Bellevue must handle weight of major victory
Just another game, huh?
Any time Bellevue players and coaches were asked in recent weeks about Saturday`s much-anticipated season opener against Concord (Calif.) De La Salle, that`s what they`d say: It`s just another game.
Yeah, right. And Super Bowl Sunday is just another day on the NFL calendar.
Coach Butch Goncharoff had insisted beforehand that, in the grand scheme of this season, it was only one game -- a big one, to be sure, but one that ultimately didn`t count toward the Wolverines` most important goal: winning a fourth consecutive 3A state championship. As big as it appeared to be in the minds of fans and the media, the Wolverines said, they were keeping it in perspective. There would, they said, be bigger games down the line.
So, if that`s the way they really felt, why didn`t they play it that way?
The Wolverines didn`t just end De La Salle`s record 151-game winning streak, they demolished it, 39-20.
Bellevue`s defense was outstanding, forcing two interceptions in the second half. And De La Salle had no answer for Bellevue senior running back J.R. Hasty, who answered De La Salle`s first touchdown with a 74-yard kickoff return for a score. He also would finish with an eye-popping 271 yards rushing and three more touchdowns.
Actually, the way the Wolverines played is easy to explain.
One constant theme among Bellevue players before the game was that they knew they had to match the preparation and intensity for which De La Salle teams are noted. The Wolverines did exactly that, with each player putting in a minimum of 85 off-season workouts. As one player noted last week: ``De La Salle puts you at a higher level ... We`re pretty sure no other team has put in the effort that we have.``
There was something else, something even more basic: a determination to prove people wrong. Skeptics suggested that the Wolverines had bitten off more than they could chew in seeking this game with De La Salle, and few outside the Bellevue camp gave it any chance to win.
``There were all the Internet polls, the message boards where everyone said they were going to blow us out,`` Bellevue linebacker E.J. Savannah told The Associated Press after the game.
The Wolverines didn`t believe it and, in fact, never bought into the notion that they were underdogs. They proved, ultimately, why you bother to play the game.
De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur was as gracious in defeat Saturday as he had been through so many victories. He conceded that Bellevue was the better football team, so much so that if the teams played again next weekend, the Wolverines would win again.
And, Ladouceur said, it was just time for De La Salle to finally lose a game.
``I`m all for there being a lot of king of the hills, not just one,`` he said.
Now comes the hard part: The Wolverines must put aside all the in-state and national attention that will come because of their stunning victory and get on with the season. They will make a huge jump in the national high school polls. Instead of being told they have no chance, they will now hear that the sky is the limit. The players must, to the best of their abilities, put it all aside. There is a lot of season left to be played.
De La Salle was a marked team before Saturday`s game at Qwest Field -- that`s what happens when a team wins that many games in a row -- and now Bellevue is in a similar situation. The Wolverines already wore a huge bulls-eye because of their state championship streak. Now, after what happened Saturday night, opponents will be more determined than ever to knock the Wolverines off their throne.
The 3A teams at Liberty, Timberline, Ranier Beach, Lakes, Kennedy, Skyline, Issaquah and O`Dea won`t care one bit what Bellevue did against De La Salle. All that will matter to them is how well Bellevue will be prepared to play when, or if, it faces those teams later in the season. The road back to the Tacoma Dome might have gotten a little more difficult, if that`s possible.
Just another game? That`s what the Wolverines said before they faced De La Salle, but it`s evident now that`s not what they really believed. They had pointed, with every conditioning run and weight workout, to that game from the moment they knew it was on the schedule.
That meant Goncharoff had no trouble motivating and preparing his players to take on De La Salle, and it was evident Saturday night.
Now, he faces what could be a difficult task: convincing them to forget it.
Was it just another game? Hardly.
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