MOSES LAKE — The Neah Bay Red Devils football season came to a close this weekend in a defensive slugfest against Almira-Coulee-Hartline with the Warriors coming away with a hard-fought 14-12 win at Lions Field in Moses Lake in the state 1B quarterfinal playoffs.
Neah Bay finished its season with a record of 10-2. For the first time since 2021, the Red Devils didn’t quite make the state semifinals. ACH (also 10-2) is a powerhouse at the 1B level and last won the state championship in 2021.
Neither team could move the ball much against each team’s defenses as three of the scoring plays came on big plays outside the red zone. The big plays were few and far between for both teams, a rarity in eight-man football. Neah Bay drove deep into ACH territory on the Red Devils’ final possession late in the fourth quarter, but the drive stalled at the 30-yard line.
“That was not your typical eight-man football game,” said coach T.J. Greene.
“They were battling. I told the officials before the game, it’s going to be a good game and it was. I thought there’d be more points,” he said.
Neah Bay got on the board first with the Red Devils’ only real sustained drive of the day. After the Neah Bay defense got one of its many turnover on downs as ACH repeatedly went for it on fourth down, even on fourth-and-13 on their own 26. The Red Devils began a long drive with Jodell Wimberly getting runs of eight and nine yards, Tyler Swan a nine-yard run and Makyah Chambers a 10-year run. Wimberly finished the six-play, 62-yard drive with a one-yard plunge for a TD with 5:48 left in the first quarter. The point after failed and that turned out to be a big deal later in the game.
ACH’s offense ran through its big, fast quarterback Caden Correia. The Red Devils kept him bottled up most of the game, but he did manage a couple of big plays and finished with 121 yards rushing on 25 carries.
ACH responded to the Red Devils’ score behind a 32-yard run from Correia. Importantly, the Warriors made their two-point conversion to make it 8-6.
Early in the second quarter, ACH picked up its second touchdown when Correia hit wide receiver James Conley with a 29-yard touchdown. The Neah Bay defense held ACH scoreless over the final 34 minutes of the game and that was the last time the Warriors even remotely got near the end zone against the Red Devil, but it turned out to be just enough.
The half ended with ACH hanging on to the 14-6 lead. The Red Devils had an apparent touchdown on a 30-yard Chambers run, but the play was called back for an illegal formation. The following play, Chambers hit Adan Ellis with a 24-yard pass to set up a first-and-10 at the 11-yard line. The Red Devils got down to the 6-yard line but the drive stalled on a fourth-down play that gained one yard.
In the third quarter, the Red Devils cut the lead with a 23-yard pass from Chambers to Ellis, who had an excellent game to set up Wimberly for his biggest play of the game, a 35-yard rush for a touchdown. The PAT again failed as the Red Devils had a chance to tie but still trailed 14-12 with 3:20 left in the third.
With ACH deep in its own territory on a third-and-20 with 3:59 left in the game, Ellis pressured Correia on a blitz and forced him to throw the ball into the ground. Finally, for the first time all game, ACH punted and Chamber responded with a 20-yard return to set the Red Devils up in good position at their own 40 with plenty of time left in the game at 3:45.
On a third-and-12 play, Chambers hit Ellis for a 23-yard pass for a first-and-10 a the 35 with 2:08 left. Ellis finished the game with four catches for 85 yards.
“When everything else was shut down, they couldn’t stop him [Ellis],” Greene said.
Finally, on a fourth-and-five from the 30 with 53 seconds left, the Red Devils were not able to convert the first down and had to turn the ball over on downs. ACH kneeled down twice to finish the game.
“We felt short a little bit, but I’m proud of these kids,” Greene said. “The kids did well executing the game plan and the seniors didn’t fold down the stretch.”
“Give credit to ACH, they dialed up the right defense for us,” Greene said.
ACH moves on to play unbeaten Liberty Christian (Richland) in the semifinals. Liberty Christian, a heavy favorite to win the state championship, beat DeSales 56-20. DeSales knocked Quilcene out of the state playoffs last week. Liberty Christian also beat ACH 50-36 earlier in the season.
Neah Bay graduates a number of seniors, including Chambers, Wimberly and Seactis Woodruff, but returns players such as Caleb Cummings and Tyler Swan.
ACH 14, Neah Bay 12
NB 6 0 6 0 — 12
ACH 8 6 0 0 — 14
Scoring
First Quarter
NB — Wimberly 1 run (PAT no good), 5:48.
ACH — Correia 32 run (Roberts run), 1:19.
Second Quarter
ACH — Conley 29 pass from Correia (PAT no good), 10:09.
Third Quarter
NB — Wimberly 35 run (PAT no good), 3:20.
