EDMONDS — In the seven years since Glacier Peak High School opened in 2008, the football team has made the playoffs every season. The Grizzlies have had some really good squads, but this year’s team is making a case it might be the best.
Just days after cracking the top 10 in the Associated Press Class 3A state poll for the first time this season, the ninth-ranked Grizzlies looked worthy of the honor with a 45-0 win over Meadowdale on Friday.
As has been the case all season, speed and depth were the keys to the Grizzlies’ dominance.
“I think (we are) as deep as we have been since 2009 or 2010,” Glacier Peak head coach Rory Rosenbach said. “We’ve had teams that talented and had some guys, but we can go two or three deep at a lot of positions.”
The Grizzlies proved it against the Mavericks. Even in the second half, when the outcome was no longer in doubt, the Glacier Peak reserves kept racking up yardage on the ground. And throughout the game the Grizzlies showed the speed that has helped them open the season 3-0 in Wesco 3A South play and 4-0 overall.
“I think this is the fastest top-to-bottom team we’ve had,” Rosenbach said. “We’ve had some teams that were pretty fast, but we’ve got four or five guys that can really move and then overall team speed is pretty good. We’re not as big or as tall or some other stuff, but we’re pretty fast.
“We’ll find out how fast in about seven days,” Rosenbach added in reference to the Grizzlies’ next opponent, perennial state championship contender Bellevue.
Glacier Peak has two quarterbacks — senior Devyn Rainbow and freshman Ayden Ziomas — who split time. Both have been impressive at times this season, but Friday might have been the high point for Ziomas, who finished 6-for-7 for 104 yards and two touchdowns.
“He played really well,” Rosenbach said. “He’s done a nice job all year. He takes what (the defense) gives him.”
Rainbow, also played well. He was 7-for-11 passing for 85 yards, but was intercepted once.
As impressive as the Grizzlies’ offense was, their defense was even better. They held Meadowdale to just 7 yards of total offense and -18 yards rushing in the first half.
The defense was led by senior linebacker Zach Argue, who finished the game with three sacks and batted down two passes.
“He’s been quietly doing that,” Rosenbach said. “He’s had an awesome year. He’s kind of put some weight on and gotten more physical and that’s really allowed him to become a really good defensive player. He’s so long and that’s awesome. You get a shorter quarterback and he’s going to get up in those passing lanes and make some plays.”
Junior linebacker Ricky Kranz added a sack for the Grizzlies, and Devin Woelhof and Iain Black each had an interception.
The Mavericks were at a disadvantage coming into the game. They were missing five starters because of injuries, including junior quarterback Drew Tingstad.
“I think we kind of made a decision mid-week that we were banged up and down a lot of guys,” Meadowdale coach Matt Leonard said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we came to play tonight. That’s the disappointing thing. … Against a team like that, I knew what we were up against. If we have all of our guys, I feel good about this game and we’ll go play it tough and I think we can win the game. Being as short-handed as were was just a little too much to overcome, but we’ve got to dig down deep. We’ve had great effort our first three games and we just didn’t play with great effort or energy. I’m really disappointed in the way we came out and played tonight.”
The Mavericks have seven days to get healthy before facing Shorewood in a conference game.
The Grizzlies now turn their attention to No. 2-ranked Bellevue, which lost the state championship to Eastside Catholic last year after winning the previous six 3A state titles.
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
At Edmonds Stadium
Glacier Peak 7 24 14 0 —45
Meadowdale 0 0 0 0 — 0
GP–Colton Bunt 1 run (Kevin Ramsey kick)
GP–Aubrey Carter 1 run (Kevin Ramsey kick)
GP–Alex Garrett 10 pass from Ayden Ziomas (Kevin Ramsey kick)
GP–Justin Guffey 28 pass from Ayden Ziomas (Kevin Ramsey kick)
GP–Kevin Ramsey 35 FG
GP–Iain Black 3 run (Kevin Ramsey kick)
GP–Billy Lutali 15 run (Kevin Ramsey kick)
Records–Glacier Peak 3-0 league, 4-0 overall. Meadowdale 1-2, 1-3.
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