POULSBO — Neah Bay head coach Tony McCaulley is a hard man to please.
Bolstered by a big-play offense and a stingy defense, the Red Devils carved up rival Clallam Bay 68-0 in the first round of the 1B state football playoffs.
McCaulley wasn’t completely impressed with his team’s play Friday.
“It was OK,” McCaulley said.
“We still have to do some work on our blocking assignments in the run game.
“But the passing was pretty good tonight.”
That last line might be an understatement.
Quarterback Rwehabura Munyagi Jr. completed 5 of 6 passes for 126 yards and four touchdowns for the Red Devils. Munyagi also ran six times for 56 yards and two TDs.
“I have to thank my lineman because they gave me all day to throw, and without them I wouldn’t have been able to get the ball off,” Munyagi said.
“They blocked and the receivers ran good routes.”
His favorite target, Cameron Buzzell, caught three passes, all TDs, totaling 101 yards receiving.
Friday’s victory on the North Kitsap Stadium turf was the first postseason game in Neah Bay’s (9-0) bid at a third consecutive state championship.
“I can quote an NFL coach and say, ‘They are who we thought they were,”’ Clallam Bay coach Cal Ritter said.
Neah Bay (9-0) will face Seattle Lutheran (8-2) in the state quarterfinals in a game likely to be played in Poulsbo on Friday or Saturday.
McCaulley felt the long layoff since their last game, a 48-14 win against the Bruins on Oct. 30, played a role in the team’s performance.
“We haven’t played for three weeks, basically,” McCaulley said.
“[Our] second-level blocking wasn’t as good as it normally is.”
Clallam Bay (4-6) opened the game with a clear game plan: play keep-away from explosive Neah Bay and chew up time off the clock with a power running game operating out of a bunched formation.
The plan worked from the outset as the Bruins grounded out 30 yards and two first downs to advance to the Neah Bay 26-yard line.
“We started out a little flat on that opening drive,” McCaulley said.
“No, we hadn’t seen it [the formation] from them before. Crescent ran it on us and was pretty successful, so they picked it up from there.
“But that’s only going to work so much.”
A false start penalty and a sack caused by a poor snap eventually forced the Bruins into a turnover on downs.
Buzzell avoided being tripped up at the line on the second offensive play for the Red Devils, breaking open an inside counter and running 71 yards for a TD.
Neah Bay forced a four-and-out on the next Clallam Bay possession, and took the ball over at the Bruins’ 30-yard line.
Munyagi then found Buzzell in man-to-man coverage up the middle for a 30-yard TD pass and a 16-0 lead after one quarter.
“That’s pretty risky,” Buzzell said of attempting to play man-to-man against the speedy Red Devils.
“They were playing the run heavy, everybody was up on the line watching for Cole [Svec], so Rweha was able to throw it over the top to me,” Buzzell said.
Clallam Bay mustered just one first down in the second quarter and it came by penalty on a Neah Bay personal foul.
“In the beginning we started out slow, but we changed it up and adjusted and we did a good job at slowing them down after that,” Munyagi said.
McCaulley said the team stacked the line against the Bruins.
“We went to a five-man line, a 5-1 [formation],” McCaulley said.
“Once we switched defenses and figured out what was going on, we were fine.”
Meanwhile, the Red Devils’ offense was rolling up the points.
Cole Svec scored on a 21-yard run, Munyagi found Buzzell on a perfectly placed 56-yard catch-and-run for a TD and then hit Kenrick Doherty Jr. for a 23-yard strike in the end zone.
Munyagi closed out the half with a 21-yard scramble as time expired for a 46-0 lead at the break.
Neah Bay added three scores in a second half played with a running clock.
Jericho McGimpsey recovered an Alan Greene fumble and returned the ball 50 yards for a TD.
Later, Munyagi rolled out to his right and found Buzzell on the right side of the end zone for a 15-yard TD pass.
And Munyagi showed off some dance moves on a 33-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter.
Flushed from the pocket on a designed pass play, Munyagi bounced outside to the left sideline.
It appeared he would be brought down for a minimal gain, but he spun to avoid a tackler and cut back across the field for the final score.
Neah Bay is now tied with the 1958-62 St. John team for the second-longest 1B winning streak in state history at 34 games.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
