Neither rain, nor snow, nor mud, nor dark of night could deter the Inchelium Hornets from their appointment with destiny.
Neither could the St. John-Endicott Eagles.
The Hornets crushed the Eagles 49-8 Saturday in a State B-8 semifinal football victory that was postmarked Kingbowl 17/Seattle, Wash.
"I have never been inside the Kingdome," said Inchelium coach Duane Gatlin, who added the Hornets made a vow to stride the artificial turf in the Seattle arena after being eliminated from the playoffs one year ago.
The mailman who delivered the championship invitation was tailback Lonnie Simpson, who rushed for 287 yards and three touchdowns in the mud and rain at West Valley's Ward Maurer Field Saturday night.
The victory — Inchelium's second lop-sided playoff win — advances the Hornets to the B-8 Championship game in the Kingdome at 10 am. Saturday, Dec. 3.
Previously unbeaten St. John-Endicott was awarded a trophy that is good for either third or fourth place, depending on how Inchelium fares.
The Hornets will face the winner of next week's Soap Lake-Wishkah semifinal.
Simpson bobbed and weaved 7 yards through the Eagle defense and added a two-point conversion run as the Hornets drove 59 yards to score after the opening kickoff.
"Lonnie ran hard tonight," Gatlin said, referring to the soggy field. "He didn't juke anybody."
Maybe not from scrimmage, but the senior speedster hauled in a Steve Leifer punt while standing almost nose-to-nose with Eagle Bill Green at the 30, whisked past the surprised Green and stutter-stepped 30 yards across midfield.
On the next play, Hornet quarterback Tracy Flugel, who completed 7 of 12 passes for 184 yards, lobbed a bomb through defender Matt Hubble's arms to Jeff Vining. The junior wide receiver completed the 40-yard scoring play and built Inchelium a 36-0 halftime advantage.
The Hornets had effectively put the game out of reach with three touchdowns on three St. John-Endicott turnovers in a 4:18 span of the second quarter.
With 7:11 remaining in the half, Simpson fell on an Eagle fumble at the 43. He dashed in to score on the first play of the eight-second drive, and added a second two-point run.
The Eagles took over at the 15 after the kickoff but blitzing lineman Les Hahn slammed into quarterback Brian Lynch, jarring the ball loose. Junior Clint Abell scooped up the football at the 5 and high-stepped across the goal-line.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Eagles didn't even get a chance to mount a play.
Hornet Russell Camp shanked the kickoff, bouncing it off a St. John-Endicott lineman into the arms of Vining, who gave the Hornets possession at the 45.
Simpson capped the 10-play drive with a slashing run from the 16 with 2:53 remaining in the half.
After the half, any starch remaining in the Eagles wilted quickly.
Inchelium's Van Allen Bradeen stopped Layne Dretke in his tracks with a rattling tackle on fourth and inches at the 49, sidelining the Eagle back for the rest of the game.
The Hornets scored in three plays after taking over. Simpson slipped two tackles and raced 25 yards before being ridden down by Hubble. Flugle hit Williams with a 23-yard screen pass to the 1, and plunged over one play later.
The screen to Williams worked into a 61-yard scoring play on Inchelium's next drive.
St. John-Endicott broke the 49-0 shutout late in the final quarter when Hubble recovered a Paul Kohler fumble at the 44. He capped the four-play drive with a screen pass to Green, who cut around Simpson at the 5 to score.
In the procession of well-wishers grabbing Gatlin in the cheery Hornet locker room was the one pessimist in every crowd.
"Well, there goes your basketball season," the man said, before breaking into a grin.
Gatlin could well have said that from here on out, football is an indoor sport for Inchelium.
The S-R
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