One blocked kick would be a career highlight - but this Wenatchee lineman didn't stop there

Longtime Wenatchee High School football coach Scott Devereaux has never quite experienced in a game what happened Friday night.

Senior lineman Evan Berdan blocked not one, not two, not three, but four different kicks - three punts and one PAT kick - in the Panthers’ 37-9 win over Ellensburg.

Berdan’s performance was something right out of a video game.

"I’ve never seen anybody do that," Devereaux said. “He almost had another one that went off his finger.”

Berdan, a wrestler in the winter and not a basketball player, said his approach on special teams wasn’t anything extraordinary. He just ran right through people.

“With their PAT team, I was kind of able to just bull rush through the middle gaps and get through,” Berdan said. “I’ve been able to do that quite a bit this season, I just hadn’t gotten my hands on one until this last game.”

With Ellensburg’s punt formation, Berdan said he saw big gaps between the center and guard on his side, which made it easy for him to get by blockers.

“Their personal protectors, which are the three guys in the back, couldn’t really keep me from getting past them,” he said.

Other than it being an obviously unbelievable stat line, the blocked kicks also changed the game. Consider:

* Berdan blocked a PAT kick after Ellensburg's first touchdown in the first quarter to keep Wenatchee's lead at 13-6.

* His first punt block came in the fourth quarter, which was recovered at the Ellensburg 3-yard line. The Panthers scored on the next play to take a 23-9 lead.

* His second blocked punt was the highlight of all highlights - he blocked it at the Bulldogs' 20, and the ball ricocheted back into the end zone. He recovered it for a touchdown.

* And the third punt block of the fourth quarter came a few minutes later. It was recovered at the Ellensburg 20-yard line - and the Panthers scored a few plays later.

“After he blocked the first two, you could hear the guys talking about it - and he told them, ‘I’m going to block another one.’ And then he did,” Devereaux said.

The excitement that came from Berdan getting his first block of the game – and season – was one he kept chasing the rest of the game.

He said after he blocked the first punt he wanted to keep going after them.

“I kept trying and kept getting back there,” Berdan said. “Each one I got further increased my excitement.”

To make things even sweeter, Wenatchee defensive coordinator Taylor Mitchell told players last year if they block a kick in a game, his wife would make them a pie.

Looks like a dessert feast is in Berdan’s future.