The winner moves on and the loser stays home. Plain and simple.
That's the postseason scenario that played out Friday night, Oct. 28, at Werner L. Neudorf Stadium in Tukwila.
Lindbergh High was up to the challenge, exploding for 33 unanswered first-half points en route to an easy 40-13 Seamount League win over Foster.
With the win, the Eagles (5-3 overall; 4-2 in league) secured a postseason spot in the 2A state tournament. Lindbergh hosts North Kitsap Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the play-in round.
Before its crucial meeting with Lindbergh, Foster (3-6, 2-4) had roared back from a big 26-6 halftime hole against Renton on Oct.21, winning 27-26 on the road in the last minutes on a 30-yard pass from senior quarterback Marquis Jackson to senior wide receiver Gabe Gutierrez to keep its playoff hopes alive.
But, against Lindbergh, similar heroics were not to be.
"We had 11 fumbles and nine dropped passes," said Foster coach Jim Sutrick. "There aren't too many football teams that can win that way."
The Bulldogs were without the services of junior running back Cedric Cooper (knee injury), who is the Seamount League's top rusher (773 yards and eight touchdowns) and one of leading kick returners. (Cooper has been a special-teams weapon this season, often giving his team's offense good field position on his deep returns.)
With Cooper missing, Foster couldn't counter Lindbergh's strong offensive attack spearheaded by 6-foot-5, 235-pound junior quarterback Matt Stuart.
Stuart, who leads the league in passing (1,694 yards on 120 attempts and 19 touchdowns), tossed two TD passes in the Eagles' torrid first half, including a 10-yard pass to his favorite target and league-leading receiver, junior Cameron Callen, to make it 33-0 in the second quarter.
Callen also scored on a seven-yard run and linebacker Joe Simpson returned a fumble for 60 yards and a touchdown to propel the Eagles to a 14-0 first-quarter lead.
Sophomore 5-foot-7, 170-pound running back Daniel Wiitenan enabled Lindbergh to control the line of scrimmage, rushing for 165 yards on 17 carries.
"They definitely hurt us with the run," Sutrick said.
Foster tried to mount a second-half comeback, closing the gap to 33-13. Jackson scored on a 1-yard TD sneak in third quarter and threw a 1-yard scoring strike to Anthony Manago in the fourth.
But it was too little too late.
"It was a disappointing season," said Sutrick, who also coaches special teams and defensive backs. "Skill-wise I believe we could have matched up with anyone in 2A (division). We just were not as disciplined as we needed to be. We didn't work hard enough in the offseason and we made stupid mistakes at stupid times (during the season). The 3-6 (record) is what it is."
Sutrick, who is also an air-traffic control specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration, says he is optimistic about next season with five linemen returning as well as Cooper.
Of Cooper, Sutrick said, "He has more vision and balance (as a runner) than I've seen in my 15 years of coaching. He is a very good player."
