Bothell blows by Gig Harbor, 35-0
By CHRISTOPHER A. SMITH
Perfection.
Football coaches instruct their players to strive for it, knowing full well it will never be achieved.
But in the preliminary round of the 4A playoffs, Bothell High and the Cougar running game got about as close as any team could.
Despite giving up close to 100 pounds at several of the positions along the offensive and defensive lines, the Cougars dominated the line of scrimmage, allowing them to rack up 265 yards on the ground in Bothell’s 35-0 victory against Gig Harbor Saturday night at Pop Keeney Field. Bothell (10-0) even had more points (21) in the first half than Gig Harbor did yards (16).
The win sets up a showdown with Central Kitsap (9-1) at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 at Pop Keeney.
“They didn’t get a first down in the first half,” Bothell head coach Tom Bainter said. “They didn’t score. We didn’t punt in the entire game. take away a couple of interceptions and it might be a perfect game.”
Perhaps most impressive in a near perfect game was the play of the offensive line, opening gaping holes for running backs Patrick Ottorbech and Jon Kirchner.
The Cougars’ ability to run the ball so effectively may have been a surprise if one is just to look at the rosters. While Gig Harbor featured four players 288 pounds or more, Bothell countered with players like 6-foot-3-inch, 205-pound senior Boone Nichols; 6-foot-3 inch, 230-pound junior co-captain Jackson Pierce; and 6-foot-1-inch, 195-pound junior Eric Philips. The Cougars had a rotating guard position including Matthew Cornwall, Julian Haiel and Zach Cooper. Cornwall is the largest player listed on the team at 6-foot-2 inches, 270 pounds, while Haiel, a junior, is the second largest player on the team at 6-foot, 237 pounds while Cooper, a sophomore, is 6-foot-1-inch and just 200 pounds. Bothell was even missing offensive linemen/linebacker Robby Storm due to injury, and he is just 6-foot-2 inches, 195 pounds.
“We are never bigger than anybody,” Bainter said. We just tried to outquick them. We will take speed over size any day.
“And we have to because that’s what we get,” he joked.
Bainter said that the Cougars can use its size or lack thereof to their advantage.
“Our kids are athletic and they are quick and it’s hard for a big guy to block somebody who is quicker than they are, and I think they had trouble with that,” he said.
And with the offensive line’s quickness and the combined efforts of Kirchner’s 109 yards on 19 carries and Ottorbech’s 82 yards on 11 carries, the Cougars may be running the ball as well as they did last year on their way to the state championship game.
“Right now is the best time we’ve been running all year,” said Pierce,. “Our offensive line is really clicking. We didn’t have that too much early in the season, but now we are really starting to flow and we are starting to run the ball well.”
Bothell does have a few injuries at the running-back position. Kirchner didn’t practice the week prior to the Gig Harbor game due to having surgery on his thumb. He wore a bandage on his hand to protect it.
Ottorbech sat out the second half after getting hit on the head, but remained suited up the entire game.
The most worrisome injury is at fullback, where Trey Burwick —- a standout blocker on offense and starting linebacker — was helped off the field in the third quarter.
“Gosh, I hope that kid’s not injured,” Bainter said. “He is one of those guys that doesn’t get a lot of the credit because he does the grunt work, but boy, he is so valuable to our football field. And he is a big reason why a lot of the things we do work.”
Nobody knows what Burwick brings more than Kirchner.
“He throws great blocks and I owe a lot to him,” Kirchner said.
Bothell now hosts Central Kitsap in the first round of the state tournament, with the winner possibly facing defending state champion Oak Harbor, the team that beat Bothell in the final last season. But first is Central Kitsap, who will try and stop Bothell and its big running game — despite not having the biggest players.
“I think it took a long time to pick up to where we were last year, but now is the perfect timing in the playoffs,” Kirchner said. “And I think there is still a lot more potential.”