Wahluke's bitter first taste of defeat

Warriors lose a tough game to Zillah

MATTAWA — The Warriors began Friday night 5-0 but ended it with a loss to mar the perfect beginning to the season.

Disappointment was evident on the faces of the players in the after game huddle but head coach Erik Bertram made it a point to push his players to remember the feeling of the loss and to continue to work hard to avoid feeling it again.

"The kids played hard," Bertram said. "Games like this, where nobody scores in the second half, are coaches' games."

Wahluke came out strong in the first quarter. The Warriors directed the pace of the game, holding Zillah to a single offensive drive that included four incomplete passes and ended in a punt.

During Wahluke's second possession of the first quarter, they chipped away at Zillah. They began their offensive drive on their own 19-yard line and pushed the ball to Zillah's 25-yard line on ten carries shared between Victor Ruvalcaba and Marcos Jimenez. Ruvalcaba and Jimenez tied for 96 yards each rushing to lead their team. The quarter ended with the Warriors in good scoring position.

Wahluke lost some momentum during the change over between quarters and lost possession quickly at the beginning of the second quarter.

On Zillah's first possession of the second quarter, they fumbled the football; Wahluke recovered it.

Wahluke took over possession on Zillah's 24-yard line and on the first play of the drive Ruvalcaba took the ball to the house to put the Warriors up 6-0 on Zillah.

Zillah was able to answer on their next drive. They marched 67 yards down field to tie the game at 6-6.

On the ensuing kickoff return Wahluke gained excellent field position, beginning their possession on their own 40-yard line.

The Warriors faced a third and long situation on Zillah?s 24-yard line when Zillah picked off a pass and took the ball back down field for a touchdown and the last score by either team.

Wahluke got one more chance at the end zone before the half ended but were unable to make it across the goal line. At the end of the half the score stood at 12-6, with Zillah on top.

"We didn't have good field position in the second half," said Bertram.

The Warriors tried for a field goal from the Zillah 19-yard line on their first possession of the second half but it sailed wide.

Late the fourth quarter the Warriors tried to put together one final scoring drive. They began on their own 20-yard line and marched down to Zillah's 10-yard line.

The Warriors had four downs to work with in the red zone but were not able to get anyone into the end zone.

The game ended 12-6 in Zillah's favor.

"This was a big loss. We want to get into the playoffs," Bertram said. "Tonight Zillah had our number."