First-time starter makes Woodinville's biggest play to hold off Decatur, 3 takeaways

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - A Week 10 district playoff game dominated by the running attacks ultimately came down to a pass play.

With just more than six minutes to play, after pounding the ball on the ground from its own 20-yard line to the Woodinville 15, Decatur decided to put the ball in the air on first down.

Spencer Holloway threw the ball toward a wide receiver breaking open at the goal line.

WEEK 10 WASHINGTON FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD

But defensive back Nour Elgohary, making his first career start for Woodinville, stepped in front and intercepted the ball to end the only true scoring threat either team managed in the second half of the Falcons' 13-6 Class 4A district-round victory at Federal Way Memorial Field on Friday night.

“I saw it, stepped up and just had to make a play,” Elgohary said. “Really, if they’d kept running it they probably would have scored.”

Here are three takeaways from the game:

BALL PROTECTION IS KEY

It’s a simple premise, but when teams don’t hang onto the ball, they tend to lose football games.

Decatur left opportunity after opportunity on the field, along with the ball, in the second half in failing again to advance to the state-playoff bracket. Yes, the Gators (8-2) played a postseason game for the first time since 2003 when they lost to Rogers of Puyallup in Week 10.

But four second-half turnovers proved too much to overcome for Decatur, which still hasn’t played in a WIAA tournament since it was founded in the 1970s.

“It was an ugly game,” Woodinville coach Wayne Maxwell said. “But our guys somehow found a way.”

In addition to Elgohary’s huge interception, Decatur mishandled the opening kickoff of the second half, and the Falcons pounded on the ball at the Decatur 44. After the interception, the Gators again stopped the Woodinville offense, forcing a punt.

But the punt returner muffed the ball, and it was again recovered by Woodinville with 3:45 to go. The Decatur defense stepped up again, forcing another punt with just under a minute remaining.

This time the Decatur returner took the ball on a bounce and started to race upfield. But lineman Alex Wenzel stuck his hand in covering on special teams for Woodinville and ripped the ball free again.

With no timeouts left, the Gators could only watch as Woodinville quarterback Levi Grothen took a knee and the clock ran out.

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THESE BOYS CAN RUN

The running backs dominated the offensive output in this one.

Senior Chase Rudin for Woodinville carried it 23 times for 101 yards and scored what became the winning touchdown for the Falcons, a 6-yard run to cap a short 27-yard drive with 8:18 remaining in the second quarter to give the visitors a 7-6 lead.

Across the way, junior Nehemiah Washington did all he could to keep Decatur in it. Washington carried the ball 26 times for 109 yards and accounted for Decatur’s only points with 2:45 to go in the first quarter.

“It’s always fun to be able to compete with a guy like that,” Rudin said.

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STATE MUST WAIT

The weekend that Decatur erased the first streak of futility, in Week 7 of the regular season by winning its sixth game of the season and assuring the Gators of their first winning season since 2003, junior running back Nehemiah Washington stated it clearly:

“It’s playoffs or bust,” Washington said.

Technically, Decatur’s game Friday against Woodinville accomplished that goal. The loss still kept the Gators short of the prize they really wanted - being a part of the WIAA Class 4A state bracket. The loss to the Falcons means the school, which was founded in 1971 and opened its own building’s doors in 1976, will have to wait at least another years for its first-ever place in the state bracket-of-16.

“This week definitely is all about getting to next week,” Decatur coach Matt Vaeena said. “But it’s that way for everybody who is playing this week.”

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(Featured file photo by Curt Carlson/Calder Productions)