Inglemoor head coach Frank Naish had a simple defensive plan coming in against the wing-T offense of Newport in Friday’s KingCo 4A elimination playoff game.
“Don’t let ‘em get going.”
That’s what Naish preached to his team during the week. “Don’t let ‘em get going.”
So, when it was all said and done and Inglemoor had shut down the Knights 31-14 and earned a bid to state, Naish was hardly surprised at the defensive effort.
“If you can stuff their offense before it starts you have a chance,” said Naish, Inglemoor’s coach for the past 30 years. “If you let them get going at all, they’re hard to stop. You can’t just sit back.”
The Vikings took their coach’s words to heart. Not only did they limit the Knights to two touchdowns, but the Inglemoor (6-3 overall, 3-2 KingCo 4A) defense forced and recovered three Newport fumbles and intercepted two passes.
When the defense wasn’t doing its best to hold down the Newport (4-5, 2-3) offense, Inglemoor senior quarterback Todd Campbell was directing the Vikings offense towards the end zone, including orchestrating a big 24-point second quarter.
Campbell scored the opening points of the game less than a minute into the second quarter on a 3-yard run. After Anthony Arena booted a 46-yard field goal six minutes later that was set up by Carter Watkins interception of Newport’s Ross Quarre, Inglemoor capitalized off another Newport turnover when Campbell hit Craig Jacobson for a 30-yard touchdown pass after the Knights fumbled. That play gave Inglemoor a commanding 24-0 lead with three minutes left in the first half.
“Their quarterback is always a threat,” said Newport coach Mike Miller. “We knew they had a couple players they really liked to go to and their offense makes you play against their playmakers.”
Newport looked like they might jump back into the game after responding with a four-play drive on the ensuing possession that ended with Ian Case scoring on a 6-yard run to cut the score to 24-7. That scoring run was set up by Case’s 65-yard run on the first play of the drive.
But the Vikings again drove all the way down the field and scored when Campbell hit Austin Terry on a six-yard touchdown pass with only 30 seconds left in the half.
The Knights managed to pull within 10 with a miracle three-play drive in the final 30 seconds that was capped off when Andrew West tossed a 29-yard scoring pass to a leaping Kevin Martin in the end zone as time expired in the first half. Martin also hauled in a 49-yard pass two plays before the touchdown to set up the late score.
“We’ve thrown that pass five, six times in the last few games,” Miller said of Martin’s touchdown grab. “If it’s anywhere in the vicinity, [Martin] just goes up and grabs it.”
Martin finished with four catches for 120 yards. The touchdown cut Inglemoor’s lead to 24-14 at the half.
What hope Newport had about getting back into the game was shattered when Campbell directed another Viking’s score on the first possession of the second half, capped off when the senior quarterback scrambled 45-yards for the game’s final touchdown.
“I told the guys at halftime that the key to the game was going to be what we did with second half kickoff,” Naish said. “We took it 75-yards and scored. I thought that drive was huge in the game because it took their steam away.”
Newport turned the ball over on its next two possessions and punted twice more.
“You don’t win football games with five or six turnovers,” Miller said. “That was the difference in the game. Our guys fought hard and they didn’t give in. But when you have that many turnovers, you don’t deserve to win.”
While Inglemoor moves on to play the 9-0 Auburn Trojans, Newport’s season ends the same way it began – with a loss.
“This team had a really great group of seniors with great leadership,” Miller said. “I believe it will carry on…we had our work cut out for us tonight and we just didn’t get it done.”
Joel Willits can be reached at 425-453-5045 or at jwillits@bellevuereporter.com.
