CAMAS — Call them the big-play Bulldogs.
Stevenson scored on three long pass plays Friday, including one on the final play of the first half, to open Trico League play with a 27-21 win over Seton Catholic at Doc Harris Stadium.
“We have lots of playmakers on the outside and also our running backs are fast,” Stevenson quarterback Luke Nichols said. “Bryan Griffith and Brett Brennan — they are senior playmakers. It’s insane.”
The craziest play of this game was almost the same as the one that gave the Bulldogs a win a week ago over Rainier, Ore. This time, it happened on the final play of the first half.
Nichols found Griffith open at the goal line for a 32-yard touchdown that put the Bulldogs ahead 13-0.
“I was just running the corner rout,” Griffith said. “It was there, open.”
A week ago, it was Griffith who caught a 34-yard touchdown from Nichols on the final play to give Stevenson (2-3, 1-0) its first win of the season.
“We just saw single coverage and tried to get it to our playmakers like last weekend,” Nichols said. “It was pretty similar actually. It was pretty awesome.”
That touchdown put the Bulldogs up two scores, but it took two touchdowns to Brennan in the second half for Stevenson build a safe margin.
Stevenson finished with 203 rushing yards, including a 16-yard touchdown from Griffith to open the scoring.
Jonathan Stell took over at quarterback for Seton and ran 56 yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter.
Stevenson responded with a 69-yard eight-play drive that was aided by a Seton offside penalty on fourth down. Brennan got behind the on a third-and-4 play for an easy 36-yard score.
Nichols finished with 192 passing yards and three touchdowns. The last of those scores was another third-down conversion as Brennan bead a defensive back for a 38-yard TD.
With 5:12 left, the Bulldogs led 27-7.
Seton (1-4, 0-1) made it interesting when Brock Schoene ran 61 yards for a TD and Stell picked up a Stevenson fumble and took it 71 yards for another score.
But the Cougars didn’t come up with a late onside kick.
Still, first-year Seton coach Will Ephraim saw it as a positive night for the Cougars.
“We have young guys and they’re becoming tougher,” Ephraim said. “They’re learning how to fight, and they’re learning how to listen to their coaches and responding to what we ask them to do. So they’re growing up, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
