All alone in first place

MONROE — It may not have been the prettiest victory in the history of Lake Stevens High School football, but it did the job.

The Vikings defeated the Monroe Bearcats 33-7 Friday night to take over sole possession of first place in the Wesco North and give the Vikings the inside track at the division championship. The Vikings can clinch the Wesco North title with a win over Marysville Pilchuck next Friday.

“We’ve got to win that game,” Lake Stevens head coach Tom Tri said. “If we win next Friday, we win the league. I’d like to say that we are in the driver’s seat, but no, we’ve got to go in and execute next Friday against Marysville.”

However you word it, the Vikings control their own destiny.

“We’ve still got a tough battle with Marysville next week and Stanwood the week after that,” Lake Stevens quarterback Jake Nelson said. “So we just have to get those two wins and we should be good, Wesco champs.”

Nelson helped Lake Stevens secure the lead early. On the Vikings’ first drive, he found Brady Pahukoa for a 3-yard touchdown pass that put Lake Stevens ahead. Minutes later, Nelson found the end zone himself on a 1-yard quarterback keeper for a 14-0 lead.

Nelson finished the game 17-for-22 passing for 204 yards and two touchdowns and the one rushing touchdown.

10.7.11 – Jake Nelson to Christian Gasca for 40 yard TD from Game Time Video Productions on Vimeo.

Lake Stevens maintained its 14-point lead for much of the second quarter, while the Monroe offense struggled to get anything going. With just over two minutes remaining in the first half, Nelson all but put the game away, finding Christian Gasca for a 40-yard touchdown to give the Vikings a 21-0 lead. Nelson dropped the ball on the outside shoulder of Gasca, where only he could make the play.

Lake Stevens added to that lead in the third quarter when Gasca intercepted a Hunter Bingham pass and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown.

The Bearcats finally found the end zone early in the fourth quarter when Bingham passed to Miguel Floresca-Cravens in the corner of the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown. Bingham and Floresca-Cravens connected on several passes in the second half, including the touchdown, but that was about all the offense Monroe could muster.

Defensively, Korey Young led the way for the Vikings. He finished with 21 tackles, including one sack. Very impressive statistics for the senior middle linebacker, but Young still managed to do something he had never done before on a football field. Late in the fourth quarter, Young intercepted another Bingham pass and returned it 43 yards for a Lake Stevens touchdown.

“Well, it’s the first touchdown I have ever scored in my entire life,” Young said. “It felt real good and it feels good to be on the other side of the ball and to come home with a win.

Tri wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance in the second half, but Young’s touchdown helped ease his frustration.

“I’m really kind of upset with the way we played in the second half with our offense, but I suppose I would trade all that in for Korey getting a touchdown in this game,” Tri said. “If anyone deserved it, it would be Korey. So I am just proud that he made a read and was in the right spot at the right time and then was nifty enough to make a little cutback to work his way into the end zone. He wanted it bad.”

Nelson was happy for Young, but had a laugh at his teammate’s expense.

“It’s awesome, last year he kept dropping all these interceptions and this year he catches one and takes it to the house,” Nelson said. “He looked like a running back out there. It was sweet.”

Vikings linebacker Andrew Elgean wasn’t far behind Young. Elgean finished with 20 tackles.

Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Contact him at aaronlommers@gmail.com , follow live blogs at www.heraldnet.com/prepzone and follow him on twitter @aaronlommers.

At Monroe H.S.

Lake Stevens 7 14 6 6 — 33

Monroe 0 0 0 7 — 7

LS–Pahukoa 3 pass from Nelson (Sellars kick)

LS–Nelson 1 run (Sellars kick)

LS–Gasca 40 pass from Nelson (Sellars kick)

LS–Gasca 25 interception return (kick blocked)

Mon–Floresca-Cravens 30 pass from Bingham (Felder kick)

LS–Young 43 interception return (kick blocked)

Records-Lake Stevens 3-0 league, 6-0 overall, Monroe 2-1 league, 4-2 overall