The No. 10 Onalaska football team couldn’t keep its run going in a 2B state quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 Okanogan Saturday afternoon at the Apple Bowl in Wenatchee, falling to the unbeaten Bulldogs, 55-0, to end the Loggers’ season.
“That’s a good team, really well coached,” Loggers coach Mazen Saade said. “They do a great job and were very well prepared. That’s a really good football team, hats off to them. They had a game plan and executed it.”
The Bulldogs blitzed the Loggers for 48 points in the first half, and held the Loggers off the scoreboard for a dominant win. Ony managed just 75 rushing yards and didn’t complete a pass, while Okanogan totaled 456 yards, led by lead back Johnny Swartsel, who finished with 109 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Okanogan quarterback Carter Kuchenbuch threw for three touchdowns, as well.
The loss ends the Loggers season after an improbable run to yet another quarterfinal berth after a tough start to the year.
“We have to get better every single day, and at kickoff we weren’t at our best,” Saade said. At the end of the season only one team ends its season happy. Today it didn’t go our way, hats off to them, they’re a great program. But in the same regard hats off to our guys for a great season. We grew up a lot this year, and we have a lot of room for improvement, but I’m not going to take away from what we did.”
Blaze Underhill was Ony’s leading rusher with 36 yards on six carries.
The Loggers graduate just one senior, Nate Conkey, and bring back the rest of its roster made up mostly of sophomores.
“That’s a testament to these kids, they get challenged every day to dig, work, and grow up, and we ask a lot of them,” Saade said. “We never used youth as an excuse, we never once used it as an excuse and we never will. They shouldn’t hang their heads. We need to take this loss and let it motivate us for the future.
“I’m proud of how much they grew up in the span of 12 weeks. We’d like to thank Nate Conkey for his four years as well. What will be remembered most is how much these guys grew up over 12 weeks. At the beginning of every season we ask these guys to write their own chapter, and they did. The question is where will they take it in the future.”