Sports
Skyline Football demolishes Central Valley 52-17 in State 4A Quarterfinals
Damian Greene's three touchdowns and physical defense send the Spartans to the State 4A semifinals next week in the Tacoma Dome
For Damian Greene, and his senior teammates, they knew that it would be absolutely essential to leave everything on the field for the final home game in the State 4A Quarterfinals Saturday afternoon. Greene created a storybook ending for the Senior class on their final home game Saturday as Skyline (9-3) dismantled Central Valley (9-3) 52-17, thanks in part to three touchdown receptions of 57, 80, and 27 yards
"I'm happy with the way we played, it means a lot to all the seniors to go out like this," Greene said.
Coach Mat Taylor was ecstatic with his team's effort: "I'm very proud of our kids and our coaches."
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The Bears came into the contest with an aggressive blitzing mindset to try and throw off Spartan quarterback Max Browne, but it would be to no avail as Skyline countered with a quick timing screen passes to its running backs and wide receivers mixed with deep passes along the way.
After Central Valley missed a long field goal early in the second quarter following a failed Spartan fake punt Browne went on the attack, hitting a strike for 74 yards setting his six yard touchdown run to make it a 14-3 contest with ten minutes left in the second quarter.
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The Spartan defense built the momentum even further by shutting down the Bears. Skyline and Damian Greene took a screen pass from Browne, eluding a couple of defenders and bolting 57 yards to put Skyline in the driver's seat at 21-3.
The Bears would battle back and get to a two-score contest at 21-10, but on a 2nd and 27 from their own 20 on the ensuing possession. Browne again hit Greene on a screen pass out in the flat and he was gone down the sidelines, making it 28-10 Spartans just before the half.
Browne was very efficient, completing 15 for 24 passes for 334 yards , four touchdowns, and a six yard touchdown run.
"Max was unbelievable," Taylor said. "He showed great poise."
Skyline continued to expand the lead in the second half to the point where the fourth quarter was played with a running clock after stretching the lead over 40 points at 52-10. WIAA rules kick in for a running clock once a team leads by 40 in high school football in Washington.
It could have been very easy for the Spartans after losing to rival Eastlake in week eight of the regular season to just give up and finish out the string, but when you have the championship culture that Skyline has regrouping is the only option and the players responded to Coach Taylor's challenge.
"We had to dig down and take this one game at a time going 1-0, 2-0," Taylor said. "Today we get to cross out the 4-0 on the t-shirts the kids made, and put 5-0."
Greene said of heading back to the Tacoma Dome: "It feels great we are going back to our second home."
Coach Taylor on getting inside for practices in preparation for the Tacoma Dome: "I am looking forward to getting out of this cold weather, and practicing at the Dempsey Indoor facility." The Dempsey Indoor facility is the practice facility for the University of Washington football program.
Skyline advances to the State 4A Football Semifinals next weekend in the Tacoma Dome where they will face KingCo rival Woodinville. It will be the seventh state semifinal appearance in the last eight years for the Spartans. The date and start time is TBA.