Glacier Peak capitalizes on Snohomish mistakes, wins grudge match

Published 12:13 am Saturday, September 13, 2025

SNOHOMISH — Non-conference rivalry football isn’t exactly a pageant. Early-season matchups between teams that know each other far too well often lead to mistakes and blunders that test even the most seasoned teams.

Friday night was no exception as a veteran Wesco 4A Glacier Peak squad (2-0) downed cross-town Wesco 3A North rival and upstart team in Snohomish (0-2) 20-3 on Friday night in front of a packed crowd.

Every point was scored off turnovers in the game, including a 35-yard pick-six by Glacier Peak sophomore Maxwell Bridges in the second quarter. Glacier Peak’s defense and special teams would notch another pick, a fumble recovery and two blocked kicks by the time the lights went out at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The Glacier Peak offense, however, struggled to find its footing. Sophomore quarterback Oliver Setterberg (84 passing yards, TD) had his fair share of fumbles and bobbled handoffs leading to lost yards, as the young signal caller familiarized himself with head coach Shane Keck’s system in real time.

Despite the rough showing at times, Setterberg flashed on two rollouts. The first saw the young QB find Michael Darling for a short TD in the second quarter, while the second was a 26-yard bomb to Kalell Chim in the third to set up a TD from senior star running back Isaiah Owens (100 rushing yards, TD).

Owens, who is projected to be the top rusher in the league this season, tried to turn a late blocked kick into instant points. He scampred 92 yards on the first play after the special teams stand — but it was called back on a hold.

Despite breaking the century mark on the ground for a second consecutive week, the senior wants to put even more highlights on his tape.

“Always looking to go to the next level. I mean just scoring, trying to score every single game, just putting myself on the map, very under-recruited out of our school,” Owens said.

Keck, meanwhile, liked what he saw from the Grizzlies’ defense, noting that the offense can be cleaner to set that unit up.

“If we play mistake-free football, our defense is going to give us a chance,” Keck said. “Just mental errors, so we got to get that better because we know that our defense can carry us for a while, but we got to do our part and start to hold our own on our side of the ball.”

But the biggest mistake of the game for Glacier Peak came on special teams. After a massive gain from Panthers’ receiver Chase Clark (81 receiving yards) on a blown coverage on the first play from scrimmage, Snohomish went straight backwards to put itself in a 4th and 31 and midfield. It was a gift for Glacier Peak, which could have taken the proverbial punch in the mouth a whole lot worse than it did.

But a muff on the ensuing punt put the Panthers directly in field goal range for what turned out to be their only points of the night.

From there, the next five Snohomish possessions were a nightmare for first-year coach Eric Solbakken. He watched as his squad manufactured two straight punts, two straight interceptions and a blocked kick going into halftime. Glacier Peak turned those two turnovers into 13 points.

Bridges could see right through a second-quarter screen pass from Solbakken that netted him his pick-six — Glacier Peak has plenty of experience with the offense the former Lake Stevens assistant is trying to install at Snohomish.

“We’ve gameplanned on that screen for a long time; it’s just a matter of seeing it and executing it,” Bridges said.

For Solbakken, taking over a program that has yet to beat Glacier Peak in 14 tries and finished 3-7 last season comes with its share of challenges. His junior quarterback in Dawson Cobb (134 passing yards, two interceptions) had some moments, while an unforced error on an offensive pass interference from a wideout in the third killed a promising drive. Still, the 35-year-old coach is taking it one thing at a time.

“From an execution standpoint, I don’t think that we’re far off,” Solbakken said. “Climbing to guys, kicking out the right guys with the right shoulder, tackling and blocking and catching. It’s all real simple.”

While Solbakken is just getting started at Snohomish, seniors like GP’s Owens are showing urgency to fix things right now.

“We just got to get in the lab … it’s simple mistakes, you won’t see that ever again,” Owens said.