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L. Stevens keeps Div-I back from doing big damage

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, November 11, 2000

Herald staff

No, the Lake Stevens football team did not stop David Kirtman Friday in the Vikings’ 21-17 victory over Mercer Island.

The USC-bound senior gained 132 yards on 23 carries, but Lake Stevens did not let the big, fast running back beat them. Though it often looked like Kirtman was going to break a big one at any time, his longest run was 17 yards, and he averaged just 5.7 yards per rush. Lake Stevens coach Ken Collins is glad the Vikings are done with the 6-foot, 210-pounder.

“Number 24 (Kirtman) scares the living daylights out of me,” Collins said. “I never want to see him again.”

  • Getting offensive: Much of the reason for keeping Kirtman in check was the play of Lake Stevens’ offensive line. The Vikings offense used long drives to keep the ball out of the hands of the dangerous Mercer Island offense. The big Vikings up front, including Shaun Sheddy, Chris LaPlante, Jeff Jacobs and Lance Barton, led three drives of 11 plays and three more of eight plays. The shortest possession was one play, which was a fumbled recovered by the Islanders.

    “Our game plan was to keep the ball in our offense’s hands and keep it out of theirs,” Collins said. “They are a tremendous offensive football team.”

    The line allowed quarterback Nolan Perkl time enough to complete 17 of 24 passes for 252 yards.

    “I love my line,” Perkl said. “They did a great job.”

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