After WIAA state championship triumph, No. 1 Graham-Kapowsin could be in line for GEICO State Championship Bowl Series bid
Turns out, the top-ranked Graham-Kapowsin Eagles' football season might not be over just yet.
The recently-crowned Class 4A champions, who defeated No. 2 Lake Stevens, 44-7, in the state championship game Saturday night in Tacoma, have been contacted about possibly being selected for the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series in Las Vegas.
This is the same postseason bowl series that 3A powerhouse Eastside Catholic played in for two seasons - in 2018 (17-0 win over Peoria Centennial in Arizona) and in 2019 (53-14 loss to Marietta of Georgia in Las Vegas).
After the Arizona high school championships wrap up this upcoming weekend, the Eagles will find out if they are one of the schools invited for the Dec. 17-18 bowl games held at Bishop Gorman High School.
"It would be great for our program and our kids," Graham-Kapowsin coach Eric Kurle said. "With the state (of Washington) not doing games on TV anymore, getting an opportunity to play (on ESPN) would be great exposure."
The Eagles are not only SBLive WA's No. 1 team in the all-classification rankings, they are in the "Next Beat 10 Teams" in SBLIve Sports' Power 25 (and have a pretty good chance of moving into the top 25 when the next rankings are released).
Dominic Daste, Eastside Catholic's third-year coach, said he has encouraged the Graham-Kapowsin coaching staff to take a hard look at accepting a bid, if invited.
"They treated us super great," Daste said. "The kids ate until they could not eat anymore.
"For us, it was a great look ... and helped us because we had talked about being a national brand."
Daste said after the Crusaders went to Arizona for their first bowl game, players and coaches made it one of their next-season goals to go back.
"It was not hard for them to restart (after winning the 2019 state title)," Daste said.
But Daste said there are a few on-the-fly adjustments playing in the bowl game. For starters, he noted two years ago, his team did not find out it was playing Marietta until a few days before the scheduled tilt, allowing them to hold just one day of practice on campus.
"We practiced Wednesday, left on Thursday - and played Friday," Daste said.
In the meantime, what are Graham-Kapowsin players doing with this possible bowl game on the horizon in less than two weeks?
"We will work out after a couple days off, but they will also start doing basketball and wrestling," Kurle said. "If we get selected, we will practice next week."
If they do go - signs are trending they will - Kurle knows they likely won't rush for the 524 yards they did in setting a 4A state title-game record Saturday night.
"We might have to throw a little bit," Kurle said.
(Featured file photo by Vince Miller)
