Published: Saturday, October 31, 2009
Lake Stevens overcomes adversity, makes playoffs
Frost helps Vikings run over Snohomish 25-13, clinch Wesco’s No. 2 spot in postseason play.
LAKE STEVENS — Second place in the Western Conference North Division is a position Lake Stevens head coach Tom Tri didn’t think plausible earlier in the season, but the injury-riddled Vikings clinched the conference’s No. 2 spot with a 25-13 win over Snohomish Friday night at Lake Stevens High School.
Senior running back Brennan Frost carried the ball 23 times for 239 yards and scored three touchdowns, including a 33-yard scamper up the right sideline with 10 seconds remaining in the game.
Not bad for someone who didn’t play the position last season and has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.
Frost rattled off many long gains late in the fourth quarter to help the Vikings keep possession and protect a 19-13 lead.
“Honestly, a win has never felt so good,” said Frost, who surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the season (1,093).
Carrying a six-point lead into the second half, the Vikings (4-2 league, 5-4 overall) — who started seven sophomores because of injuries — forced two Snohomish fumbles in the third quarter and didn’t allow the Panthers (1-5, 3-6) to cross midfield until a last-second pass by quarterback Luke Perry.
“Just the fact that we are in second place, if you would have told me that at the start of the season with the injuries we’ve had ... I would have said, ‘You’re crazy.’ But our kids are resilient,” Tri said.
The Vikings played the entire season without running back Duke Dolphin and recently lost wide receiver/safety Chameron Lackey and wide receiver Tyler Reside to season-ending injuries.
There was also a quarterback shake up for the Vikings.
Sophomore quarterback Jake Nelson made his second career start for the team and, along with Frost, helped guide the offense for his first win.
Nelson completed 10 of 16 passes, much of them in the first half, for 104 yards and a touchdown.
His favorite target was junior receiver Brandon Preslar, who caught eight balls for 79 yards, including a 4-yard strike with 11 minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
“He (Nelson) did a great job tonight and he made some mistakes, which is going to come with a kid who’s only started two varsity football games,” Tri said.
Nelson, Frost and the Vikings next face a huge test in the 4A quad-district playoffs.
Lake Stevens must travel south to play Bethel (7-1 league, 8-1 overall), the No. 2 seed from the South Puget Sound League South Division, and star running back Anthony Meray who averages nearly 200 rushing yards per game and has scored 22 touchdowns.
“I don’t know a whole lot about them, I know they’ve got a really good running back, a solid offensive line and they’ve beat some good teams in the SPSL,” Tri said. “... It’s kind of nice that we’ve got some tricks that we didn’t show (against Snohomish), I feel like its nice that we can use those, because we’ve already practiced them for a week, against Bethel.
“I think we can give them a decent game if we play well.”
On Friday, it was just as much about defense for Lake Stevens as it was about Frost running wild.
The Vikings contained Snohomish running back Ryan Wohlhuter (15 carries for 58 yards) and Perry (16 carries for 61 yards), especially in the scoreless second half.
Jordan Eckstrom finished with 17 tackles, including a sack, and Jason Mendel had 13 tackles for Lake Stevens.
“The defense dominated today,” Frost said.
Snohomish ended its first possession of the game with a surprising Holden Erstad 9-yard touchdown run on a fake field goal. Erstad weaved through a sea of purple and gold retro Lake Stevens jerseys to give the Panthers an early 7-0 lead.
The lead lasted just 40 seconds as the Vikings swiftly responded with three large gains capped by a 30-yard Frost run to tie the game 7-7 with 1:52 remaining in the first half.
Frost added another touchdown run on an 8-yard sweep to the right side with 7:56 remaining in the second quarter for a 19-7 Lake Stevens lead.
“He just ran his butt off and just wouldn’t go down with one tackle,” Tri said of Frost. “He was a stud tonight, we rode him hard and he knew that going into the game.”
At Lake Stevens H.S.
Snohomish 7 6 0 0 — 13
Lake Stevens 7 12 0 6 — 25
Snohomish—Erstad 9 run (Erstad kick)
Lake Stevens—Frost 30 run (Swords kick)
Lake Stevens—Preslar 4 pass from Nelson (kick failed)
Lake Stevens—Frost 8 run (pass failed)
Snohomish—Wohlhuter 4 run (kick failed)
Lake Stevens—Frost 33 run (kick failed)
Senior running back Brennan Frost carried the ball 23 times for 239 yards and scored three touchdowns, including a 33-yard scamper up the right sideline with 10 seconds remaining in the game.
Not bad for someone who didn’t play the position last season and has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.
Frost rattled off many long gains late in the fourth quarter to help the Vikings keep possession and protect a 19-13 lead.
“Honestly, a win has never felt so good,” said Frost, who surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the season (1,093).
Carrying a six-point lead into the second half, the Vikings (4-2 league, 5-4 overall) — who started seven sophomores because of injuries — forced two Snohomish fumbles in the third quarter and didn’t allow the Panthers (1-5, 3-6) to cross midfield until a last-second pass by quarterback Luke Perry.
“Just the fact that we are in second place, if you would have told me that at the start of the season with the injuries we’ve had ... I would have said, ‘You’re crazy.’ But our kids are resilient,” Tri said.
The Vikings played the entire season without running back Duke Dolphin and recently lost wide receiver/safety Chameron Lackey and wide receiver Tyler Reside to season-ending injuries.
There was also a quarterback shake up for the Vikings.
Sophomore quarterback Jake Nelson made his second career start for the team and, along with Frost, helped guide the offense for his first win.
Nelson completed 10 of 16 passes, much of them in the first half, for 104 yards and a touchdown.
His favorite target was junior receiver Brandon Preslar, who caught eight balls for 79 yards, including a 4-yard strike with 11 minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
“He (Nelson) did a great job tonight and he made some mistakes, which is going to come with a kid who’s only started two varsity football games,” Tri said.
Nelson, Frost and the Vikings next face a huge test in the 4A quad-district playoffs.
Lake Stevens must travel south to play Bethel (7-1 league, 8-1 overall), the No. 2 seed from the South Puget Sound League South Division, and star running back Anthony Meray who averages nearly 200 rushing yards per game and has scored 22 touchdowns.
“I don’t know a whole lot about them, I know they’ve got a really good running back, a solid offensive line and they’ve beat some good teams in the SPSL,” Tri said. “... It’s kind of nice that we’ve got some tricks that we didn’t show (against Snohomish), I feel like its nice that we can use those, because we’ve already practiced them for a week, against Bethel.
“I think we can give them a decent game if we play well.”
On Friday, it was just as much about defense for Lake Stevens as it was about Frost running wild.
The Vikings contained Snohomish running back Ryan Wohlhuter (15 carries for 58 yards) and Perry (16 carries for 61 yards), especially in the scoreless second half.
Jordan Eckstrom finished with 17 tackles, including a sack, and Jason Mendel had 13 tackles for Lake Stevens.
“The defense dominated today,” Frost said.
Snohomish ended its first possession of the game with a surprising Holden Erstad 9-yard touchdown run on a fake field goal. Erstad weaved through a sea of purple and gold retro Lake Stevens jerseys to give the Panthers an early 7-0 lead.
The lead lasted just 40 seconds as the Vikings swiftly responded with three large gains capped by a 30-yard Frost run to tie the game 7-7 with 1:52 remaining in the first half.
Frost added another touchdown run on an 8-yard sweep to the right side with 7:56 remaining in the second quarter for a 19-7 Lake Stevens lead.
“He just ran his butt off and just wouldn’t go down with one tackle,” Tri said of Frost. “He was a stud tonight, we rode him hard and he knew that going into the game.”
At Lake Stevens H.S.
Snohomish 7 6 0 0 — 13
Lake Stevens 7 12 0 6 — 25
Snohomish—Erstad 9 run (Erstad kick)
Lake Stevens—Frost 30 run (Swords kick)
Lake Stevens—Preslar 4 pass from Nelson (kick failed)
Lake Stevens—Frost 8 run (pass failed)
Snohomish—Wohlhuter 4 run (kick failed)
Lake Stevens—Frost 33 run (kick failed)
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