West Albany battles adversity to claim second straight 5A state championship

By Jesse Sowa

Albany Democrat-Herald

CORVALLIS - West Albany High faced adversity and found an answer.

The Bulldogs found themselves in a rare spot Saturday night, tied in the fourth quarter of a football game.

Though unfamiliar with the situation, they cleared the hurdle to repeat as state champions.

Anthony LaCoste scored on a 5-yard run with 8:02 remaining to help West claim the OSAA 5A championship with a 35-28 win against Thurston at Reser Stadium.

Thurston (12-1) erased a 21-point third-quarter deficit to tie the game early in the fourth quarter.

"I think everybody on that half of the stadium thought Thurston was coming back to win the game," West coach Randy Nyquist said of where the Colts' faithful watched the game.

"It's a huge challenge to come back and repeat. The guys were up for the challenge. They were amazing."

West (14-0) provided a quick response when it seemed Thurston had stolen the momentum.

Senior quarterback Reese Miller led the Bulldogs on a six-play, 80-yard drive that LaCoste ended with his go-ahead score.

Miller hit senior receiver Elliott O'Bryan with a 40-yard pass on the second play of the series. Miller later hit sophomore Jack Ruckert on a 35-yard pass to the 5.

"We stuck together as a team," Miller said. "We didn't blame anybody. Anthony had a few fumbles. But nobody was bringing him down, staying positive, and we overcame."

LaCoste fumbled five times, losing three. He also was a major ingredient that helped the Bulldogs build a 28-7 lead.

His 40-yard run on the second play of the second half gave West its biggest lead of the game.

LaCoste, named West's player of the game, rushed for 194 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries. Miller added 109 yards on eight tries and was 6 of 10 passing for 137 yards and one score.

Thurston's Devin Anderson had 109 rushing yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns, with two coming in the second half.

With Thurston coming back, senior Tyler Spevacek and the Bulldogs saw the game that everybody wanted - a close contest between the top-ranked Bulldogs and No. 2 Colts.

It was anybody's game.

"You look at it and go, 'we need to keep working hard and do what we do every week,' " said Spevacek, who intercepted a pass by Thurston quarterback Tym Pearson on the Colts' first drive of the second half.

"You look to your team leaders, you look at yourselves and say 'hey, we've got it.' "

Thurston opened the game looking like it would have no trouble moving the ball.

Pearson completed five of his first seven passes, but the eighth was intercepted by Will Bussard in the end zone.

The Bulldogs were forced into a punt on their first drive, but the West defense answered with another big play. On Thurston's first play, LaCoste made a leaping interception while falling backward in front of the Bulldogs sideline.

That seemed to spark the West offense, which then took six plays to score, capped by LaCoste's 55-yard run.

LaCoste ran left and broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, with senior lineman John Braun's block eliminating the last obstacle.

Thurston managed just 10 plays in its next two drives combined, as the West defense continued to make big plays.

The Bulldogs then milked the clock for more than five minutes on an 11-play drive. After West used 10 running plays to move 66 yards, Miller hit Matt McHenry for an 8-yard pass and a 14-0 lead.

After another short Thurston drive, West added a score in just two plays.

Miller cut outside down the left sideline. Thurston's Danny Urness looked to have a good angle on Miller, who cut back at about the 10 and carried Urness and Thurston linebacker Matt Collier into the end zone.

West had 273 yards at halftime, including more than 100 yards rushing each for LaCoste (105) and Miller. Thurston had 128 yards in the first half.

West Albany 35, Thurston 28

THURSTON 0 7 14 7 - 28

WEST ALBANY 7 14 7 7 - 35

First quarter

WA: Anthony LaCoste 55 run (Tyler George kick), 2:58

Second quarter

WA: Matt McHenry 8 pass from Reese Miller (George kick), 4:42

WA: Miller 64 run (George kick), 2:59

T: Devin Anderson 3 run (Gustavo Machuca kick), 1:27

Third quarter

WA: LaCoste 40 run (George kick), 11:40

T: Anderson 7 run (Machuca kick), 9:12

T: Anderson 15 run (Machuca kick), 4:22

Fourth quarter

T: Pearson 3 run (Machuca kick), 10:49

WA: LaCoste 5 run (George kick), 8:02

RUSGING: Thurston - Anderson 20-109, Pearson 15-2. West Albany - LaCoste 35-194, Miller 8-109; McHenry 8-15.

PASSING: Thurston - Pearson 20-33-3-184, Galbreath 0-1-0-0. West Albany - Miller 6-10-0-137

RECEIVING: Thurston - Galbreath 7-89, Wright 5-42, Woods 3-27, Anderson 2-3, Cheshire 1-22, Urness 1-6, Ryan 1-(minus-5). West Albany - O'Bryan 3-87, Ruckert 1-35, McHenry 1-8, Bussard 1-7