Alexander leads Kamiak to 42-22 rout of Edmonds-Woodway

EDMONDS — Before the season, Kamiak head coach Dan Mack said senior quarterback Connor Alexander had a chance to be “special.”

Mack might have been selling Alexander short.

Alexander accounted for all six Kamiak touchdowns — five passing and one rushing — leading the Knights to a 42-22 non-conference win over Edmonds-Woodway on Friday.

“He’s a young man that is prepared like an all-conference quarterback,” Mack said. “He’s a very intelligent young man and he understands the game well. He’s very poised. He’s beyond his years in many ways. I’m very proud of him and I’m excited for him. He deserves all the credit for how he ran our offense and took what the defense gave us.”

Alexander completed 22 of 31 passes for 292 yards to go along with his five passing touchdowns. He was intercepted once.

“It was definitely a coming out game for our whole offense and for our whole team,” Alexander said. “Both sides of the ball were great. We had a slow start on defense, but they bounced back and grinded it out all the way to the end.”

Alexander played well in a Week 1 loss to Marysville Pilchuck, but even he couldn’t have imagined his second game as the Knights’ starting quarterback would go so well.

“That’s obviously what I aspire to every game and try to do, but to have that actually come true, it’s pretty unreal,” he said.

Alexander threw two touchdowns and rushed for another in the opening quarter to give his team a 21-7 lead. The Knights never trailed in the game.

Marysville Pilchuck came from behind to beat the Knights 21-20 last Friday. It was a difficult way to start the season for a Kamiak team that has playoff aspirations, but Mack was happy with the way his team rallied in the face of early-season adversity.

“I’m so proud of our kids, their senior leadership and our coaching staff,” Mack said. “I thought our coaching staff did a wonderful job of coaching them up this week. We rallied as a team. It was a disappointing loss last week, but to rally together and get back to our covenants, I was really proud of our kids.”

Alexander’s favorite target was senior tight end Nate Shubert. Shubert caught six passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns — his first two touchdowns of the 2015 season. He also added an interception on defense.

“He’s a special kid,” Mack said. “He’s a kid that when the ball is up in the air he’s going to go get it.”

The Knights defense came up with three interceptions. Senior Donte Hamilton, who also caught eight passes for 77 yards on offense, and junior Jaden Bollschweiler each came up with one to go along with Shubert’s.

Bollschweiler’s interception came in the second quarter after Edmonds-Woodway had cut the Kamiak advantage to 21-14. Five plays later, Bollschweiler was rewarded for his defensive effort with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Alexander.

“It could be anybody,” Mack said. “It’s a team game … He’s the type of kid that will reflect all of his praise to someone else, but he had a heck of a game.”

Bollschweiler’s score gave Kamiak a 28-14 lead, which is how the first half would end.

Edmonds-Woodway blocked a punt in the third quarter which went through the end zone for a safety to cut the Kamiak lead to 28-16, but the Warriors never got any closer.

Senior quarterback Issac Jackson led the Warriors, completing 13 of 25 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown and rushing for another.

At Edmonds Stadium

Kamiak 21 7 7 7 — 42

Edmonds-Woodway 7 7 2 6 — 22

K—Andrei Prikhodko 11 pass from Connor Alexander (Simon Forster kick)

E-W—Jalen Nash 43 pass from Issac Jackson (Jake Stevenson kick)

K—Connor Alexander 1 run (kick blocked)

K—Donte Hamilton 10 pass from Connor Alexander (Alex Indelicato pass from Connor Alexander)

E-W—Tyler Rheinford 3 run (Jake Stevenson kick)

K—Jaden Bollschweiler 24 pass from Connor Alexander (Simon Forster kick)

E-W—Safety (punt blocked through end zone)

K—Nate Shubert 6 pass from Connor Alexander (Simon Forster kick)