Casey Finley mainly watched as Inchelium started its season 1-3.
Since the sophomore running back recovered from knee and rib injuries, however, Inchelium has been anything but a 1-3 team.
On Saturday, at snowy and windy Medical Lake, the Hornets (6-4) defeated fifth-ranked Sprague-Harrington 18-14 in the State B-8 football quarterfinal. Inchelium is one step away from its second Kingbowl appearance in four years.
Finley, all 5-foot-7 and 135 pounds of him, shouldered the load by rushing for 140 yards and touchdowns of 24, 5 and 8 yards.
"We never said we were going to lose," said Finley, who had limited action during the Hornets' first four games. "We always though that we could do it."
Inchelium advanced to next weekend's semifinal against either Entiat (5-3) or Touchet (8-1).
An 18-6 win over Entiat on Oct. 28 turned around the Hornets' season.
"We stayed 'up' all year," said Inchelium senior quarterback Cody Desautel, the only starter besides linebacker Ty Stensgar who played for the 1991 state title team. "This team always keeps after it."
"Secretly, maybe I was thinking halfway through the season, 'Well, we're fourth (place in the Northeast B-8), I can kick back," said Inchelium coach Ron Washington.
The Falcons (7-3), who beat Inchelium 16-14 early in the season, led 14-12 at halftime but generated just 62 yards of offense after the break.
"We were being beaten man-to-man, especially at the line of scrimmage," said S-H coach Steve Frank, who led the Falcons to the league title after a 0-9 season in 93.
S-H junior running back Damien Putney, who rushed for nearly 2,000 yards this year, picked up 149 yards on 23 carries. Except for TD runs of 39 and 62 yards, however, Inchelium held Putney in check. Neither coach blamed the snow for the outcome.
"Actually, on a dry field at their place, we did a better job of controlling Putney," Washington said.
Desautel passed for 128 yards, compared to 4 yards for S-H junior Brett Bly. Desautel's 24-yard completion to Shawn Christianson on the first series of the second half set up Finley's winning touchdown.
Late in the third quarter, Finley lost a fumble on the Falcons 5-yard line that Nick Colbert returned 30 yards. S-H moved to the Inchelium 7, but, on passes to the end zone, Bly threw just short of Gene Korby on second down and Desautel successfully defended the fourth down.
Galen Desautel's interception of Bly, at the Hornets 27 with 30 seconds remaining, ended S-H's season.
"This (playoff) was a new experience for us," Frank said. "Inchelium has had this experience."
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