4A Football | “Magic” saves E-W
Edmonds-Woodway rode its big bruiser and little lightning rod back to the Class 4A state football semifinals Saturday night as Eastlake quarterback Ryan Robertson watched from the sideline on crutches.
Tony Heard, a 5-foot-11, 225-pound junior, scored all three of the Warriors’ touchdowns in a 24-21 victory at Seattle Memorial Stadium. The last one came after a titanic catch by 5-foot-7 Antoinne Wafer on a fourth-and-nine play from the E-W 21-yard line.
Trailing 21-17 with 4:15 remaining and no timeouts, Edmonds-Woodway coach John Gradwohl put his trust in Wafer and instructed quarterback Kyle McCartney to look long. The ball was slightly underthrown and Wafer was double-covered, but he found a way to tip the ball to himself for a 49-yard gain to the Eastlake 30.
“I told him to throw it up for Antoinne and see if he could work his magic, and thank God he did,” Gradwohl said. “He had some magic dust in his pocket.”
Heard, who finished with 147 yards on 24 carries, scored on the next play, and Justin Milone’s conversion kick made it 24-21 with 3:45 remaining.
Third-ranked Edmonds-Woodway (12-0) will play unranked Lewis and Clark of Spokane (9-2) in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Tacoma Dome, where the Warriors lost in the semifinals last year to Bothell.
“We owe this to last year’s team,” Wafer said.
Fifth-ranked Eastlake (10-2) played the entire second half without Robertson, who suffered a badly sprained left ankle late in the second quarter. Robertson averages nearly 250 yards passing a game and had 98 when he went down after a short scramble.
“What a heartbreaking way for him to finish his year,” coach Gene Dales said.
Not only was Eastlake without Robertson, but backup quarterback Drew Furchini was unavailable after suffering an injury at practice Tuesday. That left the QB duties to junior Scott Payton and senior Joey Rosanova, who split time in the second half.
Payton, listed as a wide receiver, factored into the Wolves’ two second-half touchdowns. He hit Cory Mackay with a 71-yard pass in the third quarter, then scored on a 13-yard keeper in the fourth as Eastlake took a 21-17 lead with 5:13 remaining.
“Eastlake, that is a great football team,” Gradwohl said. “They have nothing to feel bad about. It’s too bad their quarterback went down.”
Robertson was hurt at the end of a 3-yard scramble with 3:01 left in the first half and Eastlake leading 7-6. The Wolves from the Sammamish Plateau weren’t the same on offense without him as they watched their season end in the quarterfinals for the second straight year.