Churchill upsets Thurston in 5A quarterfinals

The Churchill Lancers, the 13th seed in the 5A state football playoffs, stunned No. 5 Thurston 33-23 in a Friday, Nov. 14 quarterfinal matchup, delivering their second straight upset win and their fourth consecutive road victory.

The Lancers’ win was fueled by explosive touchdown plays and an offensive performance the Colts could not stop. 

Churchill opened the game with a nearly nine-minute scoring drive, highlighted by Lukas Babbitt’s 18-yard run and a fourth-down completion from senior Lucas Gansen to TJ Wright. Gansen finished the drive with a 2-yard carry. Asa Kreb’s successful extra point made it 7-0.

“My offensive line was tremendous,” Gansen said. “I love those guys with all my heart. We can’t move the ball into the end zone without them.” 

Thurston answered quickly and entered the red zone with a 23-yard reception by Caleb Jones and a 17-yard reception by Bentlee Davenport in only about a minute of game time.

Bodie Bonar scored on a 12-yard reception, but a fumbled snap doomed the extra-point attempt, and the Colts trailed, 7-6.

Babbitt opened Churchill’s second drive with a 44-yard rushing burst. On fourth-and-14, Gansen found Wright in the end zone to extend the Lancers’ lead to 14-6. 

Later, Wright’s 10-yard carry set Gansen up for his second touchdown of the game, an easy 1-yard rushing touchdown. An extra-point attempt backed up by two offensive penalties fell short, but Churchill had built a 20-6 lead.

“We’ll watch the film and try to explain to them what they need to do better,” said Churchill head coach Layne Coffin. “We do need to eliminate those penalties to keep winning the games.” 

Thurston struck back when Emmitt Distefano connected with Bonar for a 43-yard touchdown. Hunter Bagwell’s extra point cut the deficit to 20-13. 

Thurston entered the second half with only 125 yards of total offense to Churchill’s 218, but the Colts opened strong. Caleb Jones grabbed a 43-yard pass to reach the red zone, then scored on a 22-yard reception. 

Bagwell’s extra point tied the game at 20. Jones then helped force a Churchill punt, and Thurston ended its next drive with a 36-yard field goal for a 23–20 lead. 

Churchill answered quickly with Gansen launching a 60-yard pass for a touchdown, regaining the lead 26–23 after another fumbled snap led to a failed extra point attempt. 

Both teams traded punts before Churchill’s Wright struck again. With just under four minutes left, Wright broke free for a 54-yard rushing touchdown, sealing a 33–23 win. 

“We just got to keep doing what we do,” Gansen said. “We got to keep being physical, driving the ball through those A-gaps and B-gaps and just see what we can do.”  

Churchill (now 8-3) advances to face top-seeded Summit in next Friday’s semifinals. Thurston finishes its season with a 10-2 mark.