Saturday, Sep. 06, 2008

Kamiakin squeaks by Kennewick in 3OT thriller (w/video, gallery)

By Rene Ferran, Herald staff writer

The youngsters on the Kamiakin football squad learned one of the truisms of sports in Friday's 24-23 triple-overtime victory over Kennewick at Lampson Stadium.

Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than good.

"I thought Kennewick deserved as much as us to win that game," said Kamiakin coach Craig Beverlin, who improved to 17-8 all-time in season openers. "We're real young, and I said before the season that hopefully we don't stub our toe early. We got lucky tonight."

Lucky in that John Gower's 35-yard field goal try that would have won the game in the first overtime for Kennewick sailed just wide of the left upright.

Lucky in that on the go-ahead play in the third overtime, two Braves ran routes to the same spot in the back of the end zone, but Curtis Moore -- the intended receiver -- stepped in front of a Lions defender poised for an interception.

And after Kennewick immediately answered with a 10-yard TD pass from Trent Brown to KC Hooper, the Braves were lucky that Dane Knapp's reach was just enough to tip away the two-point conversion pass intended for Dakota Tripp. The ball floated into the arms of Braves linebacker Matt Minnich, sending the Kamiakin side of Lampson into bedlam.

"We thought it would be a fade or a dump or screen," Knapp said of the final play. "I just got a boost of energy, saw the ball and slapped it out of the air."

Lions coach Bill Templeton had no regrets about eschewing a PAT kick and a fourth overtime.

"You've got to live life like that," he said. "Dakota was open for a minute, but Kamiakin did a nice job of knocking the ball away."

Both teams had quarterbacks making their first career starts, and each had their jittery moments.

Kamiakin's Corey Hutchison was blindsided by Angus Newhouse, fumbled and Tripp returned the ball 59 yards for a touchdown 3 minutes in.

Hutchison also threw two interceptions and other times had trouble making his reads, finishing 15-of-35 for 113 yards. He also scored on two QB sneaks in the second quarter as the Braves built a 17-7 halftime lead.

His counterpart, Trent Brown, threw a pair of second-quarter interceptions -- the first in the end zone to kill a promising drive, the second deep in Lions territory that Kamiakin turned into a score.

Templeton pulled Brown for a few series to settle the junior down, and he returned to lead a pair of second-half scoring drives -- a 40-yard field goal by Gower and a tying 10-yard TD pass to Hooper with 6:51 to play in regulation.

"He was struggling a little bit there, but Trent's our guy, and when he got back into the game, he made the plays he needed to," Templeton said of Brown, who was 18-of-345 for 182 yards.

Tripp led the Kennewick defense with 12 tackles, 1 1/2 for loss, while linebackers Saul Soto and Trux French added 10 tackles each.

Johnny Allan led Kamiakin with 11 tackles. Dane Knapp added nine.

Kamiakin 24, Kennewick 23 (3OT)

SCORING PLAYS

Ke -- Dakota Tripp 59 fumble return (John Gower kick)

Kam -- Corey Hutchison 1 run (Gavin Richter kick)

Kam -- Hutchison 1 run (Richter kick)

Kam -- FG Richter 32

Ke -- FG Gower 40

Ke -- KC Hooper 10 pass from Trent Brown (Gower kick)

Kam -- Curtis Moore 16 pass from Hutchison (Richter kick)

Ke -- Hooper 10 pass from Brown (pass failed)

STATISTICS

RUSHING--Ke, Hooper 15-55, Drew Loftus 8-4, Brown 5-(minus 14), Saul Soto 1-2. Kam, Ethan Morgan 22-86, Cody Crow 7-23, Hutchison 5-(minus 22).

PASSING--Ke, Brown 18-34-2-182, Loftus 2-3-0-20. Kam, Hutchison 15-35-2-113, Dane Knapp 0-1-0-0, Joey Jansen 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING--Ke, Loftus 11-131, Taran Schultz 4-31, Hooper 3-22, Jose Calderon 1-6, Tripp 1-12. Kam, Tim White 5-82, Morgan 3-16, Moore 2-10, Knapp 2-17, Crow 1-(minus 9), Stanley Salsbury 1-(minus 3), Matt Minnich 1-0.

FIRST DOWNS--Ke 10, Kam 11. FUMBLES-LOST--Ke 2-0, Kam 3-2. PENALTIES-YARDS--Ke 11-71, Kam 7-51.

* Rene Ferran: 582-1526; rferran@tricityherald.com.