Coach Thielbahr knew his team could beat the defeating 3A champions Bellevue; it would require his Eastside Catholic players to be mentally sharp and adjust to what the Wolverines could bring. “The scoreboard didn’t reflect how hard fought this game was,” said. Thielbahr.
Eastside Catholic lost 35-3 to Bellevue who claimed its fifth straight 3A title, their 10th undercurrent head coach Butch Goncharoff.
Thielbahr told his team after the game on the 30 yard line, “We can beat these guys.”
“I am very proud of the boys, they fought hard. We didn’t make the plays on offense, got attacked on defense a few times. If we came out and do what we done all year; which is make the plays. We had a chance to win this game,” said Thielbahr.
In the opening drive, Eastside Catholic went four and out after three flags between both teams. They were forced to punt, however the ball went into the hands of Budda Baker who returned the punt 71-yards for a touchdown.
On Bellevue’s first play from offense was short--just four plays--thanks to the Eastside Catholic defense forcing the Wolverines to punt.
Eastside Catholic ran the ball to the Bellevue 16-yard line before kicking a 33 yard field goal by Jacob Gai for a 7-3 Bellevue led. The Wolverines would answer back on a 29-yard touchdown run for a 14-3 halftime lead.
Senior quarterback Trey Reynolds threw to senior wide receiver Johnny Michalik for a 44-yard reception to the Bellevue 21. Two personal fouls on Bellevue and the Crusaders found themselves at the Bellevue 7 before halftime. Reynolds went for a 4-and-6 needing to reach the Bellevue 1; but was meet by the Bellevue defense.
The Crusaders control the ball and the clock reach time they touched it in the second half. Overall in the game Eastside Catholic had the ball for over 30 minutes compared to Bellevue’s 17:41 minutes.
In the second half, the Crusaders found themselves in Bellevue territory three times ending in two failed four down attempts and an interception.
“We played them last year and we knew it was going to be tough. They have some real talent on that team and expect them back next year,” said Bellevue head coach Butch Goncharoff.
“Uncanny things happened to us tonight that hadn’t happened all year,” said Thielbahr. “We are going to have to take another shot at Bellevue next year. Get better and better. We will have to put a Bellevue component into each of our practices next year. But we have other teams who are tough.”
Eastside Catholic ends its most successful football season in school history at 13-1.
Game Summary
Bellevue............ 7 7 7 14 - 35
Eastside Catholic... 0 3 0 0 - 3
Scoring Summary
1st - Bellevue - Budda Baker 71 yd punt return (Ryan Bordner kick)
2nd - Eastside Catholic - Jacob Gai 33 yd field goal
2nd - Bellevue - Jack Meggs 29 yd run (Ryan Bordner kick)
3rd - Bellevue - Budda Baker 61 yd run (Ryan Bordner kick)
4th - Bellevue - Jack Meggs 6 yd run (Ryan Bordner kick)
4th - Bellevue - Myles Jack 95 yd run (Alexander Kruse kick)
BELLEVUE EC
FIRST DOWNS................... 10 18
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 28-315 41-95
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 35 133
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 7-4-0 28-13-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 35-350 69-228
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 1-71 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 0-0 0-0
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-0 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 2-33.5 4-47.8
Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards............... 8-73 4-25
Possession Time............... 17:41 30:19
Third-Down Conversions........ 3 of 6 6 of 16
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 1 2 of 5
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-1 1-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-1 0-0
RUSHING: Bellevue-Jack Meggs 8-108; Myles Jack 6-105; Budda Baker 5-93;
John Nguyen 7-12; Dakota Jones 1-0; Justus Rogers 1-minus 3. Eastside
Catholic-Trey Reynolds 23-41; Henry Jarvis 9-36; Elisha Pa'Aga 4-17; Brandon
Wellington 5-1.
PASSING: Bellevue-Jack Meggs 4-7-0-35. Eastside Catholic-Trey Reynolds
13-25-0-133; Peter Kimble 0-3-1-0.
RECEIVING: Bellevue-Scott Whiting 2-38; John Nguyen 1-minus 1; Budda
Baker 1-minus 2. Eastside Catholic-Colin Boit 6-34; Henry Jarvis 3-9; Johnny
Michalik 2-59; Hayden Meier 1-23; Justin Musser 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS: Bellevue-Budda Baker 1-0. Eastside Catholic-None.
FUMBLES: Bellevue-Jack Meggs 1-1. Eastside Catholic-None.
SACKS (UA-A): Bellevue-Shane Bowman 1-0. Eastside Catholic-None.
TACKLES (UA-A): Bellevue-Sean Constantine 6-7; Marcus Griffin 4-6;
Michael Carlson 5-2; Nathan DeRider 2-5; Shane Bowman 4-0; Budda Baker 3-2; Myles Jack 3-1; Mustafa Branch 2-2; Scott Whiting 1-2; Ross Connors 1-1; Dakota Jones 1-1; Rueben Mwehla 0-3; Ryan Gilbert 1-0; Timmy Haehl 1-0; Jahkari Aujla-Singh 1-0; Nick Santa 1-0; Darien Freeman 0-2; Rio Morales 0-1; Marcel Lee 0-1. Eastside Catholic-Evile Kalaniuvalu 3-3; Luke Lattanzio 3-1; Peter Kimble 2-3; Zane Allen 3-0; Elisha Pa'Aga 2-1; Jared Shattenkerk 2-1; Cody Baker 2-0; Matt Kvech 1-1; David Hurdle 1-0; Brian Cox 0-2.
Complete game breakdown is available via the WIAA.
