Missed opportunities.

While he was proud of a third straight trip to the state tournament for his Lindbergh Eagles, coach Pat O’Grady singled out three trips deep into Anacortes territory that netted zero points as a big reason his team lost.

Missed opportunities with a high toll. The Eagles fell to Anacortes 28-14 in the first round of the 2A state football tournament Friday night at Renton Memorial Stadium.

“They did a nice job of controlling the ball, controlling the clock and keeping our offense off the field,” O’Grady said. “When you’re limited to the number of offensive plays you get to run, you can’t afford to make the mistakes we did… It’s hard to swallow when you lose by 14.”

The Eagles (7-3) lost a fumble, an interception and turned the ball over on downs during the game, all within 20 yards of the opponent’s end zone.

Lindbergh only held the ball for about three minutes in the first quarter as the Seahawks handed the ball off time after time, mostly to rumbling running back Preston Madden. Anacortes took an early lead when Cody Culp flipped a short pass to Jared Stucker with 3:15 left in the first.

The Eagles bounced back less than two minutes into the second quarter when their defensive line disrupted the Anacortes backfield and the ball popped out during an attempted handoff.

Senior Diondre Toms picked the ball up in stride and ran 76 yards for a touchdown. After a Derrick Holt extra point, Lindbergh led 7-6 at the half.

Coming out of the half, Lindbergh moved the ball into Anacortes territory quickly before losing a fumble at the four-yard line. The Seahawks responded with a five-play touchdown drive that put them ahead 14-7.

Quarterback Matt Stuart found Toms on an out route for a 14-yard touchdown with less than a minute in the third period to tie the game at 14-14. The play capped a 69-yard drive that Lindbergh largely ran out of the Wild Cat package – when running back Bakari Davis takes the snap and Stuart lines up at wide receiver.

Lindbergh made heavy use of the formation all game long, which O’Grady said was part of the team’s planned attack on the Seahawks’ defense.

“We didn’t get to exploit it quite as much as we had hoped,” he said.

Anancortes went ahead 21-14 when Culp found Mark Medalia from 13 yards out in the fourth quarter. Lindbergh threatened again, but lost the ball when Orlando Stoneham made a beautiful interception on a wheel route intended for Davis at his team’s own six-yard line.

“They came out with a great gameplan and played hard,” O’Grady said. “when the time came they made plays and we didn’t.”

Madden added another touchdown, from 35 yards with just over a minute left in the game to complete the win.

Davis ends the season with 25 rushing touchdowns, one interception returned for a touchdown and three kickoff returns for touchdowns. He led the Seamount in rushing with 1,065 yards in the regular season, at an average of 9.3 yards per carry.

Toms was the league’s second leading receiver with 30 receptions for 488 yards and eight touchdowns.

O’Grady is now 17-5 in two seasons as Lindbergh’s head coach.