The prep football matchup everyone in the state has been waiting for will be here in only seven more days.

Thanks to a dominant effort from the defense and a trademark performance from its patented Wing-T, Bellevue rolled past Eastside Catholic 42-0 in the first round of the 3A state tournament to setup a much anticipated showdown with Lakes next week.

Last week, penalty flags and a fumble on the first drive of the game proved an omen for things to come. The exact opposite was the case tonight, as the Wolverines used a clinical eight play, 46 yard drive capped by a 12-yard scamper from Myles Jack to go up 7-0 on the first possession of the game and never looked back.

“We’re just happy to play well,” Bellevue head coach Butch Goncharoff said. “We had a really good week of practice and I think it showed on the field.”

Junior running back John Nguyen pushed the lead to 14-0 with a 50 yard scoring run in the second quarter after Tyler Hasty intercepted EC quarterback Trey Reynolds along the Crusaders’ sideline four plays earlier. Andy Boulware went in from five yards away and Jack added his second score of the half with under a minute remaining before the break to make it 28-0, which was far more than the Wolverines’ defense would need.

“We showed a lot from last week to this week,” junior linebacker Sean Constantine said. “It just shows how much better our practice and focus was.”

Bellevue began the game with touchdowns on four of its first six drives. Eastside Catholic, by contrast gained only 79 yards the first six times it had the ball.

“The holes were there, they are just a fast team,” senior Chevy Walker said. “You’ve got to give credit to them. They stopped us.”

The win sends the Wolverines to a much-anticipated 3A quarterfinal matchup with a Lakes team hungry for revenge after absorbing a humbling 35-7 defeat at the hands of Bellevue in last year’s state semi-final round.

The Lancers defeated Mountain View 28-0 on Friday to secure their spot in the quarters and have made their confidence known to the Wolverines when the two have crossed paths recently at a University of Washington football game.

“They’ve been calling us out and that kind of stuff,” Constantine said. “It’s going to take a lot.”

Goncharoff had a similar take on a game that will pit the consensus number one and two teams in class 3A.

“It’s going to be tough, we know that,” Goncharoff said. “They have unbelievable talent. It’s going to be fun.”