WALLA WALLA -- Gary Winston ran in from 18 yards out for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter, leading Walla Walla to a CBBN crossover win over Moses Lake.
Austin Schilling rushed for a game-high 110 yards on 18 carries for the Blue Devils.
Moses Lake 7 0 0 0 -- 7
Wa-Hi 0 6 0 6 -- 12
SCORING PLAYS
M -- Mitchell Hill 27 pass from Dylan Signorelli (Signorelli kick)
W -- Austin Schilling 43 run (kick failed)
W -- Gary Winston 18 run (run failed)
STATISTICS
RUSHING--M, Brandon Lublin 18-56, Randy Koon 1-(minus-3), Hill 3-27, Signorelli 7-3. W, Schilling 18-110, Brandon Porter 8-17, Michael Weisner 6-29, Winston 4-6, Mo Handcox 1-2, Team 2-(minus-2).
Unfortunately, my school doesn't keep defensive stats so my profile doesn't reflect any. My team is ranked 2nd in our conference and I have had quite a bit of success in my move to outside linebacker (last year I started as the middle linebacker). Also, for anyone that's interested, our team is downloading our games onto the website http://www.dsvteams.com/walla%5Fwalla/ enter the player site and put in my e-mail, rlschilling@charter.net with the password papatick if you decide to, check out game #3 in which I gained 240 yards rushing! Remember, I'm #42
Schilling sets an example of hard work and intensity for teammates, coaches Wa-Hi senior RB/LB Austin Schilling spends much of his time preparing for the Blue Devils’ next game, but also maintains a 3.6 GPA.
By DON DAVIS
of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
U-B photo by JEFF HORNER Wa-Hi running back/linebacker Austin Schilling hauls down a short Michael Weisner pass against Eisenhower last Friday at Borleske Stadium.
WALLA WALLA — Austin Schilling, a senior running back/linebacker at Wa-Hi, practices football and works in the weight room for about four hours a day, in addition to attending classes.
So, surely he gets his fill of physical exercise during that time.
Wrong!
When he isn’t at Wa-Hi, he goes to the YMCA to lift weights.
And he looks it, too.
At a strapping 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, he harbors no visible body fat.
In fact, Schilling has chiseled his body into that muscular, broad-shouldered shape, with washboard abdominal muscles, that you see in Bowflex advertisements on TV.
And when he finishes football and working with weights, he studies to maintain his 3.6 GPA
Yet, you say, he must do something for fun.
Well, perhaps.
“There’s not much spare time, and usually there’s nothing that’s much fun to do,” Schilling said.
“If I’m not at the ‘Y,’ I’m usually watching a movie or TV or something like that,” he said.
While he watches every kind and any kind of movie, he does have a fondness for the high-adventure genre, including the three-movie Transporter series with Jason Statham.
“I’ve seen all of those,” Schilling said. “I’ve enjoyed them.”
Actually, Schilling resembles the muscular, athletic Statham.
Both wear their brown hair close-cropped (although the 37-year-old Statham’s has thinned to the point of being almost gone).
Both wear a neatly trimmed beard. Both boast compact, muscular builds.
And both can stab you with intense, hard-eyed gazes.
Wa-Hi coach Marc Yonts said Schilling’s intensity makes him a special player and special member of the Blue Devil football team.
“He’s very, very intense,” Yonts said. “He an excellent student, and he’s very competitive on the football field, which are very good attributes.
“He’s well respected by his teammates because of his work ethic and the way that he performs,” Yonts said. “He’s made himself faster. He’s made himself stronger, and he was already plenty tough. All of those things have made him a great football player.”
Yonts calls Schilling a “tireless” worker in preparation for games and a “warrior” on the field.
“Wether it’s weight room, physical conditioning, sprints, or anything that we do, he’s worked about as hard as we’ve ever had a young man work,” Yonts said.
Schilling, the son of Rory and Laura Schilling, moved to Walla Walla with his family when he was 6. He attended Berney Elementary School and Pioneer Middle School before Wa-Hi.
He has participated in sports all through school.
He began participating in Wa-Hi track as a preparation for playing football.
“Then I figured out that I could actually run a little bit,” he said with a chuckle.
During the Blue Devils highly successful track season last spring, Schilling ran in four events — the 100 and 200 sprints and legs on the 4x4 and 4x1 relays.
He plans to continue with track in the spring.
And he would like to continue his football career next year.
“I’m hoping to go to a four-year college and play football at the next level,” he said. “That’s my goal right now.”
And Yonts believes it’s a reachable goal,
“I’m sure that he will be able to get into quite a few colleges,” he said. “It will be up to him what he wants to do.
“Hopefully he has the kind of year where he attracts some attention and will be able to play football, if that’s what he chooses to do,” Yonts said.
So far, Schilling has made no decision about colleges.
“We’ll see how the season goes, and hopefully it will help me out,” he said. “I’m just looking right now at whoever is interested.”
At college Schilling plans to study for a career in law enforcement.
More immediately, after a disappointing 37-7 loss to Eisenhower last week, Schilling looks forward to a trip to Eastmont on Friday.
“I think the team is positive,” Schilling said. “We all know what to work on, and we’ll take things one step at a time.
“I think we’ll get it fixed.”
EASTMONT
Eastmont takes a 1-1 record into Friday’s game, including a 38-0 loss to Wenatchee and a 31-8 victory over Richland.
“Eastmont got after Richland pretty good,” Wa-Hi coach Marc Yonts said. “They got seven turnovers, so they capitalized on a bunch of Richland mistakes.”
The Wildcats are running a spread offense, with one or two backs, which is similar to the Wa-Hi offense, Yonts said.
“Their quarterback (Sam Gwinn) is doing a good job. He’s a nice runner, and he’s throwing the ball well,” Yonts said.
And a top receiver from last year, Malachi Roberts, is back.
“They’re creating seams on offense, and they’re hitting them,” he said.
The Wildcats also run their offense with no huddle in order to put pressure on the defense, Yonts said.
“They’ll be tough,” he continued. “They impressed us.
“We have to make the long trip and play up there,” Yonts said. “And we’re coming off of a game where we played just about as poorly as we can play in all phases.
“It’s quite a challenge for us,” he added. “We’re going to find out what we’re made of, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity.”
Blue Devils garner first football win at Eastmont Friday The senior chases down an errant center snap, runs east, then west and into the end zone to ignite a 35-0 win at Eatmont.
By DON DAVIS
of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
EAST WENATHCEE, Wash. — On it’s second possession of the game, Wa-Hi faced a third-and-four at the Eastmont 36-yard line.
Yet, disaster loomed on the horizon.
That’s when a center snap sailed over quarterback Michael Weisner’s head and, as a football will to do, it bounced erratically toward the Wa-Hi goal line with Weisner and running back Austin Schilling, along with a wall of blue-shirted Eastmont Wildcats, in hot pursuit.
On his second attempt, Schilling scooped up the ball heading more-or-less to the east.
He turned to his right, saw defenders bearing down.
He reversed direction in a wide loop, weaving around and through groping Wildcats.
Then, an open lane appeared in the green field ahead. Schilling stomped the accelerator.
After covering about 65 yards, 15 going east and 50 going west, Schilling scored on what was officially a 36-yard touchdown run, and Fernando Garcia booted the extra point.
With 2:10 on the first-quarter clock, and disaster averted, Wa-Hi took a 7-0 lead and never looked back on the way to a 35-0 Big Nine Conference Cascade Division football victory over Eastmont here on Friday.
“We just really did not want to lose yardage on that play at that time. That was my biggest fear,” Schilling said. “It was all kind of split-second stuff, and a blur. I hardly remember at all what happened.”
It was a happy turnaround for Blue Devil coach Marc Yonts.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to be flat-out lucky,” Yonts said. “That was a great effort out of Schilling. We got a break there. That was neat.
“Schilling had a great night,” Yonts said. “ And I was really impressed up front, the way we matched their physicality. They’re a big, physical team.”
In the third quarter, Schilling broke loose for a 69-yard touchdown run from scrimmage, and on the night he carried 28 times for 242 yards.
“That was a lot of fun,” Schilling said. “We were real motivated. We know that we’re a better team than we’ve shown over the last two games. We went to work. We came out and, what can I say, everybody really got it together.
“The Hogs were blocking well up front on offense,” Schilling said. “They made big holes to run through. My sister could have run through those holes. On defense the guys were getting through and making their quarterback a little scared. That’s how we like to play.”
It was a good night all-around for Blue Devils.
Weisner passed to Colton Arias for a 51-yard TD on the first play of the second quarter.
Then Weisner ran for two second-quarter TDs, a 9-yarder and a 2-yarder.
With Garcia’s PATs, Wa-Hi led 28-0 at the intermission.
Then, Schilling capped the scoring with his 69-yard TD run with 10:35 on the third-quarter clock.
Weisner finished with 132-yards passing, and the TD to Arias. He completed 9-of-17 attempts, with no interceptions.
Arias pulled in six passes for 106 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, the Blue Devils pressured Eastmont quarterback Sam Gwinn for much of the game.
Ryan James, Eric Eastman and Matt Watson each had individual sacks.
Jake Crawford had an interception to stop an Eastmont drive at the Wa-Hi 18-yard line.
Aaron Flippo picked off a pass that caromed off of a receiver who was hit at the line of scrimmage, but the play was nullified by an unnoticed flag tossed before the play started.
Freshman Miguel Torres recovered a Wildcat fumble on the Eastmont 49-yard line, and five plays later Weisner scored his 9-yard TD for a 21-0 lead early in the second period.
Sophomore Moe Handcox highlighted the drive with 35-yard run to the 9-yard line.
“We played really well,” Yonts said. “We played very physically and mentally tough tonight.
“The kids stepped up with (five) players out with injuries,” he continued. “They played with their hearts. I was extremely proud at how they handled the long trip and the adversity of coming off of a loss when we played about as poorly as we can play, and playing so well against a team that was coming off of an emotional high after a big win (31-8 over Richland).
“I was just impressed with the toughness that our kids displayed,” Yonts continued. “I thought we defended real well, and that we were able get a couple of turnovers, and have the offense capitalize. That was huge. And we took care of the ball well.”
