Semifinal Notebook: Filley Finesses Trick Play

People (well, me, mostly) unreasonably excited about trick plays, particularly anything involving a fake kick.

The non-kick after Napavine’s second touchdown Saturday afternoon at the Tacoma Dome, in a 29-13 win over Pe Ell-Willapa Valley in the State 2B semifinals, was an obvious fan favorite.

Austin Filley, who took over as the Tigers’ kicker somewhere in the midst of the season, lined up for the PAT kick after a 7-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Wyatt Stanley to receiver Chase Van Wyck. (The aforementioned trio, it should be added, made up a formidable linebacking corps later in the game.)

The snap, though, wound up right in his hands, and he short-armed a quick pass to Van Wyck in the end zone for 2 points to give Napavine a 15-7 lead late in the first half.

Napavine offensive coordinator Tyson Wilson sold the play to the rest of the staff six days before the semifinals.

“It was coach Wilson’s idea,” Tiger head coach Josh Fay said. “We all thought it was a stupid idea, then we watched a lot of film, and thought maybe he did know something.”

It wasn’t exactly an immediate hit, either.

“He’s about 50 percent on ‘em,” Stanley, laughing, said of Filley’s passes. “He’d throw it perfect, or throw it to the goal line. The first time he ever did it, it took him about 10 times to get it right, but obviously he did it when it counted, so that was a big play for us.”

Stanley All Over

Napavine quarterback Wyatt Stanley didn’t have his greatest outing of the season Saturday night. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound All-State junior was 7 of 22 passing for 119 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, leaving a few passes well short of their intended target.

Stanley, though, also had 18 of the Tigers’ 29 carries for 36 (of 54) yards, and led the team with 2 ½ tackles for loss at middle linebacker — a position he’s only recently been allowed to play.

“I love it,” Stanley said. “It took ‘em a little while to finally let me play, but I love it. But I get a little winded.”

By the third quarter, Stanley was at middle linebacker, flanked by Van Wyck and Filley.

“He had some really nice defensive plays. He definitely brings some composure to the field on both sides,” Fay said. “Offensively he completed some big passes, he had some nice runs for us, and he did a good job managing the clock. … I can’t say enough good things about Wyatt on both sides of the ball, even though, throwing the ball, he’s been better.”

His touchdown passes went to Van Wyck and junior Mac Fagerness, who had two big catches for a team-high 50 yards.

“Wyatt was huge. He’s like, well, the quarterback,” Fagerness said. “He’s the center of our offense. He gets it to everybody, and that’s what he does.”

Pick of the Day

The semifinal featured five intercepted passes — which was five more than the last time the teams played, back on Sept. 18 in Napavine. The Titans won that game, 28-27.

Jordan Purvis, Cole Van Wyck and Chase Van Wyck all picked passes for Napavine, while quarterback/cornerbacks Jason Fluke and Red Arrington each stole passes for PWV.

Arrington’s, though, was the most impressive of the night. The junior made a leaping, turning one-handed snag on a pass up the left side of the field late in the third quarter, packing it back to the Tigers’ 4-yard line to set up PWV’s second touchdown of the game.

It was a bit reminiscent of the one-handed interception Lind-Ritzville/Sprague’s Dylan Hartz made against Morton-White Pass in the final minutes of the fourth quarter of the 2012 State 2B championship game, also in the Tacoma Dome.

It was a big momentum swing, but not quite enough for the Titans.

“It comes down to playing a sound game, and we just weren’t quite sound with it,” PWV coach Josh Fluke said.”

The Titans finished the season with an 11-1 record, and were held under 20 points for the first time all season. Pe Ell-Willapa Valley will graduate 12 seniors: kicker Robert Espina, Jason Fluke, Cody Smith, Trevor Cook, Colin Hanson, Seth Flemetis, Dustin Lusk, Dalton Toepelt, Brendyn Graves, Johnny Woods, Cody Brown and Tyler Shepherd.

“These boys are good boys,” Fluke, the coach, said. “Obviously, they’re going to be pretty PO’d. They lost the game. But, all in all, it was a good season and a good run, and I think they’ll be proud of themselves.”

Bring On the Bulldogs

Napavine was happy to hear that Okanogan — which beat the Tigers, 17-14, in last year’s championship game — would be back in Tacoma next weekend for a rematch.

The Tigers lost three fumbles and threw a pair of interceptions in that game — and, naturally, don’t plan on doing that type of thing again.

“It’s the biggest motivation you could ever think of,” Fagerness said. “Last year we didn’t play to our full potential, and this year we need to come back and give it our all.”

Stanley said it’s been the plan all along.

“As a team, we expected to be here,” Stanley said. “It’s one thing that, as a team, we wanted to do — the only way to get that taste out of our mouth from last year was to get back and actually finish it this time.”

“It’s a big motivation,” sophomore Cole Van Wyck said. “We came out last year and didn’t like the outcome, so this year we’re looking to change it.”

Okanogan beat Northwest Christian, 37-10, on Saturday afternoon to reach the finals. Fay said the Bulldogs being back in the finals was no major surprise.

“I’d be lying to you if I said that we didn’t see North Beach, we saw Toledo — that didn’t work out, we saw PWV, and we kind of thought we saw Okanogan,” Fay said. “We want to play the best teams, and that’s what we’ve had an opportunity to do every week. I think we get to play the best team again next week, and our kids are excited for the opportunity.”