" Explosive" offense powers Bellevue past Bothell

Wolverines build 24-0 first-half lead

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Wolverines build 24-0 first-half lead

Last updated September 12, 2008 11:46 p.m. PT

By MICHAEL MCLAUGHLIN
P-I REPORTER

BELLEVUE -- The furrowed brow on Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff's forehead moments before the opening kickoff against KingCo 4A power Bothell displayed the telltale signs of worry.

With his wife overdue to deliver their first baby and a football team starting eight players that didn't start in Week 1, Goncharoff admitted he was on edge as kickoff approached.

"Missing so many guys against such a good team," Goncharoff said. "To come out and get it done like we did, I couldn't be more proud."

All the Wolverines did was dominate Bothell 38-19 at Bellevue Memorial Stadium. Bellevue built a 24-0 first-half lead after rushing for 203 yards in the first 24 minutes of play while holding the Cougars to 60 yards.

With Week 1 starting quarterback Cam Warren on the sideline with a sprained back, last year's starter, senior Tommy Castle, guided the Wolverines to four first-half scores. Castle completed three of four passes for 56 yards and ran for one score.

"We always talk about reloading here at Bellevue," Castle said. "Yeah, we had guys out, but we're two or three deep at every position. We trust each other and that's where our confidence comes from."

Bellevue dominated the first quarter by hanging onto the ball for nearly 11 minutes while holding Bothell to only 5 yards of offense and a turnover.

The Wolverines' first drive went 10 plays, including four Bellevue penalties, before ending with a 20-yard field goal. The Cougars' first drive started on their own 20 and lasted all of three plays, with junior John Kanongataa intercepting the first Bothell pass attempt at the Cougars' 31-yard line.

Five plays later, it was senior Peter Nguyen scoring the first of his three touchdowns, this one a 1-yard plunge to put Bellevue ahead 10-0 with less than a minute remaining in the quarter.

On its next drive, Bothell went for it on fourth-and-1 near midfield and turned the ball over after a fumble short of the first down. Bellevue followed with another five-play drive, this time ending on Nguyen's 14-yard touchdown for a 17-0 advantage.

Bothell continued to struggle offensively and punted after a three-and-out series. The Wolverines answered in little more than three minutes with a seven-play, 75-yard drive, with the big play being a 47-yard breakaway run by junior Freddie Levine. Two plays later, Castle took a keeper 6 yards to push the score to 24-0.

Bothell managed to get inside Bellevue territory at the end of the first half, but a 45-yard field goal attempt went wide left.

Bothell finally got on the scoreboard with 4:27 remaining in the third quarter when senior tailback Patrick Ottorbech appeared to be stopped on a sweep right, but Ottorbech continued to fight and broke free, outrunning a handful of Bellevue defenders before diving into the end zone.

Bellevue immediately answered with a four-play drive that covered 63 yards in less than two minutes, with Nguyen scoring from 5 yards out.

With backup quarterback Mitchell Muller calling signals, the Cougars put together a 10-play, 71-yard drive with Muller tossing a 3-yard scoring pass to junior Evan Hudson. The Cougars cut the lead to 31-13, but the Wolverines answered again, this time with a 76-yard breakaway by junior David Nguyen.

Bothell ended the scoring with Muller's 1-yard sneak with 4:49 to play in the game.

"Forget the score," Bothell coach Tom Bainter said. "We played hard with intensity. You can't make mistakes like we did and expect to beat a Bellevue, but our effort was much better this week."

Both teams play next Saturday, with Bellevue going up against California High from the San Francisco Bay Area at Qwest Field, while Bothell meets Redmond.

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