Lake Stevens captures North championship

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, November 1, 2001

By Chris Trujillo

Herald Writer

OAK HARBOR – The Lake Stevens Vikings have won league championships before, but Friday’s 20-7 victory over the Oak Harbor Wildcats was as sweet as any of them.

Lake Stevens earned the Western Conference North crown with a 7-1 record, while the Wildcats finished their season 5-4. Lake Stevens will host Shorewood in a league playoff game for a state berth at 7 p.m. Tuesday at a site to be determined.

“This is just great,” said Lake Stevens coach Ken Collins, who led his squad to a Wesco 3A title last season. “I didn’t know what to expect coming into the season. I usually know what we’re facing entering the season, but not this year. We thought maybe third place when it all began.”

The Vikings’ fateful night could’ve easily gone a different direction considering the team fumbled away the ball four times in the first half.

However, the game took a near 180 degree turn in the second half as the Vikings came up on the winning side of two back-to-back turnovers to start the third quarter, which led to 13 unanswered points.

“We have hold on to the ball better,” said Lake Stevens fullback Joey Daube, who rushed for 90 yards on 14 carries. “You can’t fumble the ball in the playoffs.”

Nate Thomason, who was filling in for star running back Justin Balunsat, who missed the game due to an ankle sprain, broke a 7-7 tie early in the third quarter on a 4-yard sweep around the left side. The 10-yard scoring drive began after Daube, who also stood tall defensively with 13 tackles, recovered a loose ball to set up the score.

“Our offense played great tonight,” Daube said. “We came out and did what we had to do. We just have to hold the ball better.”

After hurdling a bundle of penalties and two turnovers, the Lake Stevens’ offense found the end zone with 4:15 remaining in the half thanks to Daube’s 1-yard plunge, which gave the Vikings a 7-0 lead. Despite an initial stall, quarterback Mitch Canham rescued the Vikings with a key 24-yard run on third-and-long. He followed that up with a 12-yard gain on the next play. Daube took over from there, rushing for a combined 32 yards before scoring from the 1-yard line.

The Wildcats tied the game at 7-7 following Lake Stevens’ fourth first half fumble. Halfback Cody Parker, who took over the quarterback controls the series before to set up the play, rolled to the right and threw a perfect timing-pass 11 yards to Tom McMickle.