Eastside Catholic back on familiar ground after 38-14 win over Mount Spokane — the 3A state semifinals: 4 observations

Dallas Daley caught seven passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Brady McKelheer completed 16 of 26 passes for 251 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions and Eastside Catholic did its part to create an all-Metro League football semifinal with a 38-14 victory over Mt. Spokane on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Instead of the second-seeded O’Dea Irish, however, the Crusaders will play next Saturday against Kennewick, also at Memorial. Game time will be announced later. The Lions held on to beat the Irish in the second game of a Memorial double-header on Saturday, 27-21.

Here are four observations from Eastside Catholic's win:

NEVER A DOUBT

The Crusaders could have been forgiven for manifesting a seed of doubt over the outcome on Saturday. Ever so briefly, Mt. Spokane looked as though it would put up a better fight.

On the game’s opening possession, the Wildcats held Eastside Catholic — sort of — to a 39-yard field goal from Carson Russell with 8 minutes, 34 seconds to go in the first quarter. Trailing 3-0, Mt. Spokane took the ball and drove 57 yards, getting a go-ahead 4-yard touchdown run from Brady Speer with 4:41 left in the quarter.

Even being down for the first time in three games, Eastside Catholic expected to come back.

“We’ve been punched in the mouth before, this season,” Daley said. “We know how to come back from that. I think we were prepared well.”

UNEXPECTED CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME AT PLAYOFF TIME

Eastside Catholic came into this one down some bodies who had contributed largely over the course of this season. During a first-round victory a week ago, senior receiver Andrew Martorano was lost to injury.

That pressed little-worked Chris Taylor into service. And Taylor delivered big.

On a third and 13 from their own 17-yard line, with Eastside trailing 7-3, Taylor ran a deep in route and found some space. McKelheer found him for a 28-yard connection that kept the drive alive.

On a second, similar situation, Daley made a terrific leaping catch for a 33-yard gain later in the drive. Then, the Crusaders went back to Taylor when McKelheer found him for 12 yards and the go-ahead touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.

“For a guy who hasn’t played very much, limited special teams,” Crusaders coach Dominic Daste said. “But that’s been happening across the board. We lost our center this week to a dislocated knee so we move our tackle. We’re playing a kid who’s never played tackle before. So, I’ll give it to our kids. They accept challenges and they prepare.”

GETTING DEFENSIVE, FINALLY

With the lead back, Eastside Catholic began to exert itself on both sides of the ball.

The Crusaders proceeded to score on three consecutive possessions. Meanwhile, defensively, they shut down the Wildcats offense.

Mt. Spokane’s offense never hit the end zone again after that first drive. The Wildcats only other score came after an interception, a missed tackle and an 87-yard return made the score 24-14 at the half.

“Our coaches and our kids are really, really smart,” Daste said. “They adjust well. They changed a couple of things, a tweak here and there, and it helped. We knew there was going to be a little bit of a feeling out process. It was going to be hard to get to the quarterback initially. We talked about getting our hands up.”

INTERCEPTIONS ALWAYS HELP

Tyson Weaver benefited for Eastside Catholic from some big plays up front.

Weaver made two interceptions for the Crusaders. The second resulted in a 91-yard return for a touchdown as Weaver grabbed a ball popped up after being tipped by a defensive lineman up front with Mt. Spokane mounting its only real scoring threat of the second half, getting inside the Crusaders 15-yard line.

“It starts with the ‘D’ line,” Weaver said. “Off the tip, the line and linebackers coming down allow me to make a play. So hats off to the entire defense.”