Arlington rides dominant opening half, routs Kamiak on opening night
Published 1:30 am Saturday, September 2, 2023
ARLINGTON — Arlington’s Week 1 opener at home was nothing short of a statement win as Wesco football was back under the lights of a Friday night.
The Eagles buckled down and took home a 46-8 rout over Kamiak in a 3A-4A league crossover duel.
Arlington’s deep returning core unit gelled together from the start, chalking up 39 first-half points en route to convincing victory.
Junior starting quarterback Leyton Martin laid the groundwork with 179 of his 192 passing yards coming before the half, while the rest of Arlington’s pieces came up big on both sides of the ball.
A six-play, 94-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter that ended with a 47-yard TD pass to Kaid Hunter put Arlington in the driver’s seat as they would build off an early 15-0 lead after a two-point conversion.
Eagles running back Caleb Reed headlined the ground game with 97 yards on 11 carries, delivering three of his four scores in the first half.
“We knew we’d have a talented group,” Arlington head coach Greg Dailer said. “We were excited to see them come out and play hard, play fast and play well. There’s probably a few things we can learn from it, I think Kamiak is gonna end up being tough this year, but we just played really well tonight and we’re happy with it.”
Arlington’s secondary didn’t give the Knights many opportunities for breakout plays, as the Eagles forced Kamiak into four turnovers on the night.
A failed fake punt play on Kamiak’s opening drive resulted with Arlington taking over inside the red zone. Reed punched in a five-yard rush up the middle for the game’s first points.
Second quarter interceptions from juniors Hunter and Jake Willis helped Arlington maintain the momentum while Knights four-star, 6-foot-4 tight end T’Andre Waverly was held in check, hauling in just three catches for 18 yards.
“We had a great plan on certain situations and downs, we were just gonna test him,” Dailer said. “We had some really good athletes out there and we thought if we got pressure on their quarterback and manned him up, that we could give them some trouble. And we did, our guys responded really well.”
Martin’s end zone connection to all-purpose senior Jacoby Falor (five catches, 42 yards) made it 22-0 in the early stages of the second, before a school-record 46-yard field goal by Aidan Raney sailed through right before intermission.
Kamiak wouldn’t put together a fully clean drive until the fourth quarter, when backup signal-caller Bronson Kim hit Miles Moffett for a 37-yard gain, setting up junior tailback Ezra Davis for a 10-yard rushing score.
“It felt great to get back out there,” Martin said, who missed the Eagles final six games last season due to injury. “I felt like everyone was really focused today. We did what we needed to do and got the job done.”
Martin went 13-for-24 on his pass attempts and found five different targets, adding on 14 yards on two scramble runs and two passing TDs.
“We always wanna spread the ball around,” Martin said. “I feel like we’re developing some special chemistry right now in practice. We’re all on the same page almost all the time, and if we’re not, we communicate well. That’s a specialty not a lot of people can do.”
In Week 2, the Knights are slated for a home matchup against Edmonds-Woodway, who fell 40-14 against Marysville Pilchuck on Friday.
Arlington continues its two-game home stand next Friday as it hosts Marysville Gethchell. The Chargers downed Cascade 25-14 in Week 1.
“We wanted to make some statement wins this season early on,” Martin said. “That way we can grow a crowd here and get some support from the community.”
