To listen to a broadcast of this game, go to Anacortes radio station KWLE 1340 AM “The Whale.”
What do John Elway, Joe Montana and Tom Brady have in common? Among other things, they are famous for last minute drives to win games. With 3:38 remaining in the state quarter final game between the Orcas Island Vikings and the Tacoma Baptist Crusaders on Nov. 20, Tacoma quarterback Taylor Martindale ran in a touchdown to tie the game. The staggered Vikings had led from the opening minutes but a “Three Minute Drill” that will go down in Orcas football lore was about to begin. It was a drive that Joe, John and Tom would admire.
The night before the big game, as the sun set on the Vikings’ final day of preparation for their game with Tacoma, the Frazier River Valley delivered a blast of cold air and snow to the Orcas practice fields. Swirling snow punctuated the Vikings’ final day of practice before they were to travel to a “home” playoff game at Wildcat Memorial Stadium in Oak Harbor the next morning.
Concern for getting the team off the snow covered island faded as the sun broke through the cold, gray winter sky while the bus awaited the ferry at the Orcas landing.
To add to the drama, the Crusaders were responsible for the only black mark on the Vikings record this season. The 35-0 shellacking that Tacoma had laid on Orcas stuck in the young Vikings craw all season.
“That is not who we are,” Coach Scott Harris told the team. “We did not perform well that day – including the coaching staff – but we learn from our mistakes. I know that we are not the same team as we were on that day back in September. The kids knew we are not the same team. Now they had to go and prove it.”
The fired up Viking squad took the field against a heavily favored and experienced Crusader team that were out to exorcise their own ghosts. After losing to the eventual state champ Adna Pirates in the 2009 semi-final at the Tacoma Dome, the Crusaders were on a mission. Their confidence overflowed knowing that they had pounded Orcas earlier in the season.
Just seconds after kickoff, Jacob Hansen let the Crusaders, the Vikings and all of the fans in attendance know that this was not going to be the same kind of game the Vikings played in September. Hansen may as well have been shot out of a cannon when he hit Tacoma star wide receiver Kyle Brady, who was returning the opening kickoff. Both teams took a knee in silence as medical personnel tended to Brady. To his credit, and to the surprise and relief of those in attendance, the senior was able to stand but had to be assisted off the field.
Hansen’s spark lit a raging inferno under the Vikings defense. The Crusaders were unable to muster any positive yardage on their first possession as junior Tyler Jensen’s sack was followed by an incomplete pass and on third down, a gang tackle allowed no yards on a run attempt. A punt block by senior defensive end Connor O’Neill set the Vikings up at the Crusader 10-yard line. Junior quarterback Robbie Padbury ran the Viking first play from scrimmage in for the first touchdown of the game. The extra point was missed, but Orcas had a quick 6-0 lead just 1:40 into the game.
After the kickoff another three downs and out forced the stunned Crusaders to punt to senior Michael Langworthy. Langworthy’s 20-yard return set the Vikings offense up close to midfield. A Tacoma Baptist sack, along with a holding call, left the Vikings in a deep second and 23 hole. Padbury completed a 42-yard pass to Hansen to the Tacoma 22-yard line. A roughing the passer penalty on the play moved the ball to the 14. Padbury found sophomore Devon Stanzione in the end zone for the Vikings’ second score of the game. A two-point conversion to Langworthy gave the Vikings a 14-0 lead with 6:49 remaining in the first quarter.
The Crusaders were reeling but not about to surrender.
The teams played back and forth football for the next 15 minutes until Tacoma put a drive together that set them up with second and goal on the Vikings one-yard line with 54 seconds remaining in the half. The Viking defense stiffened as the Crusaders tried to run behind their two 320-lb offensive linemen.
Second down: nothing. Third down: nothing. On fourth down with the ball mere inches from the goal line, the Vikings defense made yet another unbelievable stop with six seconds left in the half and took over on downs.
Disaster struck, as Orcas, trying to simply run out the last seconds of the half, fumbled, allowing Tacoma to recover. This time the Crusaders gave up on their punishing running game. A fake into the line allowed tight end Drew Jordan to slip behind the defense for an easy pass completion and a touchdown with just 4.6 seconds left. The team from Tacoma only had a 14-7 halftime deficit.
Harris led the Vikings into the locker room and told the team, “We knew we would have adversity sometime in this game and now here it is — now what are we going to do with it? Are you going to overcome it? Our goal is to go out and win the second half and that is what we are going to do.”
The Vikings responded to Coach Harris’s speech. Jensen caused a fumble that was recovered by junior defensive end Aubrey Schermerhorn on the Crusaders’ first possession of the second half near midfield. The game settled down as the teams traded possessions until 6:05 left in the game when Tacoma mounted a desperation drive from their own 28-yard line to try to tie the game.
Quarterback Martindale expertly marched his team down the field. With 4:33 remaining and the ball on the Viking 32-yard line, a bad snap over the head of Martindale left the Crusaders with a third down and 20 yards to go from the 42-yard line but Orcas star linebacker Hansen severely strained an ankle on the play. Things seemed to be going the Vikings’ way, but a 39-yard pass completion to Scott Pederson to the 4-yard line led to a Martindale touchdown run with 3:38 left in regulation. The extra point tied the game at 14-14.
As a full moon rose above the wine-colored horizon, destiny was about to shine her light on the boys from Orcas. Starting on their own 35-yard line the Vikings, led by Padbury who was hobbled by a hit earlier in the game, rushed for 3 yards in the face of an all out Tacoma blitz. A ten-yard catch by Rylan Date put the Vikes in good shape on the 48-yard line with 2:52 remaining. An incomplete pass stopped the clock. Padbury completed a pass to Stanzione at the Tacoma 42-yard line and a third down throw to Langworthy to the 32-yard line for a first down with under two minutes remaining and the clock winding down. Tacoma had switched to a three-man front, leaving eight defenders back to try to stop the Orcas passing onslaught but the Vikings were feeling the warmth of the Tacoma Dome bleeding through the frigid Oak Harbor twilight.
Another pass to Langworthy to the 26-yard line made it second and one with 1:15 left.
Padbury rolled right and threw a dart to Keenan Phalan, who had two Crusader defenders draped over him at the 15-yard line with 57 seconds to go.
An incomplete pass to Langworthy at the two-yard line stopped the clock with 40.7 seconds left. Padbury and crew were not completing easy passes. Every catch on the drive had been well defended with double coverage on most receivers. Padbury was threading needles. The offensive line was giving their quarterback the time he needed to throw despite desperate blitzes from a great linebacker corps. Fullback Hansen, despite his ankle injury, was providing a last wall of protection.
The final act of the passion play was about to unfold. A two-step drop by Padbury allowed him just enough time to thread his final pass between two Crusader defenders as Devon Stanzione hauled in the frozen rope in the back corner of the end zone for what turned out to be the winning score with 35.7 seconds left in the game.
“That drive belongs in the Louvre right beside the Mona Lisa,” said
Coach Mark Padbury.
On the first play after the Viking kickoff, Jake Zier’s tipped pass on a hard rush landed in the arms of Stanzione who was waiting for the wounded duck to fall to earth while standing with three other Viking defenders. One snap later the Vikings celebrated one of the most memorable victories in the long history of Orcas High School football. The fans who had braved the frigid temperatures danced and hugged in the stands as the Vikings celebrated on the field.
“Tacoma Baptist is a great team and they played a great game with sportsmanship,” Harris said. “I applaud their players for playing with such heart and perseverance. It was a maturing win for us that prepares us for the semi-finals next Friday in the Tacoma Dome. I really want to thank the community for their support. So many of our players had career games that it’s hard to point to any one individual, but considering that they played through fairly bad injuries, Jacob Hansen and Robbie Padbury deserve a special shout out.”
Final statistics included 210 passing yards by Padbury; Stanzione had 4 receptions for 67 yards and 2 touchdowns; Langworthy had 6 clutch catches for 64 yards; Jacob Hansen was four for 49 yards; Keenan Phalan hauled in two balls for 18 yards; Rylan Date had one very crucial catch in the final drive for 12 yards.
The Vikings move on to the state semi-finals in the Tacoma Dome on Friday, Nov. 26 at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast at www.kpug1170.com.
Contact Mark VanMaren for a seat on the rooter bus at 376-5387 or email him at medmark77@hotmail.com.
Those riding on the bus will take the 8:55 a.m. and meet in Anacortes. It will travel to either Alderwood or Northgate Mall for lunch and a little shopping, about a 2-hour +/- stop. Then on to the Tacoma Dome in time for the seeing the boys warming up. After the game it will take riders back north with a brief stop for dinner. It will drop passengers at the ferry terminal for the 10:30 p.m. sailing back to Orcas. Ferry fare is included in the price through an arrangement the school district has with the ferry system for school-sponsored events. The price is $25 per person; it will decrease if they can fill the bus. Payment will be collected on the morning ferry.
