Edmonds-Woodway rallies late to beat Marysville Pilchuck 26-25

EDMONDS — Issac Jackson knew who to look for.

And David Woodward knew what was coming.

Jackson, the Edmonds-Woodway senior quarterback, found senior wide receiver Woodard three times for 90 yards in a late game-winning drive for Edmonds-Woodway to lead the Warriors past Marysville Pilchuck 26-25 in a Wesco 3A crossover game Thursday night at Edmonds Stadium.

“We’re just ready to make plays. We wanted to win the game,” Woodard said. “We knew we were close.”

The Warriors started the drive on their own 20 yard line, but a 12-yard loss on the first play made the task even more daunting. Jackson continued to find the 6-foot-3 Woodard, who is playing football for the first time this year, as the pair helped Edmonds-Woodway get the go-ahead score with 1:05 left on the clock.

It was the Warriors’ first lead in the game since a 7-3 advantage in the first quarter.

“We’ve been working a lot at practice – we get reps in before and after to get that chemistry down,” Woodard said. “We were a little shaky at the start of the season but coming down to the end here we’ve been pretty well connected.”

Marysville Pilchuck made it interesting, driving down the field in the final seconds, but an incomplete pass on fourth down gave the ball – and the game – back to Edmonds-Woodway.

“There wasn’t much time. I had no time outs,” said Warriors head coach John Gradwohl. “… David’s a heck of a player and he did a good job. For us, that’s a simple play. We just call it ‘choice.’ It’s a simple play and it worked out well for us.”

Jackson finished 12 of 19 for 268 yards and three touchdowns – two of which went to Woodard. The quarterback struggled a bit in the first half, going just 3-for-8 for 78 yards and three interceptions.

In the second half it was a different story for Jackson, who led Edmonds-Woodway down the field and to the win.

“I feel really proud of Issac,” Gradwohl said. “He had a tough first half and I thought he played a great second half. He doesn’t get flustered – even if I yell at him a little bit. He comes out and does a good job.”

Greyson Fisher led the Warriors’ ground game with 22 carries for 80 yards in his first start. The junior started in place of Tyler Rheinford, who missed the game with a concussion he suffered in a car accident last weekend.

“You get towards the end of the year you’re just happy for the seniors,” Gradwohl said. “You want them to keep playing and when you’re playing for something there’s a level of excitement about that. … Last year’s seniors didn’t get that opportunity. We lost to Glacier Peak (and didn’t make the postseason). It’s nice to be playing for something at the end.”

The game featured the third-place teams from the Wesco 3A North and South, with Marysville Pilchuck (3-2 league, 4-5 overall) and Edmonds-Woodway (4-2, 6-3) squaring off for the Wesco No. 5 and No. 6 seeds to next weekend’s quad-district playoffs.

Marysville Pilchuck quarterback Erik Lind was 11 for 17 and 135 yards, including a 43 yard touchdown pass to Ray Pimentel. The senior added 52 yards (on 12 carries) and a touchdown on the ground to keep Tomahawks driving late.

Pimentel added 36 yards rushing on five carries, with a rushing touchdown and the long reception for a score.

Marysville Pilchuck’s future remains a bit uncertain. Ferndale, the lone 3A team playing in the Northwest Conference, defeated Sedro-Woolley 20-16 Thursday night, setting up the possibility of a 3A quad-district play-in game on Tuesday between the Golden Eagles and Marysville Pilchuck. If Lynden (4-2 league, 5-3 overall) defeats Blaine (2-4, 4-4) Friday night, the Tomahawks will host Ferndale (5-2, 6-3) in a play-in game.

If Blaine wins, Ferndale will finish No. 2 in the Northwest Conference and automatically earns a quad-district berth, while Marysville Pilchuck is eliminated.

Edmonds-Woodway’s path is more clear. The Warriors will face the winner of Friday’s Eastside Catholic-Ballard game next weekend in the 3A quad-district playoffs as the Wesco No. 5 seed.

“It feels really good to get a win, coming off a loss last week,” Woodard said. “It was a little deadened in the locker room. A lot of us were down. It’s good to win in front of our home crowd and get a win at home. This is the last home game for us seniors and it feels good to get a win.”

“We really thought we should have played better last week,” Gradwohl said of the Warriors’ 41-22 loss to Glacier Peak in both teams’ regular-season finale. “That was a letdown for the kids. It was tough to get them back. Coming back and getting a big win is really going to help us coming into practice next week. Winning solves a lot of problems.”

At Edmonds Stadium

M. Pilchuck 9 9 0 7 —25

Ed.-Woodway 7 0 6 13 —26

MP–Jason Lopp 18 FG

E-W–Graydon Heron 18 pass from Issac Jackson (Jake Stevenson kick)

MP–Ray Pimentel 25 run (Jason Lopp kick)

MP–Edmonds-Woodway penalty in end zone for a safety

MP–Ray Pimentel 43 pass from Erik Lind (kick failed)

E-W–David Woodard 36 pass from Jackson (pass failed)

MP–Lind 1 run (Lopp kick)

E-W–Greyson Fisher 1 run (Stevenson kick)

E-W–Woodard 28 pass from Jackson (run failed)