Lake Stevens routs Graham-Kapowsin 49-14 to reach 4A semifinals

SPANAWAY — The Lake Stevens football team doesn’t need a lot of extra motivation, but it found some this week.

An article in a Tacoma newspaper referred to the Graham-Kapowsin offensive line as the “Trench Squad” and suggested it might be the best line in the state. The No. 2-ranked Vikings took exception and made an argument for their own offensive line with a 49-14 demolishing of the Eagles Saturday, earning a spot in next week’s 4A state semifinals.

“We read the article about how Graham-Kapowsin has the best offensive line in the state and the trench warfare or whatever the heck that was,” Lake Stevens head coach Tom Tri said. “We put that up in our locker room and said, ‘these guys think they have the best offensive line in the state.’ That really challenged our guys. Our front five guys were not happy at all. It’s cliché and it’s old school, but anything I can do get our guys a little more fired up and a little more motivated, we’re going to use that bulletin-board material.”

The offensive line answered the bell, allowing senior quarterback Jacob Eason to pick apart the Eagles’ secondary and senior running back Andrew Grimes to rack up 280 yards on 21 carries, including three rushing touchdowns.

“I had holes for days,” Grimes said. “It seemed like I was doing a lot of work, but really it was the line that was opening up a lot of those holes and making it easy for me.”

It was a gutty performance by Grimes, who has been limited in practice the past two weeks after suffering an injury against Tahoma in the quad-district playoffs. Grimes didn’t practice at all last week, but played in a 42-32 win over Issaquah. Tri said he was able to practice more this week, but was still not at full strength.

“For him to be able to go for 280 and play four quarters again, he’s got the heart of a champion and he wants to win,” Tri said. “He’s a senior and he wants to be on the field making plays for our guys and that’s what you saw today. In practice, he’s not cutting. He’s moving and he’s running, but he’s not even close to lowering his shoulder and going full speed in practice. For him to come out and do what he did today was incredible. And give all the credit to our O-line. Andrew ran his tail off, but there were some holes.”

Grimes had touchdown runs of 38, 44 and 53 yards. Senior Asi Tupua added 72 yards rushing and the Vikings finished with 419 yards rushing.

The Vikings assaulted the Eagles through the air as well. Senior quarterback Jacob Eason completed 17 of 27 passes for 262 yards and four touchdowns. Five of those completions went to senior tight end Riley Krenz, who finished with 112 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Krenz also recovered two fumbles on defense.

The Vikings scored the first touchdown of the game, only to see the Eagles counter with one of their own on the next possession. After that Lake Stevens scored 42 unanswered points before the Eagles added one more late touchdown.

After the game, Tri was still trying to figure out how his team dominated a team that hadn’t lost a game all season.

“I’m just proud of our guys right now,” Tri said. “That was a good football team we played right there. That team scared the crap out of me and to have us come out and play the way we did today, it’s so awesome.

“Our kids just get it done. That is one heck of an offensive line we just faced and we got after their freshman quarterback. That is the heart of a champion. I know we’re still two games away from being able to call ourselves that, but in my mind our effort today was a championship effort. You could tell our kids really wanted it.”

Graham-Kapowsin didn’t help its own cause. The Eagles dropped at least three passes that likely would have gone for touchdowns and turned the ball over five times.

The Vikings will play Skyline in next weekend’s semifinals at the Tacoma Dome. It’s will be Eason’s first appearance in the Tacoma Dome in his brilliant career at Lake Stevens.

“It’s a dream come true,” Eason said. “We get to play in the dome and it’s the first time since 2011 and look what that team accomplished. They’re a great team and we’re just trying to continue the legacy. It’s a great feeling.”

Lake Stevens made the 4A state semifinals in 2011, before falling to Skyview.

At Art Crate Stadium

Lake Stevens 14 14 14 7 —49

Graham-Kapowsin 7 0 0 7 —14

LS—Andrew Grimes 53 run (Karsten Knutson kick)

GK—Brandon Becker 1 run (Noah Harden kick)

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

LS—Ian Schneider 9 pass from Eason (Knutson kick)

LS—Brandon Otis 42 pass from Eason (Knutson kick)

LS—Grimes 44 run (Knutson kick)

LS—Grimes 38 run (Knutson kick)

LS—Krenz 72 pass from Eason (Knutson kick)