Back to state for Skyview

Survive and advance.

That’s what the playoffs are all about.

It certainly was the case with the Skyview Storm on Saturday night.

The Storm jumped out to an early lead, then survived a Titanic effort by quarterback T.J. Esekielu to beat Todd Beamer High of Federal Way 42-33. With the victory, Skyview advanced to the Class 4A state playoffs for the third consecutive season.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” said Skyview senior wide receiver Ellis Henderson, who rushed for two touchdowns and had his first 100-yard rushing game. “We’re building a tradition here, maintaining a tradition. Maybe other people don’t expect us to do this. It’s expected from us that we do this.”

Skyview (8-2) will take on Auburn in the first round. Date and time had not been determined by Saturday night.

The Storm got to state this year using a quick-strike offense that offset Beamer’s clock-chewing, yard-gaining offense.

Henderson had three carries on set plays for the wide receiver, gaining 116 yards and two touchdowns. Parker Henry rushed for 139 yards and had a touchdown, and Reiley Henderson ran for a score and caught a 70-yard touchdown pass for the Storm.

Skyview had a 35-19 lead early in the third quarter, but Esekielu, who rushed 43 times for 216 yards, rallied the Titans to within three points with just more than three minutes to play in the game.

Beamer then recovered an onside kick.

The Storm defense, rattled for much of the night, held firm when it had to, forcing a four-and-out, giving the offense a chance to run out the clock.

That didn’t happen, but no one from Skyview was complaining. Ellis Henderson took a third-down carry and broke free for a 56-yard touchdown run to make it 42-33.

The two teams combined for 856 yards from scrimmage — both cracking the 400-yard barrier. But for fans who were at Kiggins, it sure looked like Beamer QB Esekielu had just about all of those Titan yards. He also threw for 131 yards.

Still, the Skyview defense did its job in the clutch. Esekielu had 197 yards through his first 29 carries. On his last 14 attempts, he was held to 21 yards. Nolan Stitzel had a sack in that stretch. Tom Zink was in on a lot of tackles. And Cody Fields was in the middle of the action, as well.

“We kept hitting him throughout the night, and he got tired,” Fields said. “Finally.”

“We knew we were going to see a bunch of him,” Skyview coach Steve Kizer said. “He’s really good.”

But again, the Storm survived that effort, thanks to a more balanced attack.

Skyview quarterback Kieran McDonagh threw two touchdown passes, and four Storm ball carriers rushed for 283 yards.

It started with the offensive line, which made its presence felt early in the game.

“We were ready for what they were going to give us,” said Fields, who plays right guard on the Storm line. “We were pretty pumped up for this game. We we lose, it’s our last one.”

Ellis Henderson scored on a 17-yard run, a reverse in which he was not touched, to open the scoring. After Zack Brady intercepted a Beamer pass, the Storm were back in business, quickly going up 14-0 on a TD pass from McDonagh to Forrest Russell.

Less than six minutes in the game, it was 14-0 and it looked like it was going to turn into a rout against a team that came into the game with 4-5 record.

“I feel we were a little lackadaisical,” Ellis Henderson said. “We looked at their record and took the win for granted. We know we’ll have a tough week of practice.”

Beamer scored the next two touchdowns to cut the deficit to one point — Ellis Henderson blocked a PAT — and then Skyview went on the quick attack again, with Henry scoring on a 22-yard run to cap a three-play, 56-yard drive.

Esekielu and the Titans responded with a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive with 1:29 left in the half.

Turned out, that was plenty of time for the Storm. Ellis Henderson gained 43 yards on a run play, then Reiley Henderson scored on an 8-yard run for a 27-19 lead at the half.

It took two plays for Skyview to open the third quarter with another score. This time, Reiley Henderson took a swing pass from McDonagh, got by a couple players and sprinted 70 yards for a touchdown.

The rest of the half was a Beamer ball-control show that almost got the job done for the Titans. Skyview would end up having the ball for only 4 minutes and 22 seconds of the second half.

It was enough for the Storm to qualify for Week 11 of the season.

“We’re the sole survivor in the 4A (GSHL),” Kizer said.

Henry might have summed it up best for the Storm.

“A win’s a win,” he said. “You’re in the playoffs. Moving along is moving along.”

And the Storm are moving back into the 4A state playoffs.

SKYVIEW 42, TODD BEAMER 33

Todd Beamer 7 12 8 6—33

Skyview 14 14 7 7—42

First quarter

Sky — Ellis Henderson 17 run (Nick Phillips kick)

Sky — Forrest Russell 9 pass from Kieran McDonagh (Phillips kick)

TB — Nicky Fualaau 8 pass from T.J. Esekielu (Nick Bod kick)

Second quarter

TB — Lavon Anderson 2 run (kick blocked)

Sky — Parker Henry 22 run (Phillips kick)

TB — Esekielu 3 run

Sky — Reiley Henderson 8 run (Phillips kick)

Third quarter

Sky -— R. Henderson 70 pass from McDonagh (Phillips kick)

TB — Anderson 1 run (Esekielu run)

Fourth quarter

TB — Marley Liulama 2 run (run failed)

Sky — E. Henderson 56 run (Phillips kick)

LEADERS

Rushing: Todd Beamer: Esekielu 43-218, Dominique Maxie 2-63. Skyview: Henry 19-139, E. Henderson 3-116.

Passing: Todd Beamer: Esekielu 10-20-1-131. Skyview: McDonagh 6-12-1-128.

Receiving: Todd Beamer: Willie Roach 3-77, Fualaau 4-26, Marcus Saddler 2-25, Maxie 1-3. Skyview: R. Henderson 2-105, Mo Morrison 1-17, Russell 2-8, Henry 1-(-2).