Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009

Cerrillo, Othello drop Colville

By Ben Reynolds, Herald staff writer

OTHELLO -- Playing the same team over and over again can get a little monotonous. But if you are the Othello football team, there is nothing wrong with monotonous.

For the third straight season, the Huskies beat Colville in the first round of the 2A state playoffs, the latest version a 26-13 victory Saturday afternoon on a sun-drenched Huskie Field.

It was the fourth straight year that these teams met in the first round.

"We knew what they were going to do," said Othello quarterback Jeremy Cerrillo. "But they also knew what we were going to do. We just had to come out and play better."

Othello (9-2) advances to play at undefeated West Valley (Spokane), which beat Selah 29-0 in its first-round game, next Saturday.

The Huskies, making their 13th state playoff appearance, have made a living under coach Roger Hoell of pounding the ball on the ground and eating up the clock minutes at a time.

On Saturday, they changed things up a little bit. After jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead on a 38-yard touchdown run by Parker Davis, Othello went to the passing game for the next quarter and a half.

After Cerrillo threw two first-half touchdowns, it's a wonder why the Huskies don't pass more often.

Cerrillo completed 7 of 9 passes for 162 yards in the first half as Othello took a commanding 19-0 lead. He finished 8-of-12 for 172 yards.

"The last two weeks teams have tried to take away our run," Cerrillo said. "(Today) we wanted to show that we can throw the ball, too."

With the big second-half lead, the Huskies turned to their ground game to drain the clock, making it difficult for a Colville (6-5) comeback.

Everything was going as scripted, except for Othello lost three second-half fumbles and had a punt blocked.

But the Huskies' defense was more than up to the challenge.

Colville scored just once in five trips inside the red zone, four times being turned away on downs. Othello also intercepted Colville quarterback Sawyer Bardwell twice.

"We know as a defense we'll pull through," said linebacker Daniel Walker.

Colville 0 0 7 6 -- 13

Othello 13 6 0 7 -- 26

SCORING PLAYS

O -- Parker Davis 38 run (kick fail)

O -- DJ Cantu 31 pass from Jeremy Cerrillo (Brian Elgin kick)

O -- Chris Brunetti 15 pass from Cerrillo (pass fail)

C -- Brock Dotts 14 pass from Sawyer Bardwell (Jordan Anderson kick)

O -- Matt Jensen 10 pass from Cerrillo (Elgin kick)

C -- Jared Fisher 51 pass from Bardwell (kick fail)

STATISTICS

RUSHING--C, Dotts 20-116, Andrew Walsh 2-7, Cody Thew 1-8, Bardwell 7-(minus-23), Blake Sjordal 6-22, Zach Hull 1-6. O, Cerrillo 6-14, Jensen 13-75, Davis 10-57, David Charles 2-5.

PASSING--C, Bardwell 20-33-2-230. O, Cerrillo 8-12-0-172.

RECEIVING--C, Walsh 1-11, Jared Fisher 6-83, Hull 2-16, Kramer Carpenter 4-55, Dotts 3-42, Sjordal 3-26. O, Devin Lind 2-8, Brunetti 3-110, Cantu 1-31, Jensen 2-23.

FIRST DOWNS--C 19, O 11. FUMBLES-LOST--C 1-0, O 3-3. PENALTIES-YARDS--C 5-32, O 6-60.