Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Rosalia football
It began with each team standing in a line across from each other for the announcer’s player introductions.
For a state 1B semifinal football game at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco last Saturday night, Touchet’s team stretched doubly far across the turf than did Rosalia.
When the game began, the numbers shifted in favor of the Spartans as the scoreboard showed 30-6 Rosalia in a frenzied second quarter. With the Touchet crowd muted, however, nearing halftime the Indians came back to within 30-20. Touchet (11-1) then continued in the second half, eventually taking over the game for a 62-36 win.
They now advance to play at the Tacoma Dome Saturday against Neah Bay (12-0) for the state title.
"We knew that (first half) lead wasn’t good enough," said Rosalia senior running back Craig Nelson.
"In that situation, the most important thing you need to do is come out on the first drive of the second half and stop their momentum," said Spartans coach Kaleb Madison.
Rosalia couldn’t pull it off, though, concluding their independent season with a record of 8-3, while marking the end of the high school careers of noted seniors Craig Nelson, Ryan Maley and Clay Shelton.
The night began with a long run by Nelson to put the Spartans on the scoreboard first. Then Cody Thornton recovered an Indians’ fumble to stop a Touchet drive before Maley recovered another fumble to give Rosalia the ball back once again.
The Spartans kept grabbing at and punching the football whenever it was in a Touchet running back’s hands, and Colton Goble lost the handle next.
Rosalia recovered yet again and took over at the Touchet 40-yard line.
Maley lined up in the shotgun, took the snap, pitched the ball to Nelson who cut inside and pitched out to Shelton who bolted to the endzone for 18-0.
Rosalia then lined up for the kickoff and tried an onside, which failed.
Then Touchet got on the board.
A touchdown throw from senior quarterback Elias Martinez to Carlos Rincon earned them their first points.
A few penalties then further distilled the Spartans’ early momentum.
On Touchet’s next possession, Shelton intercepted a Martinez pass and ran it back for a touchdown as flags came out. "Roughing the Passer" against the Spartans was the call.
Soon after, a late hit penalty on Rosalia’s Cory Brown resulted in a Touchet first down.
Nearing the end of the half, Shelton, running with an Indians receiver on defense, looked up to see the ball spinning down out of the light fog. He leapt - the Touchet player entangled with him - and almost caught it as one foot came down next to the sideline. The ball bounced out of his grasp and just as Shelton kept his second foot in bounds, he caught the ball for an interception.
The Spartans took over on their 13-yard line.
Maley lined up under center, called the snap count and handed off to Nelson who broke into the line.
Touchet quickly wrapped him up by the legs and, in an instant, Nelson looked toward the sideline, pulled the ball up and threw it to Shelton, who ran down the sideline for a 65-yard touchdown.
Rosalia led 24-6.
"You give the ball to Nelson, he’s gonna make plays," said Coach Madison. "He scares me sometimes but that’s an athlete being an athlete making plays. That’s Craig Nelson for you.”
With 3:26 left in the half, the Spartans’ Brown broke toward a Martinez throw, caught it and ran the interception back for 30-6.
Rosalia fans roared from the high home bleachers in the stadium bowl and there had to be images of Tacoma floating through some minds.
Touchet, however, started to put it together on their next drive. Martinez threw a 25-yard touchdown pass and then they scored again quickly on a 35-yard Martinez run.
After the half, the Indians took the ball and marched down for a quick score to hold the momentum. After an Indians’ holding penalty, they attempted the two-point conversion from the 13-yard line and converted it.
The Rosalia lead was down to two points and the Touchet crowd was now unmistakably present.
The Indians’ kept it up, with Martinez throwing to Carlos Rincon over Maley’s outstretched hand to take the lead 36-30, with the conversion.
The Spartans countered when Nelson took another handoff, cut inside, then outside and straight down the long Touchet sideline to tie the game.
"From watching film, we knew their ends were aggressive," said Nelson, indicating how cutting first to the inside was by design.
The Rosalia cheerleaders and fans counted off 36 jumping jacks for the tie score.
Then Martinez went to work again, hitting Edgar Rincon over Maley once more.
On offense, Maley was then intercepted by Carlos Rincon for a 75-yard touchdown and 48-36 deficit.
Touchet scored next on a pitch to Colter McKeown for 40 yards and the images of Tacoma had switched bleachers.
"One mistake and they’re in the end zone," Nelson said of defending Touchet.
"Overall, it was a great season," said Madison. "You want to get to the championship but I wouldn’t change anything, other than that maybe. I’m extremely proud of the boys and I want to thank the coaches, community, my family and everyone that supported us through the year."
Nelson, who has been the main running back and middle linebacker for the team the past three seasons (including with Tekoa-Oakesdale-Rosalia), concluded his career with 330 yards rushing on 31 carries.
"It’s not how we wanted it to end obviously but a lot of people didn’t think we’d get this far and we proved them wrong," he said.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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