With the final score of 23-7, the Falcons lost a heartbreaker to one of their top rivals, the Bothell High School Cougars.
This secured the Crest Division Championship for Bothell and the Cougars will continue on to play Skyline next week for the KingCo 4A title.
However, this loss didn’t eliminate Woodinville’s chances to win State, as they will still be in the playoffs.
“The great thing is that it’s playoffs, so it’s really easy to [regain focus] because you’re playing to win and move on," said Head Coach Maxwell. "It’s win or go home, so motivation is there and we know that we’re a good team…our kids will be motivated to come out and win.”
With a scoreless first quarter Friday, the Falcons just couldn’t seem to catch a break.
A missed field goal by Conor Zaback early in the first was just the start of problematic special teams play for Woodinville.
In the ensuing drive by Bothell, it was soon realized that the biggest threat from the Cougars would be their running game. With three touchdowns on the night overall, Bothell running back Danny Wilson couldn’t be stopped.
With an explosive running game and a highly rated quarterback in Bothell sophomore Ross Bowers, the Cougars were no match for Woodinville offensively.
Yet, the Woodinville defense did make its plays. Very few plays, but plays nonetheless.
With Bothell facing a 4th and 4 on Woodinville’s 31-yard line with 1:39 left in the first quarter, junior Ian Biddle made an interception that stopped a very promising Bothell scoring drive.
It seemed like this interception by Biddle would be the turning point in the game for Woodinville. However, in Woodinville’s ensuing drive, the offense couldn’t get anything to go their way and to top it off, a muffed punt by the Falcons turned all the momentum back to Bothell.
After a quick three and out by Bothell minutes into the start of the second quarter, Woodinville took the ball downfield and on a 1st and goal, they scored when Coltor Clinch muscled his way in off of a middle screen. After Zaback made the extra point, the score was Woodinville, 7-0.
On the next play, Bothell star Danny Wilson had an incredible 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Though, Bothell missed the ensuing extra point and the scoreboard read Woodinville, 7-6.
Despite holding a slight lead over Bothell, Woodinville couldn’t gain enough momentum to go out and make the plays needed to take control of the game.
Everything was going wrong.
After a stalled Woodinville drive with 7:03 left in the second quarter, Zaback was ready to punt it away and let the Woodinville defense do their best in stopping a determined Bothell offense.
But, the hike on the punt was fumbled and Bothell got the ball back on Woodinville’s own 25-yard line.
Danny Wilson’s touchdown with 6:52 left in the second quarter just added to Bothell’s lead, making the game Bothell, 13-7.
After interceptions stopping both a Bothell and then Woodinville drive, the Falcons got the ball back with 2:30 left to play in the second quarter, but couldn’t get far enough downfield to score again.
Halftime: Bothell 13 Woodinville 7
The second half was no better than the first for the Falcons. They failed to score and gave up another 10 points to Bothell.
A completed Bothell field goal with 9:05 left in the third made the score Bothell, 16-7. An interception by the Cougars at the Woodinville 34-yard line, put Bothell in perfect scoring position for Wilson.
Wilson proceeded to score on a run to the right side, making the score Bothell, 23-7.
Woodinville tried to make a comeback, but after Bothell blocked a Woodinville field goal attempt with 2:18 left in the third, things weren’t looking promising.
The fourth quarter was uneventful as neither teams scored, keeping the score Bothell 23-7 to end the game.
Maxwell said: “We were wanting to play clean and limit mistakes and for the most part we did a nice part of that early. However, the second half was full of turnovers [and] interceptions.”
The biggest difference was the two special teams plays in the first half, Maxwell said. "It was basically a 14-point change and if we didn’t have that, we would probably be up 14-0 and it would have been a whole different ball game."
This loss will have to be short-lived for the Falcons, as they will have to find a way to regroup and refocus for their upcoming game.
Goodbye regular season, hello playoffs.
