Early in the fourth quarter, Selah took a seven-point lead over Black Hills with a 90-yard touchdown run.
Around 12 game minutes later, after two Black Hills touchdowns, a failed fake punt, and a goal-line stand, it was the Wolves celebrating on the field at Selah High School.
“I’m just excited and proud of the boys,” Black Hills coach Tom Spray said.
No. 26 Black Hills came away with a 28-21 upset victory over No. 7 Selah on the road on Friday night, securing their first trip to the state tournament since 2022.
“It was not disbelief, because I believed in them,” Spray said. “It was just a ton of excitement.”
The Wolves and Vikings went into the half tied at 14, and the long touchdown run put Selah up 21-14 with 11:45 to play.
About four minutes later, the Wolves tied the game at 21, and on the next drive, Caden Murphy and Owen Aslakson helped snuff out a fake punt, setting the Wolves up deep inside Selah territory.
Spray admitted he wasn’t sure if it was a called fake, as it was 4th and 14, or if the punter just took off, but was credited Murphy, Aslakson, and the rest of the coverage team for swarming to the ball.
Shortly after, Marshall Orona gave Black Hills the lead with a touchdown run.
Selah marched down the field and into the red zone, but the Wolves were able to stuff a 4th and 1 run at the four to retake possession.
“There was a whole pack of Wolves in on that tackle,” Spray said. “Just a huge goal line stand. The defense has been exceptional all year, and we were exceptional against the run tonight.”
Black Hills was able to “grind out” a first down, burn Selah’s remaining timeouts, and go into victory formation.
It was a fitting ending to a game where Black Hills was able to slow the game down and possess the ball for long stretches of time.
“The whole first half, we did what we like to do,” Spray said. “We ate up the clock and possessed the football, grinded down the field and were able to punch it in.”
Stats were not available as of Friday night, but they will be added to this article when they are made available.
Black Hills (6-4) will now wait to see where they land in the state bracket. The Wolves will learn their seed and Round of 16 opponent on Sunday, when the WIAA releases their state tournament brackets.
“We’re ready to see what happens,” Spray said.
