HILLSBORO -- It took the better part of a century, but Banks finally has its first football state championship.
The Braves – runners-up in 1949 and 2008 – made good on their third chance Saturday by taking control in the second half and beating Cowapa League rival Seaside 31-20 in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 4A final at Hillsboro Stadium.
Senior quarterback Hayden Vandehey finished his brilliant high school career by throwing for two touchdowns, one each to standout senior receivers Blake Markham and Blake Gobel, and Markham ran for 110 yards and one score in a rare turn at tailback as the top-seeded Braves (11-1) finished the season on an 11-game winning streak.
“It means the world, bringing the first one back to Banks,” Vandehey said. “It’s unreal. It’s incredible. I’m so happy.”
The Braves, who have a football history that dates to 1931, reveled in winning a title not only for the school and community, but also for third-year coach Cole Linehan. A 2004 Banks graduate, Linehan starred at defensive end for the Braves before a college career at Oregon.
“I think that’s repaying him for all the faith and hope he has in us,” Markham said. “Winning that for him tonight, that’s what it means to us.”
Banks won at Seaside 10-7 in a league game Oct. 12, but the Braves knew that taking down the explosive Seagulls (10-2) again was going to be a monumental task.
Seaside appeared to be tightening its grip on the game when senior tailback Alexander Teubner, who entered with 2,217 rushing yards for the season, ran for his second touchdown to give the third-seeded Seagulls a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
But the lead lasted for only 12 seconds. Markham fielded the ensuing kickoff and handed the ball on a reverse to junior Jarred Evans, who raced 80 yards for a touchdown as the Braves pulled even at 14-14. The play was a turning point.
“Massive. Massive,” Seaside coach Jeff Roberts said. “It certainly was a punch in the gut. Now it’s 14-14, and you’re grinding back again.”
Markham said the play became the team’s “go-to return” this season.
“It was a classic fake,” Markham said. “We put it in new this year. It had been working quite a bit through the year. I’ve got to say that’s probably the biggest play in the game.”
After forcing a Seaside fumble at the Banks 18-yard line in the final minute of the first half, the Braves came out strong in the third quarter.
Vandehey threw an inside screen pass to the 6-foot-7, 220-pound Gobel, who shook off what seemed like the entire Seaside defense for a 29-yard touchdown as Banks pulled ahead 21-14.
The Braves forced a three-and-out, then went on a 60-yard drive that ended with a 26-yard field goal by junior Jacob Slifka, opening a 24-14 lead with 15 seconds left in the third quarter.
Teubner ran for a five-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-20 with 8:36 left, but Markham answered with a 36-yard touchdown run to make it 31-20 with 6:40 remaining.
Markham had only 19 carries all season, including 11 in the first game against Seaside. But he had 14 carries Saturday.
“When 18 touches the ball, you never know what’s going to happen,” Linehan said of Markham, who opened the scoring with a 60-yard touchdown catch. “We knew that all along. That’s why we put him in the backfield a little bit. That was our adjustment this week, just because the more times Markham touches the ball, the better we’re off. He made some unbelievable moves for us, unbelievable plays.”
Markham and Gobel each had six catches, for 86 and 93 yards, respectively. Many of their yards came after the catch as the Seagulls simply couldn’t bring them down.
“Being on grass all year, and coming out here, we have our feet back. It’s amazing,” Gobel said of playing on the artificial turf.
Markham finished the season with 1,107 receiving yards and 10 touchdown catches. Gobel had 694 receiving yards and 14 scores.
“They’re phenomenal,” Vandehey said. “They’ve been great targets to have these past two years. I hope they go on and play.”
Vandehey completed 15 of 22 passes for 194 yards and the two scores, with one interception. He finished the season with 3,037 passing yards and 34 touchdown passes, giving him 5,761 yards and 64 scores for his career.
“He’s the true leader of the team,” Markham said. “He’s worked the hardest. He’s put in all the work throughout his high school career. He’s led us since we were in the third grade.”
Linehan said Vandehey “has meant so much to this program, and done everything we’ve asked. He’s such a coachable kid, such a smart football player. It’s special that he got to end it the right way, all these guys.”
Teubner rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns to lead Seaside, with 171 yards coming in the first half, including scoring runs of 23 and 20 yards. Banks tightened up its run defense in the second half.
“We’ve just got to play sound. We know how to beat them,” said Gobel, who also plays linebacker. “Our linebackers got to flow, and we’ve just got to fill the gaps. We’ve done it before, we’ve just got to figure it out.”
The Braves had five takeaways. They got interceptions from Slifka, Evans and senior Hayden Gobel and fumble recoveries from senior Bret Cameron and junior Bryson Cook.
It was too much to overcome for Seaside, which was playing in the final for the first time since winning the 1994 title.
“You can’t turn the ball over,” Seaside's Roberts said. “You can’t give up big plays. You’re not going to win. We were able to manage that during the course of the year because we were simply better. Banks was better than us tonight. That’s OK. That happens.”
Images from this event are available from Northwest Sports Photography at 4nsp.com
jerryu@osaa.org
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