DUVALL — With pouring rain creating sloppy playing conditions, one thing was clear from the start of Cedarcrest’s and Archbishop Murphy’s Cascade Conference football game Thursday night.
The winner would be the team that could overcome the weather and make a big play or two.
Archbishop Murphy was that team. Facing a third-and-20 on their own 25-yard line late in the fourth quarter, Wildcats sophomore Anfernee Gurley grabbed a screen pass from senior quarterback Nolan Rogge and raced 75 yards, breaking several tackles along the way for a game-winning touchdown in Murphy’s 19-13 victory.
“I was really just trying to get the first down,” Gurley, a wide receiver, said after the game. “That’s all that mattered. I was just trying to go forward and it seemed open and I went for the touchdown.”
The victory clinched the No. 2 2A seed from the Cascade Conference going into the postseason. With the loss, Cedarcrest takes 2A’s No. 3 seed.
Gurley scored with 2:15 to play in the game, but the extra-point attempt failed. The Red Wolves got the ball back after the kickoff and went to work from their 20-yard line, quickly putting themselves in position to potentially tie the score with a touchdown and win with an extra point.
In back-to-back plays, Cedarcrest senior Colson Scott and junior Liam Thomas ripped off 28- and 25-yard runs, respectively. The two carries moved the ball to Archbishop Murphy’s 23-yard line, but the Red Wolves’ hopes of a comeback victory ended on the next play.
Quarterback Adam Davenport and running back Colson Scott had trouble with a handoff exchange and fumbled. Archbishop Murphy recovered the with 1:20 to play in the game.
The Red Wolves used their timeouts to force the Wildcats into a third-and-5, but Gurley sealed the game with a 52-run for a first down.
“Every time he touches the ball something big can happen,” Wildcats coach Jerry Jensen said of Gurley. “He’s a guy that we’ve got to keep trying to find ways to get the ball.”
Gurley finished the game with five carries for 84 yards to go along with his 75-yard touchdown reception.
Rogge was another key player in Archbishop Murphy’s victory. He completed six of his 10 passes for 120 yards and also rushed 15 times for 135 yards and a touchdown.
“Nolan is a senior quarterback that is seasoned,” Jensen said. “He’s playing really well right now, so we’re going to ride that as long as we can.”
Rogge scored the game’s first touchdown in the first quarter on a 21-yard run, but Cedarcrest answered in the second quarter with a 15-play drive capped off by Scott’s 2-yard touchdown run.
Archbishop Murphy drove the ball down to the Red Wolves’ 1-yard line late in the second quarter, but fumbled on the final play of the first half and came away with no points.
Cedarcrest took advantage on the first drive of the second half with another sustained drive that resulted in a touchdown. The Red Wolves mishandled the snap on the extra point for a 13-7 lead.
Archbishop Murphy answered with Reagan Gordon’s 7-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Gurley’s game-winner in the fourth.
“We never gave up,” Jensen said. “We’ve got a lot of kids that go both ways, so they get tired throughout the game and they’ve got to dig deep and find their heart and keep digging. In that fourth quarter, for us to come up with that defensive stand and force that turnover was huge.”
The Wildcats missed two extra points that could have cost them. Jensen attributed the misses to the weather.
“It’s sloppy out here,” Jensen said. “It’s hard to keep the ball dry. We need to do a better job in the bad conditions.”
Archbishop Murphy defeated Cedarcrest 40-21 a year ago, but Thursday’s game proved to be much more competitive.
“We came in here in and beat them bad last year and we knew that they were going to hold a grudge, so we had to come out and play as hard as we could,” Gurley said. “They punched us in the mouth in the first half, but we came out and persevered.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
At Cedarcrest H.S.
Archbishop Murphy 7 0 6 6 — 19
Cedarcrest 0 7 6 0 — 13
AM—Nolan Rogge 21 run (Ryan Henderson kick)
C–Colson Scott 2 run (Brandon Mowry kick)
C–Liam Thomas 5 run (kick failed)
AM—Reagan Gordon 7 run (kick failed)
AM—Anfernee Gurley 75 pass from Rogge (kick failed)
Records—Archbishop Murphy 5-2 league, 7-2 overall. Cedarcrest 4-3, 5-4.
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