Newport won the opening game of the three-team tiebreaker playoff, beating Redmond 6-0, at Lake Washington High Tuesday night, sending the Mustangs to a fifth-place finish in the 4A Kingco Crest Division and ending their playoff hopes.
The Knights scored the game’s lone touchdown at the 9:12 mark of the first half when quarterback Ross Quarre broke loose on a 22-yard run. The Mustangs committed five turnovers — two on fumbles, and three on downs — in the mini-playoff game, which had two 12-minute halves.
“When you get into those mini-games, that’s the one thing we warned our team about – we can’t give them any freebies,” said Redmond head coach Mike Pluschke. “We turned the ball over on the first drive, and that gave them a short field, and they happened to get a nice run on us and get on the board.”
Nevertheless, with the missed extra point, Redmond was in good position if they could put together a nice drive, but another untimely fumble caused the momentum to swing back toward the Knights.
“The next drive we went on about a 65-yard march, including a long run by Michael Conforto,” recalled Pluschke. “Unfortunately on a play that we thought he was down on, he fumbled the football and gave it back to them. Sometimes the luck goes away when the ball comes out of your hands… and it presents an opportunity for a call to go the other way.”
Although the playoff didn’t go their way, Pluschke was thrilled for his group, which has been through more than its share of bumps and bruises this season, just to be contenders going into the final week.
“To give these kids an opportunity to play for something in week nine was something we were certainly hoping for,” he said. “To have that come true via the great win against Eastlake and the nice win against Garfield really was exciting for these kids.”
The sixth-year coach admired his team’s ability to still “come out and play hard” in the face of adversity as a plethora of injuries, including a season-ending knee injury to senior lineman Travis Tobin earlier in the week, have torn up Redmond’s already thin roster.
But with one game left to go, Pluschke looks to send his seniors out on a good note this Friday as the Mustangs face Lake Washington.
“Both of us are two-win teams right now, and are looking to finish on a high,” he explained. “We’re focused on trying to play our best game of the season, and sending these seniors out with a lasting memory of the last three years. Just to have them finish with a smile and show that our juniors and sophomores are working towards the future and our seniors are trying to make their last impression on the football program at Redmond High School.”
Redmond (2-3, 2-6) will kick off with LW at 7 p.m. Friday at Lake Washington.
