Problems continued to mount for Issaquah.
An interception for a touchdown. A fumble inside its opponents’ 5-yard line. A wide-receiver pass resulting in an 83-yard touchdown. Like a flash, the Eagles were down 21-0 with 5:15 remaining in the first half of Saturday’s first-round playoff matchup with undefeated Jackson.
Instead of panicking, however, Issaquah did the only thing it could think of — stick to its original game plan.
“We had to put it all out on the line …,” senior running back Grant Gellatly said. “Because if not, we’re going home. We just had to stay positive, it (was) our only option.”
Behind Gellatly’s 40 carries for 252 yards and three touchdowns, Issaquah rallied to earn a 48-28 victory, locking up a state-quarterfinal matchup with Bothell.
“We weren’t all the sudden go in panic mode and starting throwing it up,” Issaquah head coach Chris Bennett said. “We stuck with the run so we could still be balanced.”
The Eagles turnaround began from their own 35 with 4:51 left in the first half. Quarterback Ryan Bergman, who had already thrown two interceptions, launched a pass 53 yards downfield to Evan Peterson. Four plays later, on a fourth-and-long, Bergman found Adam Dondoyano for a 10-yard TD. Jackson fumbled on its first play from scrimmage on its ensuing drive, and Issaquah made the Timberwolves pay. Gellatly, who had 21 carries for 129 yards in the first half, punched in a 2-yard score with 1:02 left in the second quarter, bringing the halftime score to 21-14.
“The kids never wavered,” Bennett said. “You could see it in their eyes, there was frustration, but there was never a doubt.”
The Eagles kept momentum rolling in the second half behind dominance on the offensive line.
“We said all week we thought we were better than them on the interior part of the line and we just went out and proved it tonight,” senior lineman Greg Finch said.
Gellatly punched in scores from 3 and 5 yards, giving Issaquah a 28-21 lead with 9:23 left in the third quarter.
Bergman, who ended the game completing 13 of 28 passes for 212 yards, four TDs and two INTs, took over from there. Facing a fourth and 2, Bergman ran a play-action fake and found Dondoyano uncovered in the end zone for a 22-yard score. He then hit Peterson for a 9-yard TD early in the fourth quarter, rounding out a series of 41 unanswered points.
“This is a game of momentum,” Jackson head coach Joel Vincent said. “When that pendulum swung and went to their side at the end of the half, they kind of rode it and we couldn’t get it to swing back to us.”
Bergman threw one more touchdown on fourth down in the final minute, hitting Eric Lemke for a 21-yard TD.
Jackson jumped out to its initial three-touchdow lead with a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown from Doran Lusby. Quarterback Andy Gay then found wide receiver John Wilde for a 14-yard TD, before wide receiver Kyle Olson hit Wilde for an 83-yard strike.
Issaquah (8-3) will face Bothell (11-0) on either Nov. 20 or 21 at Pop Keeney Stadium. It’s a rematch of a season-opening contest, Sept. 5 at Qwest Field. The Cougars defeated the Eagles, who were without the services of Gellatly, 36-14. Gellatly stood on crutches with an iced right ankle and knee after Saturday’s win, but said its likely a sprain and he should be ready to go next week.
“We’re a different team now,” Finch said. “We’re going to just have to go in there with that mindset and do what we need to do to win.”
