Othello Huskies outgrind, outlast Colville

Overtime win puts Othello into state quarterfinal game with Tumwater

OTHELLO - The Othello Huskies survived a late comeback by the Colville Indians to reach overtime Saturday, where an interception by David Garza and a 3-yard touchdown run by James Valdez propelled the Huskies to a 27-21 victory and a trip to the 2A state football quarterfinals.

In the overtime, Colville went on offense first, and quickly drove down to the 10-yard line. On third down from the 10, Garza put himself in position to make a play that he will remember for years to come.

"It was a tight end drag, and I went under the tight end," the Othello linebacker said of his clutch play. "I read the quarterback and he made a mistake."

From there, Othello's offense took the field, and victory was within the reach of the Huskies.

On second-and-4 from the 21, Valdez took a pitch from quarterback Marc Garza on an option play down the sideline for 14 yards to give Othello first-and-goal from the 7. Valdez credited Garza for holding the ball on the pitch until the last second, drawing in the Colville defense and opening up a running lane to the outside.

Three plays later, on third-and-goal from the 3, Othello went back to the same play. This time, however, Valdez asked his quarterback to get him the ball quickly in hopes of catching the Colville defense off guard.

"Marc, if you pull it out (from the fullback on the option), pitch it quick and I'll score," Valdez recalled of his conversation in the huddle with quarterback Garza.

Garza did just that, and Valdez beat the Colville defense around the right side to put an end to a back-and-forth game between two evenly matched teams.

With Othello trailing 14-13 in the third quarter, Jakob Scott blocked a punt that set Othello up with a first down on the Colville 14. Three straight runs up the middle by Walker, the last of which was a 2-yard touchdown plunge, gave the lead back to the Huskies. Othello elected to go for the 2-point conversion, and Michael Harvey's spectacular sideline catch of a Garza pass gave Othello a 21-14 lead.

Colville scored on its next possession to tie the game at 21, and appeared to take the lead when it recovered an Othello fumble and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. However, the Colville player was ruled to have stepped out of bounds at the Othello 28-yard line, giving the Huskies' defense a chance to take the field.

Othello's defense held and forced a punt, but Colville got the ball back and was able to line up for a 31-yard field goal with seven seconds left in regulation. The kick had the distance, but missed wide right, sending the game to overtime.

As exciting and dramatic as Saturday's victory over Colville was, even more impressive was the road Othello took to get to the state playoffs.

When the Selah Vikings beat Othello on Sept. 28, dropping the Huskies' overall record to 2-3, a season of great expectations was suddenly at a crossroads.

With their playoff aspirations in limbo so early in the season, the Huskies had just two choices. Let their early struggles ruin the 2007 season, or put it all behind them and start fresh during the second half of the season.

"After that Selah game, it was a second season," said Othello linebacker David Garza, whose interception in overtime helped keep the Huskies' second season alive.

"After we lost so Selah, our goal was to go 5-0," added Othello defensive lineman Scott of the team's focus on what lay in front of them, rather than what was in the past.

The Huskies not only put the first half of the season behind them, they left their Central Washington Athletic Conference foes in the dust as well. Othello finished the regular season 5-0, winning their last five games by an average of 35 points.

To carry that incredible momentum into the state playoffs, however, Othello had just a little more history to overcome.

Their first-round opponent, the Colville Indians, were the same team that beat Othello 38-12 to end the Huskies' 2006 season in the first round of the state playoffs.

This year's matchup, however, was one of two equally matched teams with very similar personalities.

"We knew it was going to be a battle of the run," said Valdez, whose 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns were key to the Othello victory. "We're just thankful we came out on top."

A battle of the run was exactly what Saturday's game was, as the teams combined to throw just 10 passes on the day. Instead, the Huskies ran the ball on 49 of 52 offensive plays, averaging 5.3 yards per carry and scoring all four of their touchdowns on the ground. The Huskies produced 260 rushing yards, while they threw just three passes and completed none.

Colville employed the same run-first offense, just not quite as well as Othello. The Indians ran 47 times for 200 yards, an average of 4.3 yards per carry, and was 3 of 7 passing for 45 yards.

With Saturday's win, Othello moves on to face the second-ranked and undefeated Tumwater Thunderbirds in the state quarterfinals. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m. this Saturday at Kennewick's Lampson Stadium.