MARYSVILLE — Lakewood hosted its 2A state quarterfinal playoff game against the W.F. West Bearcats at Marysville-Pilchuck High School’s Quil Ceda Stadium, just seven miles from Lakewood High School, in a frosty affair on Nov. 19.

The winner would survive to face the winner of the next day’s match in the semifinal game at the Tacoma Dome on Nov. 25 or 26. The loser would stay home.

The Cougars played before a friendly crowd but it was West senior quarterback Mitch Gueller who made himself at home, rushing 22 times for 260 yards and three touchdowns to beat Lakewood, 33-18.

The Bearcats stopped Cougar junior running back Donovan Evans short on 4th-and-2 on Lakewood’s first drive to force the Cougars to throw the ball.

The Cougars were dominated at the line of scrimmage in the first quarter as Gueller split the Lakewood defense up the middle and off the left tackle with option plays and drilled the Cougars for a nine-yard score. Junior Bearcat Keylen Steen scored from six yards out five minutes later to put W.F. West ahead 14-0 with under two minutes to go in the first quarter.

“Every single one of you better rally up,” Lakewood senior wide receiver/linebacker Riley Reinecke shouted as he patrolled the Cougar sideline after the Bearcats’ second score. “Every one of you.”

The Cougars spelled junior quarterback Justin Peterson with junior quarterback Kolby Schueller to open up the spread-formation passing game and catch the Bearcats napping as they played the run and open lanes for the ground game that had brought Lakewood this far. The aggressive tactics moved the chains momentarily, but the Cougars came up short on a 4th down pass early in the second quarter.

Gueller wasted no time in holding onto an option and cruising down one sideline, then the other on consecutive plays. His zone read keeper on the drive’s third play put the Bearcats up 20-0 as the extra point failed.

W.F. West drove a bouncing squib kick down the middle on the kickoff to stuff Lakewood’s return, but the Cougars returned it to the Bearcat 40 to amp up the crowd. Evans took a swing pass to the two-yard line and Peterson scampered up the middle to score — and again for a two-point conversion — to put Lakewood on the board, trailing 20-8, with nine minutes left in the half.

Lakewood’s surprise onside kick bounced off of a Bearcat lineman, but West managed to recover the loose ball. The Cougars stuffed Gueller for a five-yard loss on 2nd and 10, then stuffed one of Gueller’s backfield companions for five more to force a 4th-and-20 punt, but the Cougars could not turn the stop into points as they failed on another 4th-down pass at the Bearcat 32.

Gueller crushed the Lakewood rebellion two plays later with a 56-yard keeper down the left sideline, though the Cougars would block the extra point. The score was 26-8 with 34 seconds until halftime.

Lakewood hustled and bustled to attempt a field goal before the end of the half and drew a fortunate roughing the kicker penalty that put them in range for sophomore kicker Randy Anaya’s second-chance field goal that made the score 26-11 at the half.

“It’s not over, baby,” Reinecke said as his team took the field for the third quarter.

The Cougars opened the second half with an onside kick to try to take the momentum, but the ball sailed out of bounds. Lakewood held the Bearcats to a 4th-and-1 at the Cougar 42-yard line, but a Cougar encroachment penalty gave Gueller room to burn the defense for 29 yards on the ground to go up 33-11 with eight minutes to go in the third quarter.

Lakewood converted a gutsy fake punt on their next possession, but a false start on the next fourth down put their trickery to rest. The Bearcats squeezed the air out of the ball with off-tackle runs to end the third quarter.

W.F. West pushed a field goal wide left midway through the fourth. The Cougars went no-huddle and Peterson pushed the ball down the field with a flurry of scrambles and improv passes until he found Micheletti in the right corner of the end zone to draw to within 33-18 with two and a half minutes to play.

The Bearcats recovered Lakewood’s onside kick and kneeled with the ball to punch their ticket to the Tacoma Dome.

“We built this team, baby,” Lakewood senior running back Christian Melton told his teammates in the Cougars’ post-game meeting, imploring them to hold their heads high and celebrate their 10-win, Cascade Conference championship season, the first in 17 years. “The juniors will build on this season next year.”