Foss is Out and Olympia is In

Foss is out.
On Thursday night at Ingersoll Stadium in Olympia, Foss (5-4, 4-4) had their play-off hopes come to a disappointing end, as they were defeated 17-1 by No. 2 seed Olympia Bears (8-1, 7-1 ).

The Falcons would strike first with a 57-yard scoring pass from senior quarterback DaVonte Peterson to receiver junior Grayson Bullinger, who used his shiftiness to shake off the Bears sloppy secondary defense.

"Well, it was a pretty disappointing season for all of us at Foss because we lost to Wilson, Stadium, and Gig Harbor who we thought we should have beat. Coming into the Olympia game we had no choice but to win. I personally wanted to do it for the seniors on the team and we really did play our hearts out." Bullinger said. "I did everything I could, and I know my teammates did too.

At half time it was 10-7 and we were confident because we were moving the ball through the air with no problems. Unfortunately in the third quarter our Peterson got hurt and we were stuck because our second string quarterback, Noah Hunthousen, was also injured. We just fought as long as we could. Tonight there are a lot of tears because we expected to win, but in the end we just had too many tough breaks."

Peterson in the first quarter drove down the field airing it out for 127 yards. Peterson would find himself out of the game after two hits, helmet to helmet, in the waning minutes of the third quarter by Bears senior 200 lb linebacker Sam Gauksheim. No penalty was called on either play. Falcon's coach Baker, troubled with the result of these hits to his quarterback, quickly asked the official why there was no call, and the official replied "It wasn't intentional." This was an indicator of the night the falcons had.

Peterson would watch from the sidelines, finishing respectfully with 191 passing yards and completed 12 of 21 attempts.
The Falcon's grasp on the play-offs slipped in final minutes of the game.
With Peterson out and senior Folauga Perosi filling in at quarterback, the Falcons would look to senior back Julian Cruell to lead. The Bears' defensive line would shut down Cruell.

In the fourth quarter with 8:45 remaining and the Falcons charging to the Bears 25-yardline, Parosi looked deep in the end zone, but his pass was intercepted by linebacker Tui Magalei. The Bears would take to a running game, to stretch the game to run out the clock.

Cruell still emotional from the loss talked about the game.

"We knew this was going to be a big game for the play-offs. We really tried to stop their running back, Jordan Pine. On our pass game they had a good pass coverage defense, so we tried to get some short stuff. With Peterson out, we really tried to do it for him. This is a hard loss as a senior. We were looking to play on Tuesday. Since we haven't made the play-offs in a long time, it would have been big. Next week we want to win and go out with a bang. I had an up-and-down season, coming back from my injury. At this point I am only 80 percent and still trying to heal."
Coach Baker gave his thoughts on the game.

"Our kids came in ready to play. We did some real good things early in the game. We really tried to hit the short rout. We tried to take advantage of only four guys coming at us. We came out in the second half and drove the ball. We had a little hiccup: that put us in a situation where kids were getting injured. You never get calls down here. You come into this place and it is rather hostile. With Jamal Byrd on the sideline, after getting kicked out after the fight, the morale really dropped. You know the kids look up to him - he is a great captain. We are really disappointed in that situation. We are going to watch the video and hope he gets vindicated. I have the best group seniors I have ever had in four years. I am so proud of those kids; they stepped up and played against diversity. I look to see some of these kids play college ball."

Baker went on talking emotionally about what he gained from this season.

"You never give up. These kids are always there to push themselves. You can never underestimate a kid's drive and heart and that's what I learned. These kids really stepped up. A Perfect example is Jenson Chau. He came in and he wasn't a starter, and in the middle of the season he turned out to be a great starter. He had seven interceptions for the season. It is just amazing the measurement of these kids' heart. When you look at a kid you can't tell how much heart a kid has, but when they're out on the field you can see it."
Peterson, recovering from his hard hits, solemnly talked about losing teammate Julian Byrd and the importance of the game.

"It was a make-it-or-break-it game tonight; play off or nothing. We really played a good first half even with injuries. With Byrd out of the game it was huge. He is my go-to guy, and a great safety - maybe the best in the league. Byrd makes a big difference when he is not on the field. The first time I got hit tonight I was a little dizzy, however the second time I was hit, I blacked out. For us seniors this was it. We really wanted it." Peterson said.