When Interlake head coach Sheldon Cross took his junior quarterback to Sunday’s Seattle Seahawks game, he used the opportunity to give Matt Malos a bit of an NFL education that paid off big for the Saints Tuesday.

In the game, Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck threw an interception on Seattle’s first offensive play. That’s when Cross turned to Malos and gave him some valuable advice.

“I said ‘you see that? Watch how he carries himself the rest of the game,'” Cross said. “And Hasselbeck threw for 329 yards and the Seahawks won. You can’t dwell on the bad, you just have to move on.”

So when his young quarterback was just 1 for 6 on pass attempts early in Tuesday night’s winner-to-state game against North Mason with the Saints trailing 7-0, the thought never occured to Cross to switch up the game plan.

Like Hasselbeck, Malos kept plugging away – throwing three touchdown strikes to Dylan Amell and running in another score, helping Interlake knock off the Bulldogs of Belfair 47-23 at Curtis High School.

“You can see the confidence in Matt now,” Cross said. “He made the plays that we needed him to.”

Cross got the chance to show his confidence in his offense – allowing the Saints to attempt a fourth-and-11 conversion at midfield with a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter. Malos hit Amell for a 50-yard touchdown strike, leaving a bewildered North Mason (9-2) defense trying to catch up to the Saints all-state receiver.

“Fourth-and-10, fourth-and-whatever, we go for it and we’re not going to change things when we get to the playoffs,” Cross said. “We live or die on the edge and our kids are used to it.”

Perhaps the biggest play of the night came not from the dynamic Interlake offense, but from its defense on the very next possession. With North Mason driving deep in Saints territory, Matt Mwangi returned a Joshua Lopez fumble 80 yards to cap off 27-straight points for Interlake.

“That’s just a big-time player making big-time plays right there,” said Saints safety and running back Brett Kirschner.

After freshman Tommy Rennie scored to get the Bulldogs to 27-14 with little over a minute left in the first half, North Mason recovered a squibbed kickoff and drove down to the Interlake 1-yard line. But the Saints stopped the Bulldogs for losses on two-straight plays, and North Mason had to settle for a 26-yard field goal and 10-point deficit at the half.

“That one was a big momentum-changer for us,” Kirschner said. “That was a big step for our defense.”

While Rennie rushed for a final touchdown to get North Mason within four pointslate in the third quarter, the rest of the night belonged to the Interlake offense. Kirschner rushed for two scores as a part of his 18 carry, 187-yard performance. Malos hit Amell for their third scoring hookup on the night and Interlake slammed the door shut on the Bulldogs season for the second straight year.

The night was especially memorable for Amell, who missed the first seven games of the season with a broken ankle.

“Being gone and not being able to do anything…I can’t even describe it,” said Amell, who had four receptions for 108 yards and the three touchdowns. ” It feels great to be back and be helping my team out again.”

With the win, the Saints (8-3) return to the state tournament for the second straight year. They will play Mark Morris High School at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Longview.

“It’s playoff football,” Cross said. “Nothing matters but getting to the next round.”

NOTES: For the second year in a row, the Saints got an assist from a close friend of Cross: former WSU quarterback and current Eastside Catholic head coach Jason Gesser. Gesser, who last year suggested a play to Cross during the Saints 35-20 win over North Mason in the playoffs – a play that led to a big score – threw another suggestion down to the sidelines. The result was two huge plays for Interlake in the second half. “It’s the second straight year against the same team that he has come through with a big play for us,” Cross said. “I”ll take it any time.”