BURIEN, Wash. - With all the winning in program history, it might be hard to believe Gonzaga Prep had something of a "quarterfinal curse." Entering play Friday the Bullpups had never won a playoff game outside of a state championship game on the west side of the Cascades.
Consider that particular curse broken.
Fifth-seeded Gonzaga Prep took the lead for good on a kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter and picked up a punt block for a score just before halftime, but needed - and got - a fourth-down stop midway through the fourth quarter after a costly fumble to outlast fourth-seeded Kennedy Catholic 34-28 in a State 4A quarterfinal at Highline Stadium in Burien.
"It ends with us," senior running back Noah Holman said. "Everyone needs to realize there are good football teams on the east side of the state."
G-Prep (12-0) advances to a semifinal next week and awaits the winner of Saturday's matchup between No. 1 Camas and eighth-seeded Arlington.
"We've played some really good teams (in quarterfinals) the last couple years," Gonzaga Prep coach Nate Graham said. "We ran into a really good Lake Stevens team, and Graham-Kapowsin last year - we were right there. We finally got over that hump."
Holman said the message was simple at halftime: "Be relentless."
The Bullpups were just that, in all three phases of the game, but nowhere more dramatically than in the fourth quarter.
G-Prep was driving for a potential 13-point lead early in the fourth when Holman was stripped fighting for the goal line. The ball was recovered in the end zone by the Lancers for a touchback. Kennedy Catholic went for it on fourth-and-4 at the G-Prep 48, but quarterback Devon Forehand was stopped by a pair of Bullpups linebackers 1 yard short.
"It was fine when we fumbled," defensive back Jacobe McClelland said. "We knew we were going to get (the ball) back. That fourth-down stop by Will (Jackson) and Luke (Hills) was huge. It changed the game."
Gonzaga Prep went on a time-killing 12-play drive, turning it over on downs with 15.9 seconds remaining, and Kennedy Catholic's last-ditch, multiple-pass trick play was intercepted as the final horn sounded.
Holman carried five of the first six plays on the final drive after his fumble.
"They trust me," he said. "And I know that. That gives me a lot of confidence. Our O-line was opening them up big on that drive. We were doing a great job of moving them around altogether. It just feels great that they trust me like that, especially after a mistake."
Kennedy Catholic (11-1) took its only lead of the game with 90 seconds remaining in the first half courtesy of a Forehand 1-yard run, despite it appearing that Forehand's knee was down retrieving a low snap before he advanced the ball.
Keller gathered the ensuing kickoff at the G-Prep 9, sliced through the first wave of tacklers then headed up the Kennedy Catholic sideline for a touchdown return and 20-14 lead.
The Bullpups defense forced a punt with 22.5 seconds left, and McClelland raced in from the end position, blocked the punt and scooped it to go 41 yards for a score.
Gonzaga Prep led 27-14 at the break.
"I was calling for (punt block)," McClelland said. "I was telling coach, 'Let me go get it.' I knew I could get it. ... I feel like it really changed the whole pace of the game. It gave up more energy and a momentum boost going into halftime."
"That was a huge play going into the half," Graham said. "We were like, 'You know what, let's go get one here.' Jacobe makes plays."
The Lancers recovered an onside kick to start the second half and marched nine plays and 49 yards for a Nikko Lecksiwilai 7-yard TD run. They tried the trick again, but this time Gonzaga Prep recovered and scored eight plays later on Sam Kincaid's 4-yard plunge.
Kennedy Catholic was undaunted, and culminated a 10-play, 78-yard drive with a 5-yard TD run by Indiana Jones to make it a one-score game on the next-to-last play of the third quarter.
It stayed that way through an eventful but ultimately scoreless fourth quarter.