Issaquah Press 12_5_12

The Issaquah Press

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SPORTS

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Wednesday December 5, 2012

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Max Browne a finalist for player of the year

By Lillian O’Rorke ltucker@ sammamishreview.com

BY GREG FARRAR

Mat Taylor (right), Skyline High School football coach, delivers the state 4A football championship trophy to his team gathered on the Tacoma Dome football field Dec. 1 after a 49-24 victory over the Bellarmine Prep Lions capped an undefeated 14-0 season.

SPARTAN SUPREMACY

BY GREG FARRAR

Cedric Cooper, Skyline High School senior running back, eludes a Bellarmine Prep tackler on a 5-yard carry in the fourth quarter.

BY GREG FARRAR

Cedric Cooper lands on his feet after leap to Skyline Skyline High School caps off perfect season as

Matt Sinatro, Skyline High School senior wide receiver, stretches the football over the goal line on a 23-yard pass play from quarterback Max Browne, giving the Spartans the lead 90 seconds into the game.

state champs with 49-24 win over Bellarmine Prep

By Lillian O’Rorke ltucker@ sammamishreview.com Jubilant only begins to describe Skyline High School and its fans Dec. 1 at the Tacoma Dome, where the Spartans grabbed their fifth state title in eight years. Skyline beat Bellarmine Prep, 49-24, to win the 4A football state championship.

“This is the most special … I’ve grown up with all these guys,”

said Max Browne, who completed 21 of 28 passing attempts for 384 yards and four touchdowns. “Nic Sblendorio has been my best friend, Andrew Giese, Matt Sinatro, Peyton Pelluer — all those guys. This is what we dreamed of when we were 5 years old. We worked. We worked hard and it’s awesome to sit here and know that we got the state title our senior year and are going out See SPARTANS, Page B5

By Sandy Ringer Seattle Times staff reporter Difficult circumstances led Cedric Cooper to Skyline High School for his senior year. But he’s made an easy transition, helping the top-ranked Spartans return to the Class 4A state football finals.

It’s been an unexpected ride for Cooper, a running back and cornerback who played at 2A Foster High School in Tukwila the past two years. He had mixed

emotions last summer when family issues forced him and his mom to move in with a friend in Sammamish.

“I wanted to stay at Foster because I had my friends there, but I’m open to a lot of new things,” said Cooper, who has moved a lot. He played freshman football in South Carolina.

He’s enjoying Skyline’s success. Foster was 10-10 See COOPER, Page B5

Liberty boys fall to rivals from Renton, 50-44 New Patriots coach hopes to bring ‘spark’ to program

By Christina Corrales-Toy newcastle@isspress.com Only 3 miles, or less than 10 minutes, separate Liberty and Hazen high schools.

So it was a short drive for the Patriot boys basketball team, which traveled to Hazen to take on the Highlanders Dec. 1.

It may have been a nonleague game, but it had all the intensity of a playoff match, as the Renton rivals battled it out.

Liberty won the rivalry game last year, but this year, Hazen held off a second-half surge by the Patriots to win, 50-44.

Liberty’s first-year coach Omar Parker said he was pleased with his team’s determination, espe-

cially in the second half, despite the loss.

“You know this is their kind of battle on the hill, the kingof-the-hill game, and so I think it brought something out of our guys to really compete, and I was proud of them,” Parker said.

Hazen got off to a quick start, outscoring the Patriots 14-8 after the first quarter. The deficit widened before halftime, with the Highlanders leading Liberty, 28-20.

But the Patriots refused to go down easily, putting together an inspired second half in which Liberty actually outscored Hazen 24-22.

With just less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Liberty tied the game at 44. But the Patriots were never quite able to capture the lead and in the waning See PATRIOTS,

Skyline High School quarterback Max Browne is one of six finalists for the 2013 U.S. Army Player of the Year Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding senior in high school football participating in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

The selection process began this fall, as players were evaluated by the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Committee and by coaches from across the country.

“These players possess leadership, dedication and strengths similar to Army Strong soldiers. Being named a finalist for this award only underscores their talents,” John Myers, director of marketing for the Army, said in a statement. “These players are outstanding athletes. We congratulate them on their nomination and are proud to have them wear the Army colors.”

The player of the year will be recognized during an awards dinner Jan. 4 in San Antonio, where he will be presented with the Ken Hall Trophy.

The announcement also featured a statement about each finalist, including: “Max Browne has proven throughout his high school career that he can put up big numbers. He has a strong arm, but his greatest strength might be his intelligence.

“Browne almost always makes the right decision whether it’s finding the open receiver down the field or dropping it off to a player coming out of the backfield. Browne seems to have an advanced understanding of the quarterback position.”

Eagles are tall, tested on the hardcourt

By John Leggett ip-sports@isspress.com If there is one thing even the casual observer notices right away about the Issaquah High School boys’ basketball squad, when its players come jogging out onto the hardwood for warmups, it is the fact that it looks like a basketball team.

B ASKETBALL P REVIEW

BY CHRISTINA CORRALES-TOY

Liberty High School’s Robbie Thomas is fouled by a Hazen High School defender as he goes for the basket in the fourth quarter of the Dec. 1 nonleague game.

Page B5 Hazen defeated Liberty, 50-44.

In basketball, as in other sports, sometimes the intimidation-throughimagination factor is worth its weight in gold, but with the Eagles you don’t have to peruse a roster to easily surmise you could be outrebounded by these guys — it is clearly visible and obvious the Eagles possess See EAGLES, Page B5