The rumors were true. The Bellevue freshman football team
had sixty-something players. And so far, mighty Bellevue had dominated,
and every player had played in every game. They all played in the
game against us, too, but many of them only played a few plays. When time
finally ran out, Bellevue knew that they had played a tough team in a tough game.
The opening kickoff did not bode well for what was in store
for Cedarcrest. Their return man took the ball straight up the middle and
scored on a 70-yard kickoff return. Bellevue fans were ecstatic and thought that
it was going to be a blowout, but our offense showed them that it ain’t
over until it’s over. The two-point conversion made the score 0-8.
As much as we wanted to score on the kickoff return, we did not.
Our offense took the ball on about the 30-yard line. Our fullback,
Rob Westerman, took the first play right up the middle for about a 12-yard gain.
Then on the second play, Dan Merrick took the ball around the outside
and scored on a 60-yard romp. We missed the two-point conversion and the
score was Cedarcrest 6 _ Bellevue 8.
Bellevue took possession of the ball on about the 35-yard line on
the ensuing kickoff. On their first offensive play, they took the ball
outside and scored. It looked like it was going to be a very long night with lots
of points scored. Bellevue did not make the extra point, and the score was
6-14.
On our next possession, we ran three plays and then punted.
Bellevue made their only sustained offensive drive and scored again to make it
6-20. It looked grim for Cedarcrest, but the next few series for each team
ended in punts. Our defense had kept the ball out of the end zone and was
shutting down their running game. Defensive ends, Cody Pettersen and Kyle
Pierce, kept the runners from going outside, and the rest of the defense made
sure they gained few yards. The score at the end of the first quarter
remained 6-20, but we were starting our second scoring drive.
We started the second quarter with the ball and a little momentum
from the defensive stands. The offensive line made the four backs look good
as we ran the ball. We ended the drive with a 30-yard pass for a
touchdown from Josh Testerman to Merrick. The score was 12-20.
The defense held Bellevue in their last drive of the half, but the final
play was almost a disaster as many of our players thought the play was
over when the horn sounded during the middle of a play. A long pass
completion was made which should have been a loss of yardage on a sack, but
the score at the half remained Cedarcrest 12 _ Bellevue 20.
In the third quarter we started with the ball and drove the ball right
down the field. Good runs from Westerman, Testerman, and Tom Harding kept
the momentum from the second quarter alive. A Testerman run scored but
was called back by a clipping penalty on Pettersen. Pettersen made up for
it though when a couple plays later he caught an 8-yard touchdown pass
to make the score 18-20.
A mental mistake on the kickoff team was all that was needed to
momentarily take the wind out of our sails. The return back who caught
the ball returned the kickoff for a touchdown to make it 18-28.
The third quarter ended with a Cedarcrest offensive drive that
seemed to end after three plays and a punt by Garrett Wolf. The drive was kept
alive by a fumble recovery at the Bellevue 35-yard line. On third and long, a
pass was sent aloft to Merrick. It seemed to be pass interference before an
interception, but the no call gave Bellevue the ball with first and ten
on our 45. Bellevue tried to take the ball outside with a sweep but
Pettersen made the tackle for a loss. They tried again with a double-reverse, but
again we stopped them for a loss of yardage. Their third play went inside
and got nowhere.
We received their punt but went three and out again due to good
defensive play by Bellevue. Bellevue scored to make it 18-35 with
under two minutes left in the game.
We took the ball on our own 35-yard line and started the last drive
of the game. The first two plays gave us little yardage. The third play was
a power play to the right side. Harding took the ball past the Bellevue
defense to score on about a 60-yard run. The snap on the extra point attempt
was high and no kick was made. The final score was Cedarcrest 24 _
Bellevue 35. The Bellevue coaches were impressed with the play of the
Cedarcrest freshmen. Compliments abounded after the game. The Bellevue
players knew that they had been in a battle that could have gone either way. But
the battle ended with Bellevue as the victor and coach Miyoshi with a full
head of hair. (You need to ask a freshman football player about the hair bit.)
And though some rumors are true, sometimes the mighty do fall. Even as
the Cedarcrest freshmen had this night.
