Lake Stevens falls in Class 4A state title football game.

Published 8:00 pm Saturday, December 6, 2025

SEATTLE — The third time proved not to be a charm for the Lake Stevens football team on Saturday.

Facing Sumner for the third time in two seasons, the Vikings fell 41-35 in overtime of the Class 4A state title game.

It was the second straight title for Sumner, coming on the heels of Lake Stevens titles in 2022 and 2023. The Vikings were aiming for their third title in four seasons, but came up short in overtime despite a valiant comeback effort in regulation.

“There were just a few too many times where we slipped up,” said quarterback Blake Moser, who scored four touchdowns for the Vikings. “We beat ourselves, so it just really sucks knowing that we could have beat that team.”

It was the first loss of the season for Lake Stevens (13-1), which entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed. Fifth-seeded Sumner, which lost its opener on a last-second TD to the Vikings on its way to losing three of its first five games to eventual state playoff teams, finished 11-3 with their eighth-straight win.

Spartans running back Lance McGree ran wild, scoring his Class 4A title game-record sixth rushing touchdown in overtime to stun the Vikings.

“He’s just a special kid,” said Sumner head coach Keith Ross, who completed his 25th season with back-to-back titles. “We’ve settled into an offense where we’re going to get big and run north and south. He’s got his power, his strength. He’s got the best balance I’ve ever seen. And, he’s a fun kid.”

The Vikings, trailing by two touchdowns late, rallied with two scores to send the game into overtime.

Lake Stevens got the ball first in overtime, and faced a fourth-and-1 at the 3. Sumner got the stop it needed, and the 6-foot, 222-pound McGee’s 41st carry was the game-winner. He finished with 356 rushing yards and tied a championship game record across all classifications with the six TDs.

Things looked bleak when the Vikings trailed 28-14 at halftime with Sumner set to receive the second-half kickoff. But the Spartans didn’t get that chance when Grayson Eggers recovered Vikings’ kicker Lucas Mooring’s onside kick,

Five plays later — fueled by a pair of 15-yard penalties against the Spartans — Moser pulled Lake within a TD, 28-21.

“Our kids stepped up,” said Lake Stevens head coach Tom Tri. “They just didn’t want to lose. They dug deep and played a little harder.”

“Opened up some holes, gave Blake some time to run and throw, and do what we’re capable of.”

Moser capped the five-play drive with a 2-yard walk-in TD to trim the Spartans’ lead to 28-21 with 9:57 to go in the third.

Then, guess who? McGee broke loose for his fifth TD.

Blake Moser responded with the longest of his four TD runs, winding through the Spartan defense for a 64-yard score to pull the Vikings within 35-28 with 3:39 to go in the third.

Tri said the team initially struggled with trailing by two touchdowns, a position the Vikings hadn’t faced in 2025.

“We got punched in the mouth, and were we going to come out and counter punch?” Tri said. “We hadn’t seen a lot of adversity this year, so our kids didn’t really know how to respond or react to being down early like that in the second quarter. We made some adjustments. We didn’t yell or scream. We just encouraged them to go out and finish the battle.”

Lake tried another onside kick and appeared to recover the ball for the second time. But officials called the Vikings for kick-catch interference, which allowed Sumner to keep possession.

The Vikings finally got a stop, though, as the Vikings swarmed McGee on third-and-5. Sumner set up for a field goal, but dropped the snap to give Lake Stevens a chance.

Ross never felt comfortable until the game was over.

“I knew we couldn’t contain their offense,” he said. “And that quarterback (Moser), I mean, he’s as dynamite as any player I’ve seen in my 28 years. He is so hard to defend. And that offense is hard to defend.”

After the failed field goal, three Lake Stevens plays went backwards, and the Vikings punted from deep in their own end zone.

The Vikings managed to get their second defensive stop of the game, though, for a shot to tie it up.

Set by a 42-yard catch and run by Eggers, Moser plunged in from a yard out to tie the score at 35-35 with 5:03 to go.

Ross, remembering a last-second TD the Vikings used to beat his team this season and the game-winning Lake Stevens overtime field goal in 2024, leaned on his big back to drive for the win in regulation. McGee carried the ball nine times during 12 Sumner plays to get the ball to the Lake 28. The Spartans tried a 45-yard field goal to win it in regulation, but the Vikings blocked the kick to again stave off elimination.

“We were able to put up points, and our defense was able to get some stops,” Moser said. “But at the end, it didn’t really matter.”

Early on, it was clear the championship game was not going to be a defensive battle.

Lake Stevens wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, using the first 1 minute, 50 seconds to drive for the game’s first score. Moser strolled in from the 3 on a read-zone keeper for a 7-0 lead.

But McGee answered, toting the ball nine times on his team’s first drive, capped by a 12-yard TD run to knot the score at 7-7.

Lake Stevens took the lead right back, with Max Cook’s toe-tapping catch in the corner of the end zone for a 14-7 edge with 1:10 to go in the first.

That’s when things went awry for the Vikings in the first half.

McGee scored again to tie it at 14-14.

Lake Stevens, facing fourth-and-inches at its own 34 and sensing stops were tough to come by, went for it. The play was there, but a dropped pass gave the ball back to Sumner.

That set up McGee’s third TD, this one for 32 yards, with 7:02 to go in the half. The Spartans got another fourth-down stop on the ensuing drive, and it was McGee time again. His 3-yard TD run with 3:45 to go put Sumner up 28-14.

The Vikings put together a promising drive late in the half, but Sumner intercepted a pass and ran the clock out to maintain its two-TD lead.