Prep football: Edmonds-Woodway 31, Mariner 27
Published 8:57 pm Friday, September 23, 2011
EDMONDS — Edmonds-Woodway fans expected a certain running back to put on a show Friday night.
They could be forgiven for not expecting it to be their own.
Edmonds-Woodway junior back Desmond Young carried 30 times for 198 and four touchdowns to lead the Warriors to a 31-27 win over Mariner and its star back Kei’Varae Russell, who was held to 133 yards on 26 carries with a long of 34.
Keeping Russell in check and coming through with a ground game of its own — Warriors also got 101 yards on 17 carries from Mark Coutee — was instrumental in coming up with the upset, said Edmonds-Woodway assistant coach David Nelson.
“Young and Coutee did a good job … They broke quite a few tackles and the yards after contact was really good tonight. They really ran hard,” Nelson said.
Russell scored twice on runs of 1 and 3 yards but never really got going thanks to the defensive line of the Warriors.
“We were able to keep him in check for quite a bit,” said Nelson. “He had a long one for 34 yards and a couple others for 17 or 18 but by and large we kept him under 5 yards per carry. I think our defense did a great job of closing the lanes and not giving him any cutback lanes.”
After starting out 0-3 on the season, Edmonds-Woodway but the team turned the page on the nonconference schedule and opened up its league season with a big win.
“Yeah, it was great,” Nelson said of the win. “As coach was telling the kids, ‘We may have started out 0-3, but its a new season now.’ The kids really took that to heart and you could tell that they came out tonight with a little something to prove. They had a fire in their belly.”
At Edmonds District Stadium
Mariner 14 6 0 7 — 27
Edmonds-Woodway 7 10 7 7 — 31
EW–Young 7 run (Hull kick)
M–Russell 1 run (Manson kick)
M–Nadat 18 interception return (Manson kick)
EW–Young 8 run (Hull kick)
M–Law 10 run (kick failed)
EW–Hull 27 field goal
EW–Young 2 run (Hull kick)
M–Russell 3 run (Manson kick)
EW–Young 4 run (Hull kick)
Records–Mariner 0-1 league, 2-2 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 1-0, 1-3.
