TACOMA - To say that Lummi football coach Jim Sandusky has visions of quarterback Josiah Greene in his sleep in weeks leading up to games against rival Neah Bay would be false.
Sandusky probably doesn't sleep enough during weeks the two schools play to dream.
Instead, he spends hour upon hour watching game film of Greene and the Red Devils.
"I'm very aware of what Josiah Greene can do," Sandusky said. "I've watched so much film on him, I know all his moves. I know his tendencies, how he moves, everything there is to know about him."
In fact, Sandusky said he knows so much about Greene, he often runs the scout team in practice so that he can give his team a taste of everything he knows about the Neah Bay signal caller.
"At least in non-contract drills," Sandusky said. "I don't want these young pups lighting me up without any pads on. When we go full speed, I let Logan Toby run the scout team."
And just in case the Blackhawks had forgotten what he looked like, Greene's gracing the cover of this year's state football programs at the Tacoma Dome.
So needless to say, stopping Greene was the chief focus of the Blackhawks' defensive game plan entering its Class 1B state semifinal against Neah Bay on Saturday, Nov. 24, at the Tacoma Dome.
All Lummi had to do was look back at what Greene had done to them in their previous two meetings, which both ended in Lummi losses.
In a Sept. 29 regular season meeting, Greene rushed for 89 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 125 yards and another score. In last year's 1B state first-round showdown, Green rushed for 190 yards and five TDs.
Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, it didn't take long for Greene to prove that he was primed for a big game once again on Saturday, as he ripped an 80-yard touchdown down the right sideline on Neah Bay's first play from scrimmage.
Though that was the only touchdown he would get in the first half, he still accounted for 216 yards on 13 carries (15.0 average) to lead Neah Bay to a big halftime lead and a 40-30 victory.
He added a second touchdown run on Neah Bay's first drive of the second half from 23 yards out, and a third from 2 yards on Neah Bay's next possession.
While Greene's natural ability produced most of his big yardage totals, Lummi could have probably done a better job containing.
On Greene's first TD run, he slipped a pair of tackles along the sideline, and his second he avoided three would-be Blackhawks tacklers.
"You've got to wrap up - you can't just throw arms at him," Sandusky said. "They didn't surprise us. We knew exactly what they were going to do. It just came down to execution. They executed, and we didn't."
Greene finished with 279 yards on 24 attempts (11.6 average) to go along with his three touchdown runs. He also passed for 86 yards and another score.
After he broke off a game-clinching 42-yard run to the Lummi 1 and then took a knee, he lay on his back yelling for joy.
He definitely earned it.
And the worst news of all for Lummi is that Greene is only a junior, and they'll still have to see him at least once more - twice if the two teams meet in the playoffs for a fifth straight year.
Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 360-715-2286.
Reach DAVID RASBACH at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2271.
