Lake Stevens gets over KingCo hump, tops Issaquah 42-32 in state playoffs

LAKE STEVENS — Lake Stevens wanted to beat the KingCo curse.

For three straight years a 4A team from the conference ended the Vikings’ season in the playoffs. First it was Skyline in 2012. Then Newport in 2013 and ‘14.

Friday night Lake Stevens finally got over the hump.

Jacob Eason completed 24 of 37 attempts for 283 yards and three touchdowns and Andrew Grimes added a pair of touchdowns on the ground for Lake Stevens which exorcised its KingCo demons with a 42-32 victory over Issaquah in the opening round of the 4A state tournament Friday night at Lake Stevens High School.

“We’re excited. For us, it was getting over KingCo,” said Lake Stevens head coach Tom Tri. “They’d gotten us three years in a row. It was Skyline three years ago, then Newport two years in a row. For us this was the get over the KingCo hump. This is the first time I’ve thought about the quarterfinals. It was all about getting past Issaquah.”

“It feels good,” said Eason. “We lost this game the last couple of years and we’ve had that sour tastes in our mouths and to finally come out on top against a good Issaquah team in my last home game at Lake Stevens and beating a KingCo team finally just feels great.”

Lake Stevens (12-0 overall) travels to play the winner of Saturday’s 4A state game between Mt. Si and Graham-Kapowsin next weekend in the 4A state quarterfinals.

The game got off to a rocky start for the Vikings, with Issaquah (9-4) scoring on the first play of the game. Joe Nelson returned the game’s opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown. After Lake Stevens’ first offensive drive stalled deep in Issaquah territory, the Eagles marched down the field. Issaquah quarterback Cameron Humphrey was 5 of 5 for 57 yards on the drive, capping it with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Hughes that gave Issaquah a 13-0 lead.

“Just wanted to see how hard we could make it on ourselves before we realized, ‘Hey, we’re in a dogfight here we better start responding and answering the bell right now,’” Tri said. “But that is the nice thing about having a senior-led team: You don’t get real high and you don’t get real low. These kids just play hard. … It was really cool to watch them do it.”

Lake Stevens answered with a score of its own on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Eason to Hunter Eckstrom. After recovering an onside kick, the Vikings scored again to take a 14-13 lead on a 10 yard reception by Riley Krenz.

Issaquah retook the lead a few minutes later, but a 28-yard touchdown reception by Amado Attipoe gave Lake Stevens a 21-20 halftime lead.

“We were down 13-nothing but they weren’t reacting that way,” Tri said. “It was, ‘Hey, let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s take care of the ball and go score.’ I probably heard three or four different seniors on our sideline saying that. … In terms of physicality, I thought our teams really brought it tonight.”

The teams continued to battle in the second half with Issaquah getting to within two after an 11-yard run by Hughes made it 28-26. The Eagles went for two but the conversion failed when the pass was ruled incomplete as Nelson reached for the end zone.

The Vikings took control of the game after the Issaquah punter fumbled and Lake Stevens got the ball on the Eagles’ 9 yard line. A few plays later, Eason ran the ball 10 yards for a score as the Vikings’ sideline jumped up and down.

Then the Lake Stevens defense stepped up. The Vikings sacked Humphrey twice and forced two incomplete passes to get the ball back to Eason.

“It was just adversity,” Eason said. “We were talking about how we’re going to have to deal with adversity. We didn’t have much (in the regular season). We had to deal with that adversity and I think we did very well.”

The Lake Stevens defense held Humphrey to 249 yards passing (18 of 28) and the Eagles to just 18 net yards of rushing in the contest.

“I thought in the second quarter we settled down a little bit and our defense did a better job getting off blocks and understanding what we were trying to do,” Tri said. “… We gave them a free seven points on the opening kickoff — not free, they made a great play and return — but I thought our kids did a great job of responding,” Tri said. “We’re down 13-nothing, I’ve seen teams fold at that point. We didn’t at all. We were resilient, our guys really sucked it up and they battled hard.”

Krenz finished with nine receptions for 104 yards and Eckstrom added 66 yards receiving for the Vikings. Andrew Grimes, who was injured in last week’s 61-10 win over Tahoma, returned and had 23 carries for 134 yards and the two scores as Lake Stevens battled back to overtake Issaquah and punch its ticket to the 4A state quarterfinals.

“The 2011 team was the last time we (got to the quarterfinals),” Eason said. “We’re always talking about those guys and the legacy they left. We want to continue it. This is my last year here and I want to do the best I can.”

At Lake Stevens H.S.

Issaquah 13 7 6 6 —32

Lake Stevens 0 21 7 14 —42

I—Joe Nelson 83 kickoff return (Conner Pederson kick)

I—Bryce Hughes 19 pass from Cameron Humphrey (kick failed)

LS—Hunter Eckstrom 4 pass from Jacob Eason (Karsten Knutson kick)

LS—Riley Krenz 10 pass from Eason (Knutson kick)

I—Nelson 19 pass from Humphrey (Pederson kick)

LS—Amado Attipoe 28 pass from Eason (Knutson kick)

LS—Andrew Grimes 10 run (Knutson kick)

I—Hughes 11 run (pass failed)

LS—Eason 10 run (Knutson kick)