SILVERDALE — The Red Devils are right on schedule.
Neah Bay survived four turnovers and a whole lot of penalties to squeak past Lake Quinault 20-14 in Saturday’s Class 1B state quarterfinals at Silverdale Stadium.
The Red Devils (12-0) moved within one win of their first state championship game appearance in 10 years with the victory.
The other time Neah Bay reached the title game: 10 years before that in 1989.
Only PCL rival Lummi (8-3), which faces Neah Bay next Friday at 4 p.m. in the Tacoma Dome, stands in the Red Devils’ way.
“It’s a dream come true,” Neah Bay running back Evan Bowechop said of playing in the Dome. “Ever since you talk about going to high school, you talk about going to the Tacoma Dome. It’s crazy that it’s a reality.
“This year, we’re there, and it’s awesome.”
Bowechop broke off a pair of long touchdown runs of 72 and 15 yards on his way to an 11-carry, 159-yard day.
He and fellow back Titus Pascua (18 carries, 146 yards) powered an offense that was often its own worst enemy against the Elks, with four turnovers and five separate holding penalties that killed drives.
The Neah Bay defense more than made up for the miscues, holding the Elks to 228 total yards while getting three takeaways.
Yet it wasn’t until the very last of those three, a Drexler Doherty interception of Elks quarterback Cameron Daniels in the final minute, that the Red Devils were able to clinch the win.
“The defense won it for us today, that’s for sure,” Neah Bay coach Tony McCaulley said. “Our defense has played outstanding all year, and today was no different.”
Indeed, it was the eighth time the Red Devils had held a team to 14 points or less this season, with six of those times coming in their last seven games.
The only opponent to get above the 14-point barrier during that time was Lummi, which lost to Neah Bay 50-30 in Week 9.
Neah Bay also beat the Blackhawks 28-22 in a nonleague affair in Week 4.
“It’s going to be really tough,” McCaulley said of next week’s game against Lummi. “Lummi plays us really tough. We’ll see what happens when we get there.”
Despite a fast start, second-ranked Neah Bay was certainly pushed to its limits on Saturday.
The Red Devils scored on their first offensive play of the game, a 58-yard run from Titus Pascua, to take a 6-0 lead.
It was a sign of things to come, as each of the Red Devils’ three scoring drives were one-play marches.
That included Bowechop’s 72-yard streak down the middle of the field on Neah Bay’s third possession of the game for a 12-0 lead.
“They caught us on a quick count twice where our defense was shifting and ran through an open hole,” said Lake Quinault coach Ron Hoiness.
“The kids hadn’t moved to their gap assignment yet, and they hiked the ball on set and caught them shifting. That’s why the hole was there. That’s something you do when you’re a good team.”
The Elks capitalized on one of the Neah Bay’s four turnovers late in the second half when Bowechop mishandled a Lake Quinault punt with three seconds to go.
Daniels found Kelly Steinhauer for a 22-yard touchdown pass on the very next play. Cameron Pumphrey caught a two-point conversion from Daniels after that to put the score at 12-8 going into the break.
Neah Bay answered early in the third quarter after Titus Pascua intercepted another Daniels pass to give the Red Devils the ball at Lake Quinault’s 15-yard line.
Bowechop ran it in on the next play, and after Bowechop caught a two-point conversion pass from Doherty in the end zone, the Red Devils were ahead 20-6.
Lake Quinault responded with a touchdown drive on its own on the next possession, capped by a 48-yard Daniels pass to Kelly Steinhauer, to put the score at 20-14.
Yet that was all the scoring the Elks could muster, with Lake Quinault unable to get into Red Devil territory the rest of the game.
“They played tough, we played tough, we just had way too many penalties today,” McCaulley said.
“That’s something we don’t normally do. Normally we’ll drive the ball down and score with a long drive, and penalties just killed us all day.”
So did the turnovers, one of which came on a Titus Pascua fumble at the Elks goal line in the second quarter.
Yet Neah Bay, which gained 335 total yards in the contest, was still able to hold off a game Lake Quinault team.
And now they are just one win from playing for a state title for the third time in school history.
“We thought we could have played better, but it’s a playoff game and it was really good to come out with a close victory,” Bowechop said.
“Hopefully we can take it to Lummi for a third time and get to the championship. It would be great to make it this year.”
Neah Bay lost both times it reached the state championship game in ’89 and ’99.
The Red Devils also lost the last time they reached the semifinals in 2005, a 42-40 overtime heart-breaker to Columbia-Hunters.
“If they want to be the best team in Neah Bay history, they’ve got to win it all,” McCaulley said. “They are pumped up for it. We’ll see.”
Neah Bay 20, Lake Quinault 14
Lake Quinault 0 8 0 6– 14
Neah Bay 12 0 8 0– 20
First Quarter
NB–T. Pascua 58 run (pass failed)
NB–Bowechop 72 run (pass failed)
Second Quarter
LQ–K. Steinhauer 22 pass from Daniels (Pumphrey pass from Steinhauer)
Third Quarter
NB–Bowechop 15 run (Bowechop pass from Doherty)
Fourth Quarter
LQ–K. Steinhauer 48 pass from Daniels (Run failed)
Individual Stats
Rushing– NB: T. Pascua 18-146, Bowechop 11-159, Doherty 5-(minus 6). LQ: Daniels 13-69, C. Steinhauer 16-43, Aguilar 3-11, Arreguin 1-1, Allen 2-(minus 1), K. Steinhauer 1-(minus 1).
Passing–NB: Doherty 2-10-2, 36. LQ: Daniels 10-20-2, 106.
Receiving–NB: Bowechop 1-27, Moss 1-9. LQ: K. Steinhauer 3-78, Pumphrey 3-29, C. Steinhauer 2-(minus 19), Allen 1-10, Arreguin 1-8.