OTHELLO — A late touchdown and two-point conversion by No. 9 Sehome sealed No. 8 Othello’s fate in the opening round of the 2A State Football Tournament, as the Mariners advanced after defeating the Huskies 22-21 on Saturday. 

“We knew it was going to be tough; Sehome’s a good team,” Othello defensive coordinator Kevin Hale said. “A lot of speed, their quarterback is frustrating because even though we had good coverage, he’d squirt out and extend plays.” 

With the Huskies up 21-14 late in the fourth quarter, Sehome blocked an Othello punt with less than three minutes remaining in the game, and after a return on the play, the Mariners set themselves up at the Huskie 20-yard line. Two plays later, with first-and-goal from the Othello 6-yard line, Sehome quarterback Nolan Wright found receiver Andre Watson for a wide-open touchdown to bring the Mariners within one point. Sehome called a timeout after the touchdown. 

“Before we got the ball in that series, I told them, ‘If we score, we’re going for two,’” Sehome head coach Brian Young said. “No way did I want to try and stand up against that Wing-T type of run again. When I called the timeout, I asked my quarterback, ‘What would you prefer?’” 

Wright found Watson again in the endzone on the ensuing two-point conversion, giving Sehome its first lead of the game with less than two minutes remaining. 

Othello’s offense took the field on its own 26-yard line with 1:26 remaining in the game; the Huskies moved the ball to midfield, but a sack, a personal foul penalty and two incompletions quickly brought up fourth-and-36 for the Huskies, whose season ended when sophomore Ryan Martinez was sacked to turn the ball over on downs. 

The Huskies opened the game with a 12-play, 68-yard scoring drive to go up 7-0 on a 2-yard touchdown run by senior Jordan DeLeon. Othello junior RJay Garza intercepted a pass on Sehome’s first drive of the game, which allowed Othello to mount another long drive; however, the Huskies turned the ball over in the red zone with a fumble on the Mariner 2-yard line. 

Othello turned the ball over three times in Saturday’s loss; two fumbles, and a blocked punt. 

“The turnovers, we eliminate those and probably win,” Hale said. “Can’t turn the ball over against a good football team, because eventually they’ll make us pay for it.” 

Forcing three turnovers stems from the mindset of the Mariners, Wright said.  

“We’re just scrappy; we have a bend, don’t break philosophy,” Young said. “We’re going to play 48 minutes; every second matters, we’re going to protect every blade of grass. Our thing is make them line up again; it’s hard for an offense to go 5, 10, 15, 20 plays without a mistake. It worked out today for us.” 

Othello led the game 14-0 after another DeLeon touchdown run, but Sehome got on the board with a 6-yard touchdown catch by junior Theo Quiggle shortly before halftime.  

“Our guys have a really good tendency to shrug things off and get to the next play,” Young said. “We believe in what we’re doing. Once we got that first touchdown, that said, ‘Hey, we can score.’” 

After another Othello fumble in the third quarter, the Mariners drove down the field to tie the game at 14 on a 12-yard reception by Watson.  

It didn’t take long for Othello to retake the lead; a 58-yard kickoff return by junior Gavin Carl set the Huskies up at the Sehome 18-yard line, and DeLeon scored his third touchdown of the play just three plays later on a 2-yard run.  

After forcing a Mariner punt midway through the fourth, Othello ate nearly four minutes off of the game clock with a nine-play, 41-yard drive before the drive stalled near midfield. Sehome blocked the ensuing Huskie punt. 

Othello finishes the 2024 season with a 9-2 record. The Huskies won the Central Washington Athletic Conference league title this fall and qualified for state for the fifth consecutive season. 

“This is only failure if you don’t learn from it,” Hale said. “You’ve got to learn, you’ve got to work hard. That’s all you can do.” 

The Huskies will graduate 13 seniors off of this year’s roster. 

“They’ve seen a lot of success,” Hale said. “A lot of wins, unfortunately not as much success in the state playoffs as we would have liked. They were, as a group, tough as nails and epitomized Othello football; really physical, very tough. We’re certainly going to miss them, but the cupboard’s not bare.” 

Box Score 

SEH: 0-7-7-8 22
OTH: 7-7-0-7 21 

    Othello senior Jordan DeLeon (32) initiates contact against a Sehome defender during the first quarter of Saturday’s state playoff game against the Mariners.
  

    Othello senior Mason Perez (50) blocks an incoming Sehome defender during the first quarter of Saturday’s game against the Mariners.
  

    Othello junior Gavin Carl (38) looks back at trailing Sehome defenders on a 61-yard run in the second quarter.