Eastlake Wolves quarterback Mark Whitley is cool as ice under pressure.
With the Wolves trailing the Gig Harbor Tides 21-17 late in the fourth quarter, Whitley proceeded to make the most important play of his high school career to date. He connected with wide receiver Rudy Gonzalez on a 78-yard touchdown catch with just 4:20 left in regulation, giving the Wolves a 24-21 lead.
Gig Harbor advanced to the Eastlake 33-yard line on its next drive, but turned the ball over on downs after the Wolves defense forced an incomplete pass by Tides’ quarterback Davis Alexander with 1:03 left in regulation, preserving Eastlake’s win on Sept. 19 in Sammamish.
Whitley’s game-winning pass to Gonzalez came on a broken play. Whitley rolled to his left and couldn’t find an open receiver. He reversed field to the right and saw Gonzalez break free into the secondary. Gonzalez caught the ball near midfield, made a few defenders miss and took it all the way to the end zone.
“I started coming across the field because I saw him scrambling,” Gonzalez said. “I knew I had room and space out there. When I was running I started cramping in my calf so I wanted to make sure I got to the end zone and not let it stop me.”
Whitley didn’t panic when the original play broke down.
“I realized that I could maybe come back the other way and maybe there was a play,” Whitley said of his thought process. “Rudy did a great job of getting open for us. He did a great job in the open field and got it done.”
Gonzalez, who played for the Kentwood Conquerors in 2013 and is in his first season with the Wolves, is one of the most athletic players on the team.
“Rudy has got ball skills,” said Eastlake head coach Don Bartel. “When Mark reversed field, Rudy felt that and came back with him. He is great in the open field, he is so athletic and he just made that play happen.”
Whitley, who was inserted into the game during the second quarter to replace injured starting quarterback Blue Thomas, had three touchdown passes and utilized his mobility to run for key first downs throughout the duration of the game. Bartel said Gig Harbor’s defensive strategy played to Whitley’s strengths and allowed him plenty of time to make decisions from the pocket.
“They only rushed three and were dropping eight which allowed Mark to just sit back there all day long. When you have a kid who understands spacing the way Mark does that is a good thing for us,” Bartel said. “It’s just a naturally given thing. There are some kids who just understand the game. He is awesome at that.”
Bartel said the Wolves displayed a no fear attitude through all four quarters of play.
“They played their hearts out and we out-hit them tonight,” Bartel said following the game. “It was unreal. We told them from the get-go to play at KingCo (Division) speed, be physical and play at your top level. If you get to the ball faster than the other guy you will hit harder every time, bottom line.”
Wolves’ defensive lineman Evan Clark had a team-high three sacks in the win and wide receiver Jeffery Feinglas had two touchdown receptions. Eastlake (2-1) will host the Issaquah Eagles (1-2) tonight at 7 p.m. in Sammamish. Bartel said he’s looking forward to the matchup with Eagles’ head coach Buddy Bland.
“It’s going to be fun coaching against Buddy. It is always nice when you like the guys across the field that you’re coaching against. He is doing great things there (Issaquah),” Bartel said of Bland. “There is a ton of kids out for the football program. They have a lot of big kids and a lot of size.”
Shaun Scott: 425-452-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com
