Washington: Washington's best can't mess with Texas

By Nathan Joyce Sep 14, 2009, 12:00am

Bellevue loses showdown with Katy, Texas; Ferris earns nation's top cross country ranking.

Washington's best couldn't beat Texas' best.

Joe Conner, Bellevue
Joe Conner, Bellevue
Photo by Jim Redman

The Bellevue Wolverines (1-1) have sought out some of the best competition the county has had to offer this decade. For the first time, the Wolverines didn't win.

Katy, Texas snapped visiting Bellevue's 15-game win streak with a 35-17 win.

"They outplayed us, they outcoached us, and Katy was flat-out the better team," Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff told The Seattle Times. "We came in here and we just got beat. They were big and fast and everything we had heard about."

Bellevue's Wing-T offense is famed in this state for its misdirection. It didn't fool Katy.

"They were going every which way," Katy coach Gary Joseph told the Times. "But I thought our kids handled it very well. We had a few breakdowns that I wasn't too happy with. We started to catch all the misdirection."

Katy led 14-10 at halftime, but it took control in the second half. A 60-yard punt return from Colt Atwood stretched the lead to 28-10.

The heat and humidity of south Texas may be have a been a factor. The Wolverines had trouble with cramping. Bellevue's previous showdowns have been played in Seattle.

"We had some injuries on some kids going two ways," Goncharoff told the TImes. "Plus, they really wore us out in that second half."

More football: Wroten misses game

Garfield's star basketball player, Tony Wroten, missed the second game of the football season because of a bruised right knee.

Wroten is one of the top junior point guards in the nation, and he's giving football a try this season. He suffered the injury in the season opener, a game in which he intercepted two passes and caught a touchdown.

Also: Jason Gesser, the ex-Washington State quarterback, earned his first win as a coach as Eastside Catholic (1-1) beat Class 2A power Archbishop Murphy 20-14. ... Alphonse Wade rushed for 213 yards on 13 carries and caught a 52-yard touchdown pass as No. 4 Auburn beat Kentwood 35-28 in a key South Puget Sound League game. ... The Chiawana Riverhawks, a first-year school in Pasco, claimed its first win, beating Hanford 20-14.

Cross country: Ferris wins showdown

North Central of Spokane finished the season as state champs and ranked No. 1 in the nation.

This year, cross-town rival Ferris is No. 1 in the nation. They showed they deserve that ranking by beating NC at the Tracy Walters Invitational. Ferris had four in the top 12 in a 55-72 win over host NC.

Ferris' Adam Thorne was the individual winner.

“I wished they scored eight (instead of five) in the Greater Spokane league,” NC coach Jon Knight told The Spokesman Review. The meet also had a 10-runner result, in which NC beat Ferris 155-160.