Red Wolves run down by Sammamish
Published 10:11 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
BELLEVUE-Murphy’s Law was alive and well as the
Cedarcrest football team stumbled and fumbled its way to a second
consecutive KingCo 3A defeat last Friday night at the hands of the Sammamish Totems.
Chris Raftery, the Totems’ senior running back, carried the ball 14
ties for a grand total of 282 yards and four touchdowns as Sammamish won
its first game of the year, with a lopsided 62-12 win over the Wolves.
Raftery had tallied over 200 yards with eight minutes left in the first
half, including touchdown runs of 18, 23, 52 and 63 yards.
The Wolves scored just once in the first half, when senior Casey
Peterson scored from one yard out on a quarterback keeper. The scoring
plunge was set up by a 43-yard pass connection from Peterson to Michael
Smith and a 24-yard open field scramble by junior Darren Carrido.
Peterson took over for junior signal-caller Nick Rich midway
through the second quarter, with Cedarcrest trailing 47-0. The Wolves failed
to score on their first eight possessions.
The visitors went three-plays-and-out the first two times they were
on offense, then turned the ball over on three fumbles, an interception
that went for a touchdown and a poor snap to the punter. Each Sammamish
possession resulted in a score, as the home team built a 47-6 lead. The
Totems were not forced to punt until the final 90 seconds of the first half.
Cedarcrest’s second touchdown came with 9:46 left to play in
the game, when senior Mike Geiger snared a pass deflected by
a Sammamish defender and ran untouched 27 yards into the end
zone. The Wolves failed on both extra point attempts for the evening.
This Friday will be an emotional game for the Red Wolves, as they
host the Issaquah Indians and former Athletic Director Ray Wilson at
Howard Miller Field in Carnation.
Wilson accepted the administrative post in issaquah over the summer
after heading the Cedarcrest athletic department since its birth, four
years ago. Wilson was also a classroom teacher and coach of the boys’
varsity basketball team in Duvall before moving on.
Last week Issaquah and its Fly offense lost its home opener to
Bellevue 62-23. Indian Coach Buddy Bland said the Wolverines blew the
game open in the second half with a bruising running attack.
Cedarcrest will try to find its own holes in the Issaquah defense.
Running back Eric Dick carried the ball seven times for 25 yards
against Sammamish, while Carrido piled up 24 yards on three attempts.
Peterson made a valiant attempt to carry his teammates against the Totems,
finishing the night with six completions on 11 pass attempts for 102 yards.
His favorite target was Smith, who finished Friday night’s game with
five catches for 59 yards. The 6-04 senior had a 54-yard touchdown
reception called by a penalty with three minutes left in the first quarter. The
score would have cut the Sammamish lead to only one touchdown and given
a boost of confidence to junior Nick Rich.
Tyson Soptich, a junior defensive back, led the team with seven
tackles Friday night.
Junior Charlie Huber played in the first quarter of last week’s game,
but experienced a relapse of the concussion he suffered against Newport.
He is expected to miss the Wolves’ next game. Senior Matt Cain suffered
a concussion against Sammamish and may also miss the next game
against Issaquah.
Senior lineman Ryan Sage hurt his knee during practice last Thursday
and sat out the Sammamish game. Carrido suffered an apparent broken
collarbone and his return to action is unclear.
Coach Art Kuehn indicated that he might be forced to call up players
from the junior varsity to fill the roster this week.
