Panic isn’t in Skyline’s vocabulary.
It showed again Saturday afternoon, as for the second straight week the Spartans fell behind early and battled back to crush an opponent. Skyline emphatically defeated previously unbeaten Auburn, 38-2, moving into the state semifinals, Nov. 29 against Ferris in Spokane.
“We just had a game plan and we went out and executed it. Our players take great pride in big games, and just showing what Skyline football is all about,” quarterback Jake Heaps said.
Skyline trailed 2-0 midway through the first quarter. The deficit was a result of a lineman batting a loose ball forward from the end zone after running back Joey Evans fumbled deep in Spartan territory.
On Skyline’s next drive, kicker Brian Schwartz broke open the floodgates for 38 unanswered points. The senior booted a 23-yard field goal through the uprights just 50 seconds into the second quarter. The Spartans erupted for three more touchdowns before the half. Heaps, who completed 17 of 24 passes for 204 yards, ran for a 2-yard TD. Gino Simone followed that with a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown.
“I didn’t even see what our return was. I just caught it and just ran,” said Simone, who now has two punt returns and two kickoff returns for touchdowns this season. “There was great blocking down the sideline by our guys.”
Running back Nick Washburn capped off the first-half scoring, breaking into the end zone on a 4-yard run. Washburn had 15 carries for 111 yards and became only the second Spartan running back to go for more than 100 yards this season.
“The line blocked great,” he said.”They just opened everything up.”
Heaps didn’t have a passing touchdown in the first half, but made up for it in the second half. He connected with William Chandler on a 4-yard lob to the left corner of the end zone, then connected with a streaking Simone down the right sideline for a 41-yard TD. Both scores came in the third quarter.
“We don’t match up very well on the edges with them,” said Auburn head coach Gordon Elliot. “They’ve got Division I athletes out there, and we’ve got sophomore wrestlers.”
Skyline’s defense completed its second straight playoff game without allowing a touchdown, after holding Federal Way to two field goals the week before. The Spartans only allowed the Trojan’s Wing-T offense 155 rushing offense. They averaged more than 382 rushing yards per game during the regular season.
“Our game plan had to be to try and control the football against them and we blew our chance, we weren’t able to get a first down against them,” Elliot said. “Their kids did a very good job of playing hard inside and holding their gaps and we just couldn’t do a very good job of moving it.”
Skyline, 12-0, now travels to Spokane to face the Ferris Saxons (11-1). While the two schools are separated by more than 300 miles, there is some familiarity.
“We played them in a 7-on-7 tournament up in Canada (during the summer) and they beat us by one, so we’ll definitely have a little revenge for them,” Heaps said.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Joe Albi Stadium.
“We’re going to go play our game and they’re going to go play theirs, and it’s going to be a good battle,” Simone said.
Skyline at Ferris
Kickoff: 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 29
Quick look: Ferris has only one loss this season, a 15-14 defeat to Lewis and Clark. The Saxons run a balanced offense that has passed for more than 2,600 yards and ran for 1,600. Quarterback Connor Halliday has 2,100 yards, 19 TDs and nine INTs. His primary target is receiver Aaron Roberts, who has over 1,000 yards and 10 TDs.
Prediction: Skyline has to travel a long distance, but proved they can handle the long road trips, beating Oregon’s Sheldon on the road to start the year. Ferris is a solid opponent, and might present one of the more balanced offenses the Spartans have seen this season. Final score: 35-14 Skyline.
