Friday was one of those nights for Interlake.
One of those nights where good things get better and bad things go good.
A quick start keyed by some unusual plays fueled the Saints to a 47-26 win over Port Angeles in the first round of the Class 2A state playoffs.
Interlake got on the board quickly, scoring less than four minutes into the game on a Matt Malos 32-yard touchdown pass to Kamana Adriano.
That’s when Scotty Gehlhausen decided to have himself a night.
Gehlhausen picked off Port Angeles quarterback Keenen Walker’s first pass of the night and returned 33 yards for a touchdown. Then, on Port Angeles’ next offensive play, Gehlhausen intercepted Walker again.
“That was extremely important,” Gehlhausen said. “We started out hard and they were scared from the very beginning.”
That led to the strangest play of the night. Malos looked to hit a wide-open Dominic Jackson streaking down field, but Cody Sullivan intercepted the ball in the end zone. Jackson went after Sullivan, popped the ball loose and recovered it for an Interlake touchdown.
“I was running and at first I was thinking he wasn’t going to throw it to me, but I saw I was wide open,” Jackson said. “I saw the guy pick it…I just started punching at the ball and he dropped it.”
“After that play, we knew we’d win the ballgame,” Gehlhausen said. “They were miserable after that play.”
The strange play gave the Saints (4-8) a 20-0 lead and all the momentum. It quickly turned the Roughriders, who run both a Wing-T and spread offense, mostly one-dimensional. Though Sullivan scored a 26-yard touchdown run on Port Angeles’ next play, the Roughriders largely depended on their passing game the rest of the night. Walker would end up throwing for three touchdowns – to Colin Wheeler, Sullivan and Ian Ward – but no pass was longer than 18 yards.
“We didn’t have to worry about anything up front,” said safety J.T. Capers. “We just couldn’t get beat deep.”
Meanwhile, the Saints offense showed a balanced attack. Jordan Todd rushed for 214 yards and touchdown runs of 9, 46 and 6-yards on 30 carries. Malos went 16 of 23 for 222 yards and two scores. He hit Gehlhausen for a 10-yard touchdown with just over a minute to play in the first half.
“In our game against Newport [in the season-opener], we couldn’t run the ball and we couldn’t throw the ball,” Gehlhausen said. “Now we have everyone together and we’ve sealed things up. We know we can score 50 points a game.”
“It’s just a matter of belief and executing plays,” added Interlake coach Jason Rimkus. “They believe in each other and its fun to watch…I’m glad I can be a part of something special for them.”
The loss ended the season for Port Angeles, who ended 9-2, a year after going 0-10.
Interlake moves on to play the winner of tomorrow’s game between undefeated Archbishop Murphy (10-0) and W.F. West (9-1). The Saints had lost in the first round of the state playoffs the last two seasons.
“Coming out of the regular season 1-8, it was difficult,” Gehlhausen said. “We had a lot of negative talk from our fans, then we came out here and out-did our previous years. It was great.”
