Woodland came inches short of perhaps extending its football season, but fell to Mount Baker 21-14 Friday in Bellingham.
The Beavers (10-1), trailing 21-14 late in the game, had eight plays inside the 10-yard-line and ended up a half-yard short of the goal line. They turned the ball over on downs and Mount Baker (9-1) ran out the clock on the Beavers season.
“I thought we got in,” Woodland coach Mark Greenleaf said of his team’s final effort to score.
Eli Whitmire rushed 26 times for 255 yards for Woodland.
The Beavers opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Huddleston to Kyle Hendrix.
After a Mount Baker touchdown, Woodland answered with a 7-yard TD run from Cy Whitmire. But it would be the last time Woodland would find the end zone.
“We kept them off-balance in the first half,” Greenleaf said. “It came down to tackling and executing offensively in the second half.”
Greenleaf said he was proud of the effort his team made by making the state playoffs for the first time since 2005.
“It’s a great legacy left by our seniors,” he said. “It was great work on their part.”
1A state volleyball
King’s Way Christian reached the semifinals at the Yakima SunDome with a pair of four-set victories.
The Knights opened with a win over Nooksack Valley (25-17, 25-27, 25-15, 25-22), and then beat Zilah in the quarterfinals (25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16). Details of the matches were not reported.
King’s Way faces Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls in the semifinals at 1 p.m.
Woodland was beat by Granger in five games in the opening round (25-20, 11-25, 11-25, 25-22, 16-14), but recovered quicking for a three-game win over Lynden Christian (25-20, 25-17, 25-20).
Nicolette Nesbitt had 66 assists and 35 service points in the two matches.
Woodland faces Freeman in a 9 a.m. consolation semifinal. A victory would put Woodland into a 3 p.m. match for seventh place.
