Echo rallies to beat Joseph for 1A 6-man football title

Published 6:00 pm Saturday, November 25, 2023

Echo players pose with their championship trophy after beating Joseph in the 1A 6-man championship game in Hermiston on Nov. 25, 2023. Echo won the game 47-40.

HERMISTON — The Echo Cougars rallied from a 19-point deficit in the first quarter, then held off a fast and furious Joseph rally in the fourth quarter for a 47-40 victory over the Eagles on Saturday, Nov. 25, at Kennison Field.

“This is amazing,” said Echo’s Dom Curiel, who was carefully holding the state championship trophy. “I would take it home and sleep with it if they let me. I have been wanting to win this since I was little. My dad (Lupe) won two state titles in high school (in Burley, Idaho) and my brother won a baseball title with Stanfield (2011). Goes to show anything can happen if you work hard.”

The title is the first for the Cougars’ football program, and the first for the school since 1981 when the girls basketball team won the state Class B title. The win completed a remarkable playoff run for the 10th-seeded Cougars, who finished with a 9-3 record.

The Eagles finished their season with a 9-2 mark and were the fourth seed in the playoffs.

Echo coach Thomas VanNice, who is in his third year at the helm, was a little tongue-tied after the game, but said this championship is big for the school and the community.

“The community support this past month has been huge,” he said. “To be able to give this to the community is icing on the cake.”

The Eagles, who were also looking for their first state football championship, let an early lead slip through their fingers.

“Like I told the boys, sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way,” Joseph coach Damian Huff said. “We convert a couple of fourth downs, or take away theirs, and it could have been a different story. There was such a small margin for error.”

The Eagles jumped out to a 19-0 lead with a 2-yard touchdown run by Jesse Larison, a 14-yard scoring pass from Kane Johnson to Gavin Russell, and a 1-yard run by Russell with just 19 seconds to play in the first quarter.

Huff said he was pretty confident with the big lead.

“I thought it would just keep rolling, but I wanted to keep their heads in it and not get too confident,” he said.

That plan did not work.

Come the second quarter, the Cougars put the ball in Curiel’s capable hands. The senior ran for a 3-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal to put his team on the scoreboard, and the points just kept flowing from there.

On the day, Curiel ran for 140 yards on 16 carries, completed 12 of 14 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns, caught two passes for 27 yards, and defensively had eight tackles and an interception.

“I feel like we have so many weapons, and that makes good things happen,” Curiel said. “I like to think good things happen when I have the ball.”

Sam Wyse accounted for the next two Echo touchdowns — a 52-yard run, and a 41-yard pass from his younger brother Kohlvin — to give the Cougars a 21-19 lead at halftime.

“Being down 19-0 is the perfect analogy,” VanNice said. “We started the season 1-3 and came back and won a state championship. I wasn’t worried. That is who we are. That’s what shaped us.”

Echo was to receive the second-half kickoff, but the Eagles went for an onside kick, which they recovered at the Echo 41.

On the first play of the drive, Johnson hit his center, Kellen Crenshaw, for a 41-yard touchdown pass, giving the Eagles a 26-21 lead.

But Echo would score four of the next five touchdowns for a 47-32 lead with 2:03 left in the game.

Curiel scored on a 38-yard run, Keegin Chitty hauled in a 59-yard pass from Kohlvin Wyse, Curiel connected with Sam Wyse on a 7-yard scoring pass, and Creed Russell caught a 39-yard pass from Curiel to seemingly put the game out of reach.

“Dom is the king of improvisation,” VanNice said. “When you put the ball in his hands things happen. Today, it paid off.”

But Joseph wasn’t ready to give in. The Eagles scored with 1:50 to play as Johnson connected to Jaxon Grover on a 49-yard touchdown. Johnson made good on the kick, which was good for two points, to pull his team with 47-40.

The Eagles went for another onside kick, but the ball did not travel the required 10 yards, giving the Cougars the ball. Echo ran out the clock to seal the victory.

Johnson finished the game with 284 yards passing and three touchdowns. The Eagles were limited to 63 yards rushing.

Echo rolled up 517 yards of offense to Joseph’s 347, getting 142 yards passing from Kohlvin Wyse, and 71 yards rushing from Sam Wyse.

Beau Wade and Kobe Harwood each had 12 tackles for the Cougars, while Mack Murdock had six tackles, a quarterback sack and two pass breakups.

Grover led the Eagles with 13 tackles, while Zander Walker had 12 and Crenshaw 10.

“They are a great team,” VanNice said of Joseph. “They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t.”

On the road to the championship game, about 100 players, fans and faculty members joined together to send the team off in grand style Friday, Nov. 24 during during a tailgate party in the parking lot of Joseph Charter School.

The team bus was escorted through and out of town by a contingent from the Joseph Fire Department, with lights and sirens blaring. Joseph residents along the way yelled encouragement to the team as the bus passed by.

EAGLES SET TO CELEBRATE

JOSEPH — After a 9-2 season and finishing runner-up in the 1A 6-man state championship game, the Joseph football team is ready to hand out accolades.

Coach Damian Huff and the squad will meet Monday, Dec. 4 for the annual awards dinner starting at 6 p.m. at Joseph Charter School.

Eagle fans are invited to celebrate a very successful season with the Joseph team.

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