Othello Huskies football drops grid cross-over game
Bob Barrett Photo - Reese Jones runs hard, but Othello's leading rusher was surrounded by West Valley defenders on virtually every play.
Bob Barrett Photo - Othello's Trevor Hilmes makes a tackle against West Valley of Spokane in a cross-over play-off game that end the Huskies football season.
OTHELLO — On the opening drive of their season ending 21-6 loss to West Valley of Spokane, the Othello Huskies looked like world-beaters.
Fresh off a tie-breaker victory over Selah, the boys who had never won a tie-breaker and never been in a playoff game of any type drove down the field and scored on the visiting West Valley Eagles.
With junior quarterback D.J. Guzman and senior tailback Reese Jones leading the way, Othello drove some 55 yards in four minutes. Guzman scored the touchdown to put the Huskies up 6-0 four minutes into the contest.
“The game plan was to keep the ball and shorten the game to minimize their possessions,” Othello coach Roger Hoell said. “On the first drive, it worked to a T. We drove like 55 yards in four minutes. But not getting that extra point was big.”
Othello’s extra point had plenty of distance but was wide left.
The Eagles responded with a scoring drive of their own late in the opening quarter. Quarterback Hunter Wright accounted for most of the yards in the air, connecting to several receivers before hitting Conner Whitney with a 15-yard touchdown pass.
Whitney is the son of West Valley coach Craig Whitney, who was a standout receiver for the Othello Huskies in his high school days.
The Eagles made the PAT to take a 7-6 lead they would not relinquish.
Although the Huskie defense played well enough to keep Othello in the game, the offense was not able to move the ball with any consistency the remainder of the game.
West Valley added two running touchdowns by Wright in the third quarter to go up 21-6, and Othello was unable to respond.
Twice the Huskie defense turned the ball over to the offense. Jose Gomez intercepted a pass in the third quarter giving Othello a first down on the Eagle 28-yard line.
Three plays later Othello had lost yardage. The Huskies failed to convert on a field-goal attempt when the snap back could not be handled.
Later in the same quarter, the Huskies recovered a fumble and had a first and goal from the 7-yard line. Again they could not convert.
“The defense held strong throughout the whole game,” Hoell said. “They only drove the field on their opening possession of the second half.”
The loss should not negate the positive steps the Huskies took following their opening loss to Connell. After that loss, Othello won seven straight CWAC games to end up in a three-way for second.
Othello beat Selah to come out of a three way mini play-off as the second seed in the CWAC to face West Valley in the crossover contest. The cross-over game was the first playoff game of any type for the Huskie seniors.
“It was a rebuilding year,” Hoell said. “I thought we took a giant leap forward. It seems like we are getting close.”
Several additions to the Huskie staff helped Othello in this rebuilding year. Adam Shockey, Paul Oursland and Caleb Garza were all commended by Hoell. They put a lot of time into it and took a lot of pride in the program,” Hoell said. “They made Kevin Hensley’s job as the defensive coordinator a lot easier and made my job as head coach a lot easier. They went the extra mile to get the job done.”
Although the season is over, Hoell is not figuring to take a break.
“We took an extra step this year to win a mini-play off to get to the crossover game, so you hope to build off that next year,” he said. “All losses hurt, but a playoff loss hurts more because of the finality of it. But now you begin your new season. You are in the weight room and the coaches start planning for next year. You would like to take a break but I believe there can be no break when it comes to football or building a program. There are no days off.”