The magical connection of sophomore quarterback
Max Browne and arguably the nation's top receiver
Kasen Williams struck again on Saturday.
Max Browne
Photo by Jeff Napier
The duo's
Skyline (Sammamish, Wash.) Spartans fought through a nightmarish first half that
featured four turnovers and came back from a three-touchdown deficit to
defeat
Curtis (University Place, Wash.) 35-34 in a Class 4A semifinal game at the Tacoma Dome on
Saturday night.
According to the Seattle Times, Browne, who replaced All-American
quarterback Jake Heaps (now at BYU), completed 27 of 42 for 405
yards and four touchdowns and Williams, who has committed to Washington, caught nine passes for 147 yards and a touchdown.
An interception by
Damian Green on a last-minute two-point conversion
try saved the day for the three-time defending champions (12-1), who
advanced to next week's title game between the winner of Monday's
Bellarmine Prep versus Ferris game.
Williams made a big interception himself in the fourth quarter with the
score tied at 28. On the next play, he took a short pass from Browne and
zoomed by everyone for the go-ahead score.
Curtis drove right down field and closed to within 35-34 with 26 seconds
left, but the Vikings (12-1) went for two and Tyler Jamison's pass was
intercepted by Greene.
It was no moral victory for Curtis, which lost 49-14 to Skyline in the state quarterfinals last season.
Kasen Williams
Photo by Jeff Napier
The Vikings took a big lead behind the passing combination of Jamison to
Rahmel Dockery (eight catches, 140 yards). The duo hooked up three
times for touchdowns en route to a 28-7 lead.
Dockery also completed a 40-yard pass and rushed for 31 yards, but his
team committed four turnovers, three that led to Skyline scores.
No. 4 St.
Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) 23, Whitmer (Toledo, Ohio) 13
According to Cleveland.com, Terrell Bates rushed for 157 yards
and a touchdown and St. Edward (14-0) advanced to the state Division I
final with a hard-fought semifinal win.
St. Edward is coming off
a 4-6 season so this was somewhat unexpected. It rushed for 253 of its
372 total yards, including 68 and a touchdown by quarterback Kevin
Burke, who threw for 119 yards and another score.
St. Edward now
faces Wayne (11-3), a 28-14 winner over defending state champion
Hilliard Davidson, in the state finals in Canton. Wayne is led by the
nation's most highly-recruited quarterback Braxton Miller, who has
committed to Ohio State.
No. 5 Katy
(Texas) 32, North Shore (Houston, Texas) 27Most experts figured Katy's 44-6 shellacking of North Shore to open the season was an aberration.
Turns out it was, but Katy still prevailed in the rematch, a 5A Division I Regional III humdinger on Saturday.
According to the Katy Times, Brooks Haacks led the fifth-ranked team in the country on a 70-yard drive capped off with his 22-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Thompson to lead Katy to a hard-earned victory.
Katy's defense had to stop North Shore twice down the stretch, but it did and now the team faces Pearland (13-0), a 54-7 winner over Cy Creek.
Katy didn't take its first lead, 23-21, until a 17-yard field goal by Jeff Johnson with four seconds left in the half. North Shore, which got two rushing touchdowns from Reggie Bryant, eventually took back the lead 27-26 on a 2-yard pass from Gibson to Kevin DeLeon with 11:19 left in the game.
That's when Haack went to work.
Donovonn Young led Katy with 93 yards on 28 carries and Taylor added 84 yards on nine carries, including a 40-yard touchdown.
No. 15 Wheaton-Warrenville
South (Wheaton, Ill.) 28, Lake Zurich (Ill.) 17
According to the Chicago Tribune, Wheaton-Warrenville South repeated as Class 7A state champs as Reilly O'Toole passed for 182 yards and two touchdowns, both to Titus Davis, and Matt Rogers rushed for 88 yards and two scores.
Rogers' second touchdown with 37 yards out pretty much clinched the win with 48 seconds remaining.
Jacob Brinlee set a state title-game record in defeat, with 232 yards rushing on 33 carries. Teammates Zach Till and John Mularz had rushing touchdowns for Lake Zurich (12-2), which defeated South in the 2007 state title game.
No. 23 Mullen
(Denver, Colo.) 41, Grandview (Aurora, Colo.) 7
According to the Aurora Sentinel, Adonis Ameen-Moore scored four first-half touchdowns and Mullen cruised into the 5A state title game with an easy victory.
Mullen plays Regis Jesuit in the finals at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Grandview (8-6), which had upset three higher seeds earlier in the tournament, had five turnovers which led to a 41-0 deficit in the third quarter.
Ameen-Moore had TD runs of 2, 2, 1 and 1 yards en route to a 28-0 halftime lead before Cyler Miles fired a pair of TD passes in the third quarter. Rayshon Williams had nine catches for 92 yards for the winners.
No. 24 Stony
Point (Round Rock, Texas) 42, A&M Consolidated (College Station, Texas) 7
According to the Austin Statesmen, Sam Kelley rushed for 159 yards and Aaryn Sharp accounted for five touchdowns as Stone Point (13-0) rolled to a Class 5A second-round victory. Stony Point now faces DeSoto, a team that lost to Stony Point, in next week's quarterfinals.
A&M opened with a 15-play scoring drive, but it was all Stony Point after that. It scored three touchdowns by halftime, including a 49-yard touchdown by Kelley, who has piled up 1,793 yards and 21 TDs.
