Battle of unbeatens

ARLINGTON — A year ago, Arlington went into Lake Stevens and snatched a 36-28 victory on its way to a Western Conference North football championship.

A year later, Lake Stevens still hadn’t forgotten.

In fact, last year’s loss to Arlington was a big motivator for Lake Stevens through the long offseason and the Vikings finally got some payback on Friday night, taking an early lead they never lost and holding off the persistent Eagles for a 42-32 victory in a showdown of unbeaten teams.

With the win, Lake Stevens improved to 5-0 and tied Monroe for the Wesco North lead at 2-0. Arlington falls to 4-1, 1-1.

“We’ve been waiting a year for that one,” Lake Stevens coach Tom Tri said. “Last year they came to our house and got us, and our kids remembered that. All summer that’s all they wanted to talk about, Arlington in Week 5. I’m like, ‘Guys, let’s take care of Weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 first.’

“But we circled this one on the calendar and our kids came out and played their butts off tonight. … Arlington’s been our biggest rival since I (came to) Lake Stevens back in 1998. So to beat them on their field, both teams 4-0, the rivalry, you name it, this was a big game for us.”

In a showdown of top quarterbacks, Jake Nelson of Lake Stevens finished with a slight edge over Arlington’s Blake McPherson. Nelson, a 6-foot-2 senior, completed 20 of 28 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for two more TDs.

“We wouldn’t be where we are without him, for sure,” Tri said of Nelson. “He’s been our offensive leader for three years now, and hopefully for about seven or eight more weeks. … He’s making great decisions, he’s got great feet, he throws good balls, and they’re on time and in places where receivers can catch it. That’s all you can ask of a quarterback.”

“Our No. 1 goal before the season was to beat (Arlington),” Nelson said. “We had unfinished business with them (after last year), and we came out here and got the W.”

McPherson, a 6-foot senior, was 13-for-28 for 208 yards and one touchdown with one interception.

Running back Shae Giddens led Lake Stevens with 111 yards on 18 carries. McPherson was high for the Eagles with 12 carries for 82 yards.

Arlington never led in the game, but the Eagles never went away either. After Lake Stevens scored touchdowns on its second and third possessions for a 14-0 lead, Arlington got on the board later in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 14-7, a score that stood at halftime.

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, and a 29-yard field goal by Arlington’s Colton Hordyk made the score 21-17 heading to the final quarter.

And that’s when the game heated up. The two teams scored touchdowns on five straight possessions in the fourth period, though Lake Stevens got a huge break by recovering a fumble on a kickoff return to score three TDs to Arlington’s two.

“I got asked by several coaches (before the game), ‘How many points do we need to score to win?’ And I thought it was going to be 30-plus,” Tri said. “Thank God we put up 42 and that was enough.”

Arlington coach Greg Dailer was disappointed by his team’s showing, citing turnovers, penalties and other miscues.

“We just didn’t play very well,” he said. “Lake Stevens is a great team, and we can’t afford to come out and make so many penalties and (other mistakes). I don’t know why we weren’t on our ‘A’ game tonight, but we definitely weren’t. … But all the credit goes to Lake Stevens. They prepared well and they did a great job.”

Both teams have important conference games next weekend. Lake Stevens faces Marysville Pilchuck, while Arlington takes on Stanwood in the annual Stilly Cup.

“I told (the team) to let it hurt over the weekend so we realize how hard we have to prepare to be sure it never happens again,” Dailer said. “And then we’ll flush this one on Monday and have the Stilly Cup next week.”

At John C. Larson Field

Lake Stevens 7 7 7 21 — 42

Arlington 0 7 10 15 — 32

LS–Nelson 2 run (Sellars kick)

LS–Elgaen 2 run (Sellars kick)

Arl–Elgarico 18 run (Hordyk kick)

LS–Gasca 46 pass from Nelson (Sellars kick)

Arl–McPherson 5 run (Hordyk kick)

Arl–Hordyk 29 FG

LS–Nelson 1 run (Sellars kick)

Arl–McPherson 1 run (Hordyk pass from McPherson)

LS–Pahukoa 36 pass from Nelson (Sellars kick)