MitchMash: Ten years later, Bellevue's streak-busting win over De La Salle still unforgettable

I remember it like it was yesterday. OK, maybe last week. Or was it a month ago, when I last wrote about this game.

It was my first trip to Seattle and first time to experience the sonic boom of Qwest Stadium.

It was typical Northwest cool. Damp even. Even though there was 17 more days of summer.

But, of course, there was nothing ordinary about this high school football game. This was the night arguably the most impressive win streak in American sport – pros, college, football, baseball, bocce ball, horseshoes – was snapped by a then little-known program from Bellevue (Wash.).

The Wolverines didn't just pinch the 151-game streak, they ran all over the Spartans 39-20. The victory catapulted the Wolverines and coach Butch Goncharoff to national prominence.

Ten days after the murder of one of their most beloved player Terrance Kelly, this proved to be the low point of De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur's brilliant 34-year head coaching career.

Of course, the Spartans didn't stay down for long. 

Bellevue, ranked 13th in the country, opens this season Saturday against No. 17 Serra (Gardena, Calif.) in California as part of the Honor Bowl series, riding a 54-game win streak, the third longest in the country.

Going four seasons without a loss is very impressive, but imagine adding seven more seasons to that. That's what made this such a big deal, why this was so memorable, and why 10 years to the day, we're re-telling it today.

The streak was busted in two on Sept. 4, 2004 and here's what I wrote that night for the San Francisco Chronicle with brilliant photos from MaxPreps photographer Richard Rector.

As an aside, the game started late, took forever because of television timeouts and ended past 11 p.m.. I had to file a story 30 minutes before it ended without quotes. See the follow piece at the bottom.

See Rector's entire photo gallery from the game

The gamer

Seattle — Butch Goncharoff peeked at the overcast Seattle sky on Saturday night.

Perhaps the Bellevue (Wash.) High football coach was checking for a bolt of lightning. A lunar eclipse. Perhaps, even, the Apocalypse.

His Wolverines did something nobody has done for 12 years, 271 days and 151 consecutive games -- beat De La Salle.

The three-time defending state 3A Washington champions got 272 yards rushing and four touchdowns by JR Hasty in a remarkably convincing 39-20 victory at Qwest Stadium.

In the process the Wolverines broke one of sports' -- at any level -- most impressive streaks.

So impressive -- it more than doubled the previous high school win streak of 72 set by Hudson, Mich. -- it earned a seven-page spread in Sports Illustrated last month.

Maybe that explains Saturday's loss -- the ultimate Sports Illustrated jinx.

Goncharoff, who has studied and emulated De La Salle's system for the past three years, knew otherwise. Bellevue simply beat the Spartans at their game: precise execution, a quick-hitting running attack and most of all, just plain hard work. They didn't punt once in the contest.

It was the most points De La Salle has allowed in coach Bob Ladouceur's 25-year career and his second most decisive defeat -- the first being 32-0 against Salesian in his first season of 1979.

The Spartans last loss was 35-27 to Pittsburg on Dec. 7, 1991.

A state-record crowd of 24,987 showed up for the most anticipated football game in Washington state history. Instead, a track meet broke out in the first half with Hasty leading the contingent of sprinters.

Hasty had 197 of Bellevue's 325 rushing yards as it took a stunning 30-20 lead. De La Salle had only given up 30 points once during an entire game -- a 71-32 win over Ygnacio Valley in 1999 -- during its win streak. De La Salle, which returned just five starters, two on defense, gave up just 58 points all of last season.

It was only the second time the Spartans trailed at halftime during the streak and the first time they'd trailed by double digits.

The Spartans' offense did its part with 217 first-half yards but they couldn't come close to slowing down Bellevue.

De La Salle looked like it got the break it needed starting the second half, but even that went for naught.

On the first play from scrimmage, Hasty fumbled and the Spartans recovered. But De La Salle was called for a face mask penalty, giving the Wolverines the ball back. They didn't waste it as Hasty scored his fourth TD of the game, a 2-yard plunge after he sprinted for 24 giving Bellevue a 36-20 lead.

The Wolverine defense began to gain confidence and held the Spartans scoreless the rest of the third quarter and after a 31-yard field goal by Tim Nienaber, De La Salle trailed 39-20 heading into the fourth quarter.

A robust Washington following went hush after the Spartans took the opening drive 86 yards in eight plays, capped with a 45-yard touchdown run around right end by Edwardo Lopez. The 5-foot, 185-pound senior followed a gaping hole over right tackle and wasn't touched as he sprinted down the De La Salle sideline.

Hasty sent the faithful back into a frenzy on his team's first play when he busted over the right side and outran the De La Salle secondary for a 74- yard touchdown. Hasty, son of former NFL cornerback and Bellevue's defensive coordinator James Hasty, rushed for a King County 3A-record 1,991 yards and 25 touchdowns last year.

Kicker Tim Nienaber missed the extra point, keeping De La Salle in front, but not for long.

After a De La Salle 41-yard drive stalled at the Bellevue 26, the Wolverines promptly went 74 yards in five plays, capped by a 1-yard plunge by Hasty with 1:02 remaining in the first quarter.

The Spartans came right back to tie it 13-13 with a 44-yard TD run down the right sideline by Lopez on the first play of the second half. Holder Brian Williams couldn't handle the snap on the PAT.

Like they did all half, Bellevue came right back as sophomore quarterback Eric Block, all of 14 years old and making his first varsity start, made a great inside fake, broke two tackles and dove into the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown. On the previous play, Hasty broke off a 19-yard run on 3rd-and-6.

The Wolverines opened up a 23-13 lead on a 33-yard field goal by Nienaber after Sean McDonald recovered a fumble by quarterback Kevin Lopina. It was the only turnover of the first half.

Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 74 yards to the Bellevue 8 and on the next play, Garrett Jandegian burst up the middle untouched for - guess what? - another touchdown, cutting Bellevue's lead to 23-20 with 3:59 left in the half.

Hasty gave Bellevue the momentum right back with his third TD of the half, a 9-yard run capping a 71-yard march keyed by runs of 14 and 21 yards by Hasty. That made it 30-20 at halftime.

The follow: Published Sept. 6, 2004:

Seattle — The only thing Bellevue (Wash.) High football coach Butch Goncharoff guaranteed heading into his team's much-anticipated showdown with De La Salle was that intimidation wouldn't be a factor.

"Our players won't look at De La Salle and say, 'Whoa,' " Goncharoff said early last week.

That reaction, instead, was reserved for all who heard and especially witnessed Bellevue's dominating 39-20 victory over the Spartans that ended at 11:32 on Saturday night at Qwest Stadium, ending De La Salle's national-record 151-game win streak.

It wasn't so much that the streak finally ended -- it began in 1992 when most of the current Spartans were hitting kindergarten.

It was with the force that Bellevue blew past De La Salle, racking up 463 total yards -- all on the ground at 8.6 per carry -- including 271 and four touchdowns by JR Hasty, son of former NFL cornerback James Hasty.

The Wolverines' quick, athletic offensive line opened gaping holes all night, sophomore quarterback Eric Block was a Houdini running the Wing-T attack, Bellevue committed just two penalties and didn't turn over the ball. The Wolverines didn't even attempt a pass.

"That's what made it even more impressive," De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur said. "They didn't even have to pass. They just shoved it down our throats. That really impressed me."

It was reminiscent of what De La Salle has been doing to Bay Area teams - - and beyond -- the past 25 years under Ladouceur.

It was only Ladouceur's 15th defeat -- and worst since a 32-0 loss to Salesian in his first season (1979) -- compared with 287 victories. De La Salle beat opponents by an average margin of 38.2 during the streak.

Ladouceur handled the defeat like he handled all his victories -- with class.

But even he had the same reaction: "Whoa."

"When I saw film of (Bellevue) this summer I felt confident we could beat them," Ladouceur said. "But the team we saw on tape wasn't the team we played out there tonight. To their credit, they put in a lot of new stuff we weren't ready for.

"That's funny because that's what we've always heard other coaches say about us."

Goncharoff said since rumblings of the matchup started at the end of last season, the only way to beat De La Salle was to out-work them.

They increased their workouts from an hour to 90 minutes and each player was required to put in 85 offseason sessions.

"I remember when we ramped up our schedule and played Mater Dei (Santa Ana) for the first time we ramped up our workouts too," Ladouceur said. "Bellevue has done all the right things."

Goncharoff did more than prepare Bellevue physically, he copied De La Salle's blueprint. On Saturday, the pupil dethroned the teacher.

"De La Salle has been on top of the heap for so many years," Goncharoff said. "We did our research. We read every book. I read every article, (watched) very piece of film I could get on them."

It looked like it.

"They had some confusing fronts and they were more physical than us," Ladouceur said. "They faked us out real good. They put on a very good game plan. He (Goncharoff) had obviously been working on this game plan a long time, and it showed."

Said De La Salle senior defensive back Dustin Watson: "They seemed like they knew what we were doing. When we made an audible they adjusted."

Ultimately, all the schemes and coaching probably didn't decide this one. The Wolverines, with 13 returning starters, looked more athletic than the Spartans, who returned just three starters.

Experience might have been the biggest factor.

"Right now Bellevue is a better football team than we are," Ladouceur said. "And if we played them tomorrow, they'd probably beat us again. We just need some experience. We had 18 new spots to fill this year and that's asking a lot, especially against an experienced, well-coached team like that."

Asked if the Streak finally ending actually was a relief, Ladouceur looked at a bigger picture.

As I've said before, we never tried to talk about the streak," he said. "I'm all for everybody playing good football and getting better. If our level of play helped Bellevue prepare and raise their play that's great. I think there should be lots of kings of the mountain, not just one."

Defensive coordinator Terry Eidson took even a bigger step back, noting the heart attack Ladouceur experienced on New Year's Eve and the murder of 2003 MVP Terrance Kelly in August in Richmond.

"I just feel sorry for the kids," Eidson said. "Right now they're hurting a lot. At the same time, after what happened with Terrance you realize even more that this is just a game. In the scheme of life, losing a football game doesn't measure a whole lot."

It seemed to measure plenty with the Spartans late Saturday.

"I don't feel like we let down (the community) as much as we let down all those other players who have been in the program the last 13 years," Watson said.

Eidson understood Watson's sentiments, but added more levity.

"After reading about all the work Bellevue went through and knowing how much work we put in I knew a very good football team would be awfully disappointed tonight," Eidson said. "It just happens to be us.

"But hey, 151-1 isn't too shabby. How disappointed can you be with that? We've had a great run. We knew it had to end sometime. I'm just glad it was to a quality team and program like that."