KENNEWICK -- There is no way to sugarcoat Prosser's lop-sided loss to Archbishop Murphy in the 2A state semifinal Saturday at Lampson Stadium.
It was every bit as one-sided as the scoreboard said: 50-14.
The Wildcats (12-1), who will play Lynden (13-0) in the championship game next weekend at the Tacoma Dome, scored almost at will throughout the day.
They outgained the Mustangs (11-2) 492-62. Prosser managed just 8 yards in the first half, and was in the red for rushing yards until the final drive of the day that culminated in Diego Magana's 7-yard TD run with just over a minute to play.
The Mustangs' other score came on Isaac Anderson's 92-yard kickoff 31/2 minutes into the third quarter -- it cut ATM's lead to 21 points.
"When a team scores that quick at the start of the game, it deflates you," said Prosser coach Benji Sonnichsen. "Then on offense when you have tons of three-and-outs, you're in for a long day.
"We tried everything we had, but that is a very good football team."
Alex Galgano ran for 121 yards and two scores, including a 73-yard run, and also caught a pass for 23 yards, one of three shovel passes run from the Wildcats' effective triple-option rollout. Two others went to Alex Kramer, including a 52-yarder for ATM's second score.
Quarterback Hans VanderWel threw for 83 yards on just three completions and also ran for 94.
"Offensive line was just blanketing people, opening holes," said ATM coach Dave Ward, whose team returns to the title game after finishing second last season. "Galgano ran hard. All the running backs ran hard."
Prosser's offense never got started. Quarterback Ryan Fassler was under pressure all day and was sacked three times for 30 yards in losses. He finished 5-for-19 for 47 yards and a pick.
"Defense is fast," Ward said. "They excel at getting in the face of the quarterback and limiting his options."
The outcome didn't leave a lot of room for smiles in the Prosser locker room. And though the loss ended the season, it didn't extinguish what the Mustangs accomplished.
"We accomplished a lot with the kids -- a league title, the state semifinals -- and we're very successful in many, many ways," Sonnichsen said. "We just ran into a team that was better than us today. They completely shut us down."
Archbishop Murphy 50, Prosser 14
Archbishop Murphy 14 21 8 7 -- 50
Prosser 0 7 0 7 -- 14
SCORING PLAYS
AM--Alex Galgano 8 run (Foster Wade kick)
AM--Alex Kramer 53 run pass from Hans VanderWel (Wade kick)
AM--Austin Broadwell 25 pass from Conner Kruse (Wade kick)
AM--Galgano 73 run (Wade kick)
P--Isaac Anderson 92 kickoff return (Abi Fajardo kick)
AM--Eneliko Tevaga 10 run (Ricky Gordon run)
AM--Kruse 4 run (Wade kick)
P--Diego Magana 7 run (Fajardo kick)
STATISTICS
RUSHING -- AM, Galgano 9-121, VanderWel 10-94, Tevaga 12-45, Kruse 10-39, Kramer 2-32, Gordon 3-7, David Loveless 6-5, Conner Longoria 2-6, Max VonderHofen 2-3, Brandon Byrne 1-0. Prosser, Anderson 7-33, Magana 4-12, Bubba Frank 1-minus 1, Ryan Fassler 3-minus 30.
PASSING -- AM, VanderWel 3-4-0-83, Kruse 2-4-0-57. Prosser, Fassler 5-19-1-47.
RECEIVING -- AM, Kramer 2-85, Broadwell 1-25, Galgano 1-23, Tevaga 1-7. Prosser, Anderson 1-24, Fajardo 1-14, Sterling Clark 1-5, Magana 1-3, Wyatt Baker 1-1.
FIRST DOWNS--AM 21, P 5. FUMBLES-LOST--AM 3-1, P 1-1. PENALTIES-YARDS--AM 12-111, P 0-0.
