Sep. 15—SEATTLE — The Cougars needed one more play to etch the 116th Apple Cup in the pinnacle of Washington State football history.
It was only right when seniors Andrew Edson and Kyle Thornton, Cougs for a combined 10 seasons, stuffed Washington’s Jonah Coleman behind the line of scrimmage on fourth-and-goal with a minute left — a play that will be replayed in Pullman for decades.
Sealed by a remarkable fourth-down, goal-line stand and forged by yet another stellar start from WSU quarterback John Mateer, the Cougars (3-0) beat the Washington Huskies (2-1) in the 116th Apple Cup, 24-19 on Saturday at Lumen Field in Seattle.
One play to win it all
The Cougs led by five and the Huskies had the ball on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 1:12 left in the game.
UW quarterback Will Rogers took a shotgun snap and shovel passed to Coleman, who was greeted by a crusade of Cougars, led by Edson and Thornton who knocked him out of bounds.
“I can’t tell you how much this win means to me,” said Edson, who attended Mt. Si High School 30 miles away from Lumen Field. “I haven’t felt like this since the last time we beat them in ’21.”
That fourth down would not have been possible if cornerback and team captain Steve Hall had not made, perhaps the most masterful play of his career, staying in lockstep with UW receiver Denzel Boston to knock Rogers’ pass away.
“I wasn’t surprised. He does it all the time to me,” Mateer said. “He’s a very good ball player, and y’all are gonna find out over and over and over.”
The WSU defense was tested by UW coach Jedd Fisch and offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll’s pro style offense. Rogers completed 23-of-41 passes for 314 yards, finding wideout Giles Jackson for a 31-yard TD reception. Other than the Huskies first quarter TD, the Cougs kept UW out of the end zone and forced three…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/wazzu-reclaims-apple-cup-goal-121700465.html
Author : Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
Publish date : 2024-09-15 12:17:00
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