its overall record to 3-3 while Newport dropped to 2-4.
Eagles’ signal caller Cameron Humphrey, who tossed three touchdown passes in the contest, credited the defense for making the critical stop on Newport’s final drive of the night.
“Hats off to our defense. They played a hell of a game,” Humphrey said. “It is a huge win for us. We’re loving it right now.”
Issaquah wide receiver Joe Nelson, who hauled in five catches for 93 yards, believes the victory will bode well for the squad down the road as the Eagles are in the thick of the playoff hunt.
“I think it (win) gives us a lot of confidence. We’ve had some tough losses that really came down to the wire,” Nelson said. “It felt good to take this one home.”
Following Newport quarterback Brandon Steinberg’s 21-yard touchdown toss to Dylan Murphy, cutting Issaquah’s lead to 34-28 with 2:55 left in regulation, Nelson made one of the biggest plays of the game that rarely shows up in the stat book. Newport attempted an onside kick, but after a scrum Nelson recovered the ball at Issaquah’s 37-yard line. The play prevented Newport from gaining possession and having a short field to work with.
“We had watched them on film and knew they were very good at the onside kick. I saw the ball on the ground and just dove on it.” Nelson said. “That is what we are instructed to do.”
Issaquah running back Kirin Junsay scored on a 80-yard touchdown jaunt and a 1-yard touchdown plunge. He also caught a 14-yard touchdown strike from Humphrey in the first quarter. Issaquah receiver Trey Gevers caught a 14-yard touchdown toss from Humphrey and Conner Pederson found pay-dirt on a 63-yard touchdown pass from Humphrey. Pederson caught a Humphrey pass on a 5-yard out pattern before breaking a bevy of tackles en route to the long touchdown.
Issaquah head coach Buddy Bland was thrilled to see his team experience a victory in a pressure-packed situation of a close contest.
“We’ve never lacked in confidence. We had some pretty tough opponents and we knew that not many points separated us from having more wins this year. At the end of the day we’re still in the playoff hunt and we’re going to continue to improve to get to that point where we are a valuable playoff team,” Bland said.
Bland said his team’s defense was focused on containing Newport’s high-octane rushing attack.
“I’m really proud of our defensive staff. They (Newport) are the No. 1 rushing team in the league. We knew we needed to be able to slow down their running game and we did. I’m really proud of our kids,” he said.
Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@issaquahreporter.com
