12/12/2024
The 2024 State Football Championships wrapped up last Saturday and in each game there were these tremendous side stories like we’ve never seen before. Historic wins for 2 coaches, one of the best ever State Title games that came down to the final play, an underdog who refuses to be one, a 2B team with 26 seniors on the team and the 1st win for a team and coach.
Anyone of these story lines cpould have been the lead in many years. To have all of these unfold in a 2 day period is quite amazing. In this story we go through each game highlighting these unique side stories that made the WIAA 2024 State Football Championships truly special.
Historic Coaching Wins
3A: O’Dea true Team of “Destiny”
Since the 90s, the O’Dea Fighting Irish constantly are a fixture in the WIAA State Playoffs. The common denominator for 40 years is their head coach Monte Kohler. After 39 seasons at the helm, Kohler began the 2024 campaign 13 wins away from tying legendary Tumwater Head Coach Sid Otton for the most high school wins in the state of Washington with 394. Throughout Monte Kohler’s illustrious career, the Irish would have to go on a road through unchartered waters, but after it was all said and done, Kohler and the Irish had done it. The first state title since 2017, in a story that was as good as a dream.
To complete the dream season, O’Dea would have to beat defending 4A Runner Up Graham Kapowsin. It took David Schwerzel’s Scoop’N’Score with four seconds left to stun GK 35-28. The win came at a price, running back Lucas Hercules Cruz suffered a season ending injury. To take the mantle at running back would be a renowned baseball player turned tailback, Uriah Stringfield. The state was put on notice in a highly anticipated battle against Eastside Catholic. The special teams saw a 41 yard punt return touchdown from Sage Salopek and the defense came up with a valliant goal line stand. Stringfield carried the load for 86 yards in a 20-0 shutout win. Stringfield only a sophomore went on to rush for over 1,600 yards on the year…not bad for a baseball player.
O’Dea cruised to the Metro League Title, punctuated by a 49-30 win against State Semifinal bound Roosevelt. O’Dea breezed through the first three rounds of the playoffs to the semifinals, where they faced a familiar foe, Eastside Catholic.
The Irish had faced Eastside four times in the playoffs, and all four times, the Crusaders were left celebrating. As expected defense was exhibited on full display. O’Dea settled for multiple field goals from kicker Owen Livingston. In the fourth, O’Dea trailed 14-9 with six minutes to play. With the Irish facing a third down at the Eastside 30, Quarterback Hutton Leverett missed a wide open Davonn Abaga in the end zone. The Irish turned the ball over on downs with 2:11 to play. The Irish burned their last timeouts and the defense forced a stop, O’Dea had life. With 1:01 left, O’Dea drove to their 41, looking for an answered prayer.
With 38 seconds left, O’Dea had yet to complete a single pass in the second half. Hutton Leverett with the game on the line, went deep for Giulio Banchero. As the ball hung in the air, Banchero adjusted to make the catch, and trot in for the game winning touchdown with 27 seconds left. O’Dea went from dead in the water, to alive and well thanks to Banchero’s miraculous touchdown catch. The 17-14 win over Eastside Catholic marked the first postseason win over O’Dea and Monte Kohler against an Eastside Catholic team that had their number in the past. The win sent O’Dea to the State Championship for the first time since 2019.
Waiting in the wings for O’Dea a juggernaut Bellevue Wolverines side that was riding a 22 game win streak. Bellevue not only beat O’Dea in the semifinals last year, but won both previous occasions they met the Irish in the Title Game. O’Dea slammed the door shut of any possible sequel. With 170 yard rushing from Uriah Stringfield, and three touchdowns all purpose, the Irish scored 31 unanswered points to topple Bellevue 38-15. The win marked the fifth state title for O’Dea and Monte Kohler. The players celebrated by chanting “394…394…394”! Kohler in his humble nature, credited the many players he had for the climb to the mountaintop saying the win was about “them”. The players, completed the ultimate dream.
Let’s take a deep dive into some comparison numbers. So how does the number 394 stand up to say the winningest coach in the NFL? That would be Don Shula. Shula has 347 total wins over a 33 year career. Shula ended with a 347-173 record including play-offs. That’s a total of 526 games coached with a win percent of 66%. Shula accomplished this in 33 years while averaging 15.9 games played each year. Shula reached the Super Bowl 6 times in his career going 2-4.
Monte Kohler just completed his 40th season all at O’Dea. He is now 394-64 for 458 total games and a win percent of 86%. Kolhler also has played an average of 11.5 games per season. Kohler has been to the Championhship game 13 times and has now won it 5 times.
This whole season had to have everything go just perfect when you think about the need to go undefeated to have a shot at 394. Nothing could go wrong. Let’s be honest, does 394 have the same feel if this would have occurred next September in a non-league game in front of a normal non-league opening day crowd at Memorial Stadium? Some may think that 395 is the bigger win. We believe if 395 was on this night at Husky Stadium then yes it would have been slightly bigger. But when coach Kohler hits 395 next Fall it will not come close to the significance of how 394 came to be.
If there was a team of destiny you couldn’t have scripted it any more perfect. If this was in Hollywood, only Disney wouold have been interested trying to make a heartwarming, pushing the limits of believability type of feel good movie. When you consider everything that went into this season and the ending there is no other adjective to say other than the O’Dea Fighting Irish were definately a team of “Destiny”.
1A: Royal sets State record with 5th consecutive State Title; Seniors finish with 1 career loss & Wiley Allred collects win #300
The Royal Knights won their fifth consecutive 1A State Championship on Friday, and Coach Allred picked up his 300th win in the process. Royal completed their second straight undefeated season, and this senior class is the first class at Royal to have won the State Championship every single year in high school. Due to COVID-19, multiple classes didn’t have that chance since there weren’t State Playoffs in 2020.
The Class of 2025 went 52-1 in their high school career. Their only loss came when they were sophomores on September 24, 2022, to Lynden Christian, which was a 21-14 loss. The Knights would win the next 35 games to close out their high school football career.
Additionally, Royal is the 1st official team to have won 5 straight Championships. Bellevue won 6 in a row at one point but 2 of those titles had to be vacated so officially the Knights are the only team to have ver won 5 in a row.
Coach Wiley Allred became the fourth coach in state history to reach 300 wins in high school football. He picked up win number 300 in some dramatic fashion, as Royal and Seton Catholic were tied at 21 at the half of the Title Game this year before Royal scored 40 of the 47 points in the second half to get their fifth Championship in a row.
In 26 seasons, Coach Allred boasts a phenomenal record of 300-28, which is a winning percentage of 91.5. The Washington State Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer is the only coach in the State who has over a 90% winning percentage. He’s coached Royal to 24 straight State Football Playoff appearances and won 19 straight State Playoff Games. The Knights have won eight of the last nine 1A State Championships, and in only two of the eight Championship Games, it was a one-score game.
What Coach Allred and the Royal Knights have done is nothing short of incredible, considering that they know everyone will give them their best shot every time they step on the football field. Whether it is a regular season game or at Husky Stadium, if Royal is on the schedule, whoever is preparing to play against them will treat that game as if it’s their State Championship Game.
Allred’s numbers are incredible with his current pace he is averaging 11.5 wins a year and would hit 400 wins in 2033 or 9 seasons from now.
Pre-Destined Wins
4A: Sumner’s ultimate finish feels like it was “Written in the Stars”
Football is a way of life in Sumner, Washington. A town that adores the Spartans. But for as much as the community is behind their football team and their head coach Keith Ross, a State Championship had eluded them for nearly forty years. In a year that featured, heart stopping wins, key special teams plays, and hard nosed Spartan football, Sumner won its first State Title since 1977. They did not make it easy, but in the end the Spartans finish had to have been written in the stars.
Sumner’s Keith Ross became head coach of the Spartan program more than 20 years ago. With only one trip to state since 1978, Ross hoped to put Sumner back on the map in the 2A landscape. That all began to change in 2012, when Sumner made their first trip to State since 1994. After two straight trips to the second round in the 2A ranks, Sumner made the jump to 3A in 2014.
After a pair of first round exits in the 3A ranks, Sumner raised it up a notch, climbing all the way to the 4A ranks in 2016. Sumner made themselves at home in 4A in their first year traversing to the semifinals only to lose to Camas. A trip to the semis the following year, was the last trip to state for Sumner for four years. The Spartans returned to the State Playoffs in 2021, but three straight years, Sumner fell short of the semifinals.
2024 was already on the verge of being different. The South Puget Sound League instead of nine regular season games to take up the entire season, split the league into two divisions. In doing so, opening up the possibility for non league games. Coach Ross pounced on the opportunity. Scheduling defending two time State Champion Lake Stevens week 1, and Oregon 6A Powerhouse West Linn in week 3.
Week 1 proved to be a donnybrook, a back and forth affair against the two time defending champions, that needed overtime to decide it. Austin Glivar intercepted Lake Stevens on the opening possession of overtime. Sumner wasted no time to set up kicker Austin Ferencz for the win from 34 yards out. The kick was certainly in Ferencz’s range but the snap was high and holder Aaron Black leaped up to grab the snap and somehow got the ball down and Ferencz never lost focus and stepped through handing Sumner the win, 31-28. Although the kick won the game, it was the hold from Aaron Black that saved the game for Sumner. Black joined the team with hopes of sheerly being on the roster. And Black came through with the critical hold to set up Ferencz to win the State Title.
Sumner went on to narrowly lose to West Linn, before diving into SPSL Play. Narrow victories over Puyallup and Curtis, caused pundits to have their doubts of the legitimacy of this Sumner team. Against the defending runners up in State in Graham Kapowsin, Sumner’s Steele Isaacs scored three touchdowns carrying the Spartans to claim the SPSL Title. Sumner rolled past Auburn in the round of 32 to advance to State for the fourth straight year.
In the first round against Kamiakin, a punt block near the end of the first half, ignited a Spartans 38-21 win. A quarterfinal shutout win of Skyview put Sumner in the semifinals for the first time since 2017. The 3rd seed Chiawana paid a visit to end the destiny ride.
Down 21-7 at the half, quarterback Nate Donovan engineered a masterful comeback which included a two point conversion where he lost his balance and supported himself upright with his hand only to find Carter Cocke` for the two point play. An Austin Ferencz field goal tied up the game at 21-21. The final two minutes of regulation saw both Chiawana and Sumner miss field goals to take the lead, so it went to overtime. The teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime and field goals in the second overtime. In triple overtime, Chiawana missed a field goal on their possession. Steele Isaacs salted the game away with an 8 yard touchdown run to win a semifinal triple overtime thriller, 37-31. Next stop the State Championship.
Sumner’s first season in 4A in 2016 ended with a loss to Camas. How fitting, the number 1 seeded Papermakers awaited them in the title game. Steele Isaacs put on a show with 170 yards and two scores, but heading into the fourth quarter, Camas led 21-17. Sumner embarked on a six play drive punctuated by a touchdown pass from Nate Donovan to Carter Cocke. Camas responded with a field goal to tie the game with 6:07 left.
Sumner got the ball at their own 31, and went three and out and were forced to punt. Punter Santos Hernandez-Ruia stood deep in punt formation. Hernandez-Ruiz, never touched the ball. Instead, the ball was snapped to the upman Aaron Black, yes, the same Aaron Black that is the holder for field goals. Black took off between the guard and tackle and got six yard for the 1st down and kept the drive alive.
In a further side-note, Head Coach Keith Ross told reporters after the game that he had changed his mind and was yelling at his team to call off the fake punt but no one could hear him.
Up next, Championship game breakout star, Kainoa Grounds’ 30 yard catch set up Sumner in Austin Ferencz territory for the win. Trying to get closer or scoring a touochdown the Spartans then hit Cocke` on a flat pass but the ball was punched out and it went rollinig up the far sideline inside the 20 and a Camas defender was on his way to get it when it trickled out of bounds at the 17 which not kept the ball in the Spartans hands but also gave them another 1st down. On yet another play running back Che Molina had the ball punched out of his arms by a desperate Papermaker defense but Molina or an offensive lineman fell on the ball for Sumner.
Sumner ran 1 more play for no gain and brought the clock down to four seconds and called time out. Ferencz was then called on to win the game and the State Title. It was a full circle moment back to week 1 against Lake Stevens. Holder Aaron Black saved the game against Lake Stevens, and Black ran for a critical first down to keep the drive alive. It was up to Ferencz to win it. After the hold from Black, Ferencz’s kick split the uprights and Sumner’s rendezvous was complete. The Valley had won it’s first title since 1977.
The win was a microcosm of their predeteremined, written in the stars season. Steele Isaacs carrying the load, Nate Donovan finding anyone of his talented receiving corps in timely instances, a dominating defense and under the radar heroes like Austin Ferencz, Aaron Black and Kainoa Grounds, and special teams plays that saved the day for Sumner. From the 1977 King of the Hill Championship to once again The Valley-ites climbing the mountain after 47 years to again summit at the top and raise the Championship trophy is exactly the heartbeat of what Sumner the community and Sumner the Football team is all about.
Anacortes reminded everyone who were the Defending Champs; No question now on how great this team is
In 2019, Anacortes didn’t have a varsity football team. Going into the 2023 season, Anacortes hadn’t won a State Football Championship. Fifteen months later, Anacortes is back-to-back State Football Champions while compiling an impressive record of 26-1 in their Championship seasons.
To put that into perspective, as if that isn’t incredible on its own, in the time it took for Anacortes to go from having no varsity team to winning back-to-back State Championships, the Royal Knights have won five straight 1A State Titles, have lost one regular season game, and zero State Playoff games. Anacortes had a State Football Playoff drought from 2010-2021, making it in 2022 to end the drought and advanced to the quarterfinals. Since then, Anacortes has nearly been perfect, with their lone loss coming to State Semifinalist, Archbishop Murphy this season, 34-28, when Anacortes was riddled with injuries.
Despite being the defending State Champions and bringing back many key pieces back to their roster for this year, Anacortes still wasn’t picked by most of the media to defend their crown. The Seahawks leaned into being the “underdogs” and came out with a vengeance, overpowering Tumwater for the second straight year at Husky Stadium to win 20-10, doubling up the T-Birds in the Title Game for the second straight year.
Head coach Justin Portz scoured the internet and was surprised to hear how many people were picking Tumwater, some of whom picked Tumwater by nearly 30 points, and how quickly people had forgotten who had won the golden football one year ago. The players bought into Coach Portz’s message, and the Seahawks delivered, despite the defense being out on the field for over 35 of the 48 minutes of the game, lowered the boom on multiple occasions, flexing their muscles and reminding the state who the defending State Champs were.
The Seahawks defense had 12 tackles for loss, by comparison, Camas and Sumner combined had 12 tackles for loss, while the other four State Championship Games didn’t have double-digit tackles for loss. Anacortes cemented their defensive dominance in the Title game with 2 massive red-zone stands in the final 5 minutes. The T-Birds gambled on both trying to dig out 7 of the 10 points they trailed and didn’t attempt a short field goal in either chance getting shut down by the Seahawk defesne to preserve their 2nd straight Championship.
Offensively, the Seahawks needed just 3 plays to win the game. The Tumwater defense was stifling but gave up 3 big plays that directly resulted in 2 touchdowns and 1 other that set up a 1st and goal that led to their 3rd score. The total yardage of those 3 plays was 153 yards. The Seahawks offense only had 207 total yards of offense. So 2 things can be true at the same time here, first Tumwater’s defensive effort likely would have won 90% of these game and they were suffocating as they gave up just 54 total yards outside of those 3 plays.
The second thing that is absolutely true is Anacortes was too good to give any opportunities to score and each time a chance was presented they took full advantage and their offense was more than enough to support their team’s own dominant defensive effort.
Anacortes and their whole community may be feeling like they have been living a dream for the past 2 seasons but they were a nightmare for Tumwater. The T-Birds made their 13th appearance in the state Championship game and after winning their 1st 5 they are now 6-7 overall.
It’s simply spectacular for a program to go from no varsity team to back-to-back State Championships in five years while not being the number one seed in either year Anacortes won the title. The Seahawks certainly stamped this program with this huge victory.
What’s too many players and what’s not enough?
2B Okanogan had the equilivant of 280 Senior Football Players on their team as they marched to their 5th State Championship
The Okanogan Bulldogs have won four State Football Championships in 2B, all of them since 2014. All of them were against Napavine. All of them were part of back-to-back runs. The previous three Okanogan 2B wins against Napavine were decided by four points or less. This was also the fourth straight year Okanogan and Napavine have played each other in the postseason, the last three being in the title game.
In 2021, Napavine had the upper hand in the State Semifinals, taking down Okanogan 42-10. In 2022, this time for the Championship, Napavine won again, 41-27. Last year at Husky Stadium, it was Okanogan who took the crown in a 28-24 effort. This year would be all Bulldogs again. After trailing 7-0 after the first quarter, Okanogan scored 52 of the next 58 points and eventually won 52-21 and completed their defense of the 2B Football crown.
Perhaps the most interesting part of Okanogan’s title defense is the senior class. Okanogan has 26 seniors on their football team. Yes, you read that right. 26 seniors on a 2B football team. Out of the 12 teams that made it to Husky Stadium this year for the State Championships, Okanogan had the most seniors on their team. O’Dea and Bellevue were second with 24.
Some 2B teams have roughly 26 players on their entire team. It is staggering to have that much participation in one sport from a school of less than 250 students. The 26 senior football players account for approximately 11.8% of the student population. According to the WIAA, Chiawana, who took 4A Champs Sumner to triple overtime in the State Semifinals, has the highest enrollment of a little over 2100 students. 11.8% of their student population would be about 250 students.
The Okanogan senior class has been mighty successful. Four State Semifinal appearances, three State Championship appearances, back-to-back State Championships, and they end their careers on a 27-game win streak.
It also starts at the top with the head coach. Coach Erick Judd, who went to Okanogan, has been a staple of the program. His first back-to-back State Championships came at the Tacoma Dome in 2014 and 2015, where one of his assistants, Jim Townsend, played on the 2014 team. Okanogan jumped up to 1A after the 2015-2016 school year, and the Bulldogs still made the playoffs a couple of times before bumping back down to 2B to begin another great run. This level of consistent competitiveness has made Okanogan a formidable opponent every year, regardless of who’s on the team, and the coaching staff does a great job every year of preparing the team for anything that might come their way.
Only nine times has a team repeated as State Champions in the 2B class, Okanogan are the last two occasions of repeat football State Champs. The Napavine/Okanogan Championship Game trilogy was also historic for 2B, as this was the first time in classification history that the same schools played each other for three straight years in the title game.
Okanogan finished off another fantastic season, averaging 55.5 points per game while only allowing four teams to score double digits against their stout defense. Returning to the State 2B Title game after losing 26 seniors would normally be something you would say no chance can happen. But Coach Judd doesn’t have an empty cupboard as his squad was 64 strong so he is losinbg 40% of his squad. But just 12 incoming Freshmen would put his roster at 50. It would be foolish to think Okanogan will not be a player in 2025.
1B “Road to Redemption” Complete For First State Title for Wilbur-Creston-Keller
For the Wilber-Creston-Keller Wildcats, 2024 was the drive for vindication. A demoralizing defeat in last year’s Title Game against Liberty Bell inspired WCK Head Coach Darin Reppe to coin the new year a “Road to Redemption”. With 16 players on the roster, 12 suiting up for the Championship Game, Wilbur-Creston-Keller punctuated an unblemished campaign ending in the school’s first football State Title thanks to a 42-34 win over Liberty Christian. The win is the first boy’s State Championship for WCK since the boy’s baseball team won in 2008. The Championship comes in just the 5th trip to the State Football tournament in 40 years for the WCK Football Program.
WCK’s journey to the Title was anchored heavily by the offense, most notably QB Kallen Maioho and RB Preston Michel, and linemen RJ Dreger and Treven Houston. The Wildcats came into the title game on a mission, outscoring opponents on average of 65-21.
Tabbed as underdogs against Liberty Christian, WCK played on their own terms, out-snapping Liberty Christian running 85 offensive plays, 82 were runs to the Patriots 31 total offensive plays. WCK ran the ball catered to their “smash mouth” style. 416 yards on the ground with 210 from Preston Michael were pivotal for the Wildcats.
Although the win was showcased by the offense, the defense played its own intricate role. Holding a 28-20 lead at the half with 22 minutes of possession, it would come down to the defense to win a state title. Liberty Christian stopped WCK after scoring to get within two, 28-26. WCK’s defense made the stop of the year, holding Liberty Christian on downs, and from there on out, the Wildcats did not look back. Wilbur-Creston-Keller pulled away to claim the State Championship. The Road to Redemption reached its destination.
The win for WCK marked the 2nd State Championship for the Wildcats in nearly two weeks. The volleyball team won the State Championship to claim the school’s first Championship since the 2008 baseball team.
Coach Reppe said the victory meant a lot for the whole community. Two State Championships in one fall season, who can imagine, what WCK sports will have next. For Wilbur-Creston-Keller the work that began last year reached its Hollywood ending. For Coach Darin Reppe 20 plus years as a head coach has found its happy ending, and for WCK the Road to Redemption finishes with a sweet ending in the final chapter.
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