WINLOCK — With just under a minute to play in the first half, Winlock held a nine-point lead over White Pass. The Cardinals had just scored a touchdown, and they were set to get the ball after halftime.
That didn’t stop them from trying to add on before the break, though.
Winlock recovered an onside kick and scored in just two plays, putting them up 15 at halftime.
“That changed the whole momentum going into the locker room,” Winlock coach Jeff Lund said.
The Cardinals carried that momentum into the second half, and the Cardinals pulled away to beat the Panthers 41-20 and earn their first win of the season.
“The team finally came together as a team for the first time,” Lund said with a smile. Everything came together, everything worked, and it was a pleasure to watch.”
The two touchdowns before the break capped an impressive Winlock first half on the offensive side of the ball.
The Cardinals scored on all four of their drives, starting with a touchdown run from Monte Williams before three touchdown passes from the junior signal caller. Two went to Camren Cusson, and one went to Daelen Bradshaw.
On the penultimate touchdown drive of the half, up 15-14, Winlock (1-3) faced two fourth downs, but converted both. The second conversion was Cusson’s second touchdown catch.
After a three-and-out on its opening possession of the game, White Pass (0-4) answered the first two Winlock scores with touchdowns of their own on touchdown runs from Bryer Kelly and Carson Fleetwood, but they were only able to run two plays in the final 7:20 of the half.
After halftime, though, both offenses slowed down. The Cardinals began putting bigger bodies in run gaps, which slowed down the Panthers’ ground game, and White Pass forced a pair of turnovers on downs after not getting off the field in the first half.
“They started figuring it out,” White Pass coach Robert Quintana said. “We were holding them pretty good … The second half was a lot better than the first half.”
Early in the fourth quarter, Kelly scored again to get the Panthers within nine, but Cusson needed just two plays to respond with a 41-yard touchdown run, his third touchdown on the day, to re-extend the lead. Later in the quarter, Luke Carskadon broke free for a 25-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach for good.
Williams finished with 110 total yards and four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing), Carskadon finished with 77 total yards and a touchdown, and Cusson added 80 total yards and three touchdowns.
“This was the first real game that Camren Cusson had some room to run,” Lund said. “Our offensive line opened up holes.”
Kainen Caulfield ran in a two-point conversion, Gianncarlo Nunez-Navarro kicked an extra point and the onside kick before halftime, Jacob Chilson forced a fumble, and Gabriel Evans recovered that fumble.
“It was just a team effort,” Lund said. “You can’t say enough good things about them.”
Kelly finished with 83 total yards and two total touchdowns (one passing and one rushing), and Fleetwood finished with 68 yards and his score. Trevor Farnsworth came up with the biggest White Pass reception on the day, breaking loose late for a 21-yard gain.
“We’re trying to find out what we could do to get some scores and win,” Quintana said. “We’ll figure out what to do. We’ll watch the film and we’ll see how we can beat the next team. Then we gotta get out here and execute.”
White Pass will look to snap its losing streak against Oakville next Friday, Oct. 2.
Winlock will hit the road to face Morton the same night looking to win its second straight game. Needless to say, Lund is excited to get back to work on Monday.
“We’re gonna see how the kids react,” Lund said. “This is the first time that we’ll have the pleasure of seeing them after a win.”
