BADEN'S D1 FOOTBALL HELPS EAST SQUAD TO VICTORY IN WSCA 1A 2A ALL STATE FOOTBALL GAME
[Jun-25-2006]
Baden’s D1 Football helps East Squad to Victory
Even with their differences, there was no reason for East head coach Jeff Nelson to have many conflicts of style with his assistant Dustin Lamb. .
Both coaches got what they wanted at the Earl Barden All-Star Football Classic on Saturday. Nelson got his pounding running attack out of Jeff Jack and J.C. Sherritt; Lamb aired it out behind quarterbacks Brandon Artz and Ray Valle. .
So the two conflicting approaches melded into a 40-25 East win at Zaepfel Stadium. Lamb's passing attack opened up a 33-6 lead by halftime, and Nelson's grind-it-out style prevented the West from getting back into the game in the second half. .
"We knew we had kids who had speed and who had power," said Nelson, who coaches at LaCrosse-Washtucna. "We just had to let them go and we knew it would go fine. .
"... I wouldn't do anything different at all; I wouldn't change one thing." .
With five players from Royal to group together, Nelson divided the East's offense into two platoons that would play one half each. Both were effective from the start with Grandview's Brandon Artz — a student of Lamb's wide-open air attack with the Greyhounds — passing for all 143 of his yards in the first half. .
While he started out to a familiar target — two completions for 32 yards to Grandview wide receiver James Vela — Artz spread the wealth around to finish 8 of 14 with one touchdown rushing and another passing. .
He even got to run a 2-minute drill to end the first half — a rarity in an all-star game because it usually requires more than one week of practice to develop the timing required. But Lamb couldn't help himself with all the weapons at his disposal and Artz ran it perfectly. .
With the East getting the ball on its own 31-yard line with 1 minute, 55 seconds remaining before the break, Artz covered the distance in three plays and 27 seconds. He found Pullman's Ashton Gant, who made a couple moves after the grab for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 1:28 remaining. .
This left enough time on the clock for the East defense to force a three-and-out and allow Valle and his platoon to set up Andrew Wilkerson's 35-yard field goal to make the score 33-6 at halftime. .
"Lamb saw our 2-minute offense and fell in love with it," Artz said. "He even wanted to come out and start the game with it because we were clicking together all week and we proved it today." .
The other platoon didn't suffer any chemistry problems with the strong Royal nucleus to build around. Valle finished an economical 7 of 10 for 110 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Two of those passes were to fellow Royal standout Kyle Scroggins, who led all East receivers with 73 yards. .
Valle's first pass to Scroggins — a 54-yard bomb down the sideline for a touchdown — showed little rust had settled on the duo's timing since this past fall. .
"After I threw it to him, the first thing I asked him was, 'How many times did we do that in our career?'" Valle said. "With that guy, I don't doubt anything for a second. I know if I threw it up there, Kyle was going to get it." .
The offense slowed in the second half with the East content to let Sherritt (the East offensive MVP with 10 rushes for 85 yards and one touchdown) and Jack (9 for 61) pound out the clock. The all-star game's rules also didn't help the East. If a team trails by nine after scoring, it will receive the ball on the ensuing kick off. .
This allowed the West to get going behind its offensive MVP, running back Justin Leonard of Woodland, who finished with 13 rushes for 77 yards and also had two long kickoff returns in the game. Unfortunately for West quarterback Scott Jarvis, who passed for 138 of his 163 yards and had two touchdowns after halftime, he didn't have enough time to overcome the deficit. .
"We missed a few key tackles today," said West coach Ron Lepper of Mount Baker. "We had only a week to put this team together and there are a lot of good athletes and plenty of talent on this team. We just had a few guys playing out of their usual positions." .
East 14 19 0 7 — 40 .
West 0 6 7 12 — 25 .
East — Mike Thomas 3 run (Andrew Wilkerson kick) .
East — Brandon Artz 1 run (Wilkerson kick) .
East — Kyle Scroggins 52 pass from Ray Valle (pass good) .
West — Shiloh Keo 18 run (kick blocked) .
East — Ashton Gant 20 pass from Artz (pass good) .
East — Wilkerson 35 FG. .
West — Joe Halahuni 44 pass from Scott Jarvis (Andrew Lutton kick) .
East — J.C. Sherritt 20 run (Wilkerson kick) .
West — John Lewis 3 run (pass failed) .
West — Keo 27 pass from Jarvis (pass failed) . INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS . RUSHING — East, J.C. Sherritt 10-85, Mike Thomas 7-38, Brandon Artz 4-7, Nick Ashley 6-35, Jeff Jack 9-61, Ray Valle 1-4, Ryan Anderson 3-26. West, Justin Leonard 13-77, Shiloh Keo 5-21, Scott Jarvis 5-(-4), Spencer Flannery 4-(-1), John Lewis 1-3. . PASSING — East, Artz, 8-14-143-1-0, Valle 7-10-110-1-1. West, Jarvis, 8-23-163-2-1, Lewis, 3-5-36-0-0. RECEIVING — East, James Vela 2-32, Sherritt 2-40, Matt Martin 1-28, Patrick Dorsing 2-33, Kyle Scroggins 2-73, Jack 1-(-2), Ashton Gant 3-30, Andrew Wilkerson 1-8, Ryan Anderson 1-11. West, Joe Halahuni, 4-102, Keo 5-61, Miles Murphy 1-26, Josh Keough 1-10.
