For the second straight year —and only the second time since 1956 — the Washington football team is in the third round of the playoffs and no doubt has its sights set on advancing to the fourth.
The third-seeded Pam Pack (11-2) dodged a bullet last Friday as Myron Brooks and Rakwuan Sattherwaite teamed up to take down a Freeman Jones last-second field goal attempt to preserve a 35-32 victory over No. 6 Bunn.
“It was a big win for the program and a big win for the guys,” Washington coach Sport Sawyer said. “Bunn was a very good football team and we’re just excited to be playing another week.”
With the win, Washington will play its first road game of the postseason tonight when it travels to Barco to face No. 2 Currituck (11-2) at 7:30 p.m.
Throughout the regular season the Pam Pack has made a habit of overcoming slow starts thanks to phenomenal finishes. However, in the first two rounds of the playoffs Washington has relied on strong starts to propel past its opponents.
Sawyer is hoping that tonight is the night the Pack puts it all together.
“Offensively, we’ve been slow out of the gate all season until the last couple of weeks, and the second halves have been strong all season until the last couple of weeks,” Sawyer said. “Our thing is to play four quarters of football. We just need to play four good quarters of football.”
Against Bunn, the Pam Pack got a big boost from sophomore first-year starting quarterback Brodie West, who hit on five of his 11 attempts for 150 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
“We have Daniel Maultsby and Steve Green who are pretty good receivers and if you put the ball near them they’re going to go get it,” Sawyer said. “Brodie threw the ball very well and that was big. I think it was his best performance of the year.”
The increased threat of the pass is the perfect compliment to a stellar run game. Last week the Pack nearly had three 100-yard rushers as Markel Spencer ran for 147, Trey Spruill gained 104 and scored once, Green rushed for 97 yards and Sattherwaitte tallied 18 yards and two touchdowns.
Tonight, Washington will face off against a Currituck team that edged past East Duplin 21-19 in the first round before topping Kinston 28-21 in Round 2.
“They’re a spread team. They like to run their quarterback on some run plays and use some quick passes,” Sawyer said. “On defense they run a 3-5 scheme. They’re a solid football team.
“Our biggest concern is keeping their quarterback in check. He’s athletic, so we can’t let him get free. We have to keep their receivers in front of us. One of their receivers just broke a state record with over 300 yards receiving in a game.”
The key for the Pack will be up front, where it will rely on defensive linemen Jayshawn Rome, Baylone Guildford, Travon Wallace and Tarahje Burke to get after the QB.
“They’ve done a good job all year of putting pressure on the quarterback and that’s the key for this week,” Sawyer said. “We can’t let him just sit back there. We have to put pressure on him and get him out of his comfort zone.”