Wolverines hand ball to Nguyen in big quarterfinals win

The fireworks went off 47 minutes and 49 seconds too late for the Liberty Patriots Friday night in the Class 3A state quarterfinals.

Bellevue held the Patriots scoreless until 11 seconds left in the game, and the Wolverines, led by senior running back Peter Nguyen, grounded out a 35-7 win to move on to the state semi-finals for the third-straight season.

When Liberty finally found the end zone on a Trey Wheeler to Chandler Jenkins 11-yard pass, fireworks were set off outside Wolverines Stadium by a patient Patriots fan.

Unfortunately for Liberty, those aerials were the only successful ones of the night from Wheeler and the Patriots offense. An opportunistic Bellevue defense picked off Liberty’s sophomore quarterback four times in the game, shutting down the Patriots every time they looked ready to get back into the game.

The bad news started for Liberty early: After swiftly moving down to the Bellevue 16-yard line on the game’s opening drive, Wolverines senior safety Jamal Atofau effortlessly slipped through the Patriots line and blocked Keegan Bennett’s 34-yard field goal attempt.

“I faked like I was going one way and went another,” Atofau, a WSU recruit, said after the win. “I was actually trying to find the ball and score, but couldn’t.”

He wouldn’t need to. As they would all night, the Wolverines (12-0) handed the ball to Nguyen, who found the end zone seven plays later on a three-yard run. The senior scored once more in the first half and ended with 257 hard-fought yards on 25 carries.

“He’s really carried us and when he was out, we had to grow up and our young guys got better,” said Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff, referring to Nguyen missing six games during the regular season with a knee injury. “Tonight, that looked like Peter Nguyen.”

Following Nguyen’s first score, Bellevue linebacker Eric Nelson picked off Wheeler, and on the next drive, cornerback Tommy Castle snagged an under-thrown ball for the second interception of the night. Nguyen’s second touchdown of the half gave Bellevue a 14-0 lead, which they would add to when Nguyen scored again on the sixth play of the third quarter. That score was set up by a 32-yard run by Nguyen on a play where the Patriots defense had him for a two-yard gain, but the senior broke multiple tackles and somehow escaped the LIberty defenders.

“You just got to keep running,” Nguyen said of his running style. “It’s adrenaline and you just have to keep going, keep running.”

Senior defensive back Sean Connors picked off Wheeler in the end zone on the ensuing LIberty possession and Atofau powered in from 10-yards out to give Bellevue a 28-0 lead. Two plays later, Wheeler was picked off again, this time by Taylor Anderson on a tipped ball from Nelson, and five plays later, Will Fields was in the end zone for Bellevue’s final score of the night.

“All of those interceptions is just us hustling to the ball,” Atofau said. “Those tipped balls…if you aren’t hustling, you aren’t going to get it. That’s our defense … that’s what Bellevue football is all about.”

The Wolverines move on to play the winner of Capital of Olympia and East Valley of Spokane next week in the state semi-finals. The result of that game was not available as of the Reporter’s deadline. Bellevue lost 27-17 last year in the semi-finals to O’Dea.

Liberty ends the season 9-3.

“Give Liberty all the credit in the world, they’re tough,” Goncharoff said. “That was a war out there tonight. But we feel pretty good about our chances.”

Joel Willits can be reached at 425-453-5045 or at jwillits@reporternewspapers.com.