Archbishop Murphy football spoils Lakewood’s season opener 48-24

ARLINGTON — Friday-night football was back under the stadium lights at Lakewood High School on Sept. 6, and there was probably no better way for Archbishop Murphy to begin its season than by scoring six touchdowns, three per half, and topping Northwest Conference 2A rival Lakewood, 48-24.

The Wildcats (1-0 league, 1-0 overall) didn’t need to throw the football much since junior running back Marcus Gaffney ran in four touchdowns, totaling 104 yards. Senior running back Jevin Madison and junior wide receiver Henry Gabalis also tallied a rushing touchdown apiece.

“Develop depth, make sure we got guys in the right spots,” said Archbishop Murphy second-year coach Joe Cronin about his team’s preparation for their first-week opponent. “They’re a tough team to play week one because we have a lot of formations, lot of trick plays. I’ve coached for a long time — there’s stuff I’ve never seen before (that Lakewood pulled off). … (The game) could have gone either way. That got hairy for a while. We battled, and then they made some plays, and then our guys found a way to battle back. So just kind of that grit. Hopefully, it keeps going.

“We got to contain the edge better. … They had a few trick plays, No. 4 (Bakary Sonko) got loose down the sideline,” Cronin continued. “Offensively, we just kind of wore them down. … I like the way we blocked up front. We ran super hard. We fought through adversity.”

The Cougars’ (0-1, 0-1) scores came from a mix of running and throwing plays.

Senior running back Daniel Amevo was wide open along the right sideline near the beginning of the second quarter for Lakewood’s first touchdown, an 80-yard reception flea-flicker from senior quarterback Nash Espe.

Senior wide receiver Bakary Sonko scored the Cougars’ other two touchdowns of the night. His first came in the beginning of the third quarter, which stemmed from a 53-yard run swinging-gate play. Sonko then secured the 2-point conversion off the same type of formation. His second score occurred near the end of the quarter after catching the kickoff near Lakewood’s endzone and bringing it near the Wildcats’ 25-yard line, which helped lead to another swinging-gate scheme where he drove in a 21-yard reception from Espe on the first play of the drive.

“They run the Wing-T offense. They want to be physical. They want to come downhill,” said Cougars second-year coach Adam McShane. “We are a spread RPO (run-pass-option) team. We want to throw the ball more than we run, but the quarterback always has the option based on what the defense shows, and so sometimes they presented us looks where we run.

“Strategy was we wanted to do things different,” said McShane about his team’s preparation for their first-week opponent. “We wanted to get the ball into our athletes’ hands and present them different pictures. … that they couldn’t have possibly prepared for.”

Archbishop Murphy maintained its lead throughout the game. They led 24-10 at halftime, and once Lakewood got to within three, 27-24, less than a minute before the third quarter ended, the Wildcats tacked on three more scores.

Gaffney ran the football in from six, nine, 58 and 31 yards out, respectively, and Madison’s and Gabalis’ scores came from 20 yards out each. Archbishop Murphy junior kicker Kyler Phillips was 100% in PATs and field goals, as was Lakewood’s Sonko.

Espe finished the night with 14 of 22 completed passes and 204 passing yards, Sonko earned 64 rushing yards and Amevo 80 receiving yards.

Friday also marked the beginning of a new era in Northwest Conference 2A. Due to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s reclassification for the 2024-28 school years, Sedro-Woolley moved up to Wesco 3A North while Marysville Pilchuck switched places and moved down.

While both Archbishop Murphy and Lakewood still have Anacortes and Lynden, two experienced state-tournament championship programs, as regular-season opponents, the removal and addition of new teams will be something both squads adjust to.

“With our senior group and how skilled-position heavy we are, we think there’s going to be a couple physical matchups on our schedule,” McShane said. “Teams that play spread and want to throw the ball, we’re going to go toe-to-toe with them, and we’re going to win a lot of football games. Our next stretch are the three Bellingham schools. … We’re ready for them, and we’re excited about that. I moved up here to coach the Northwest Conference because it’s the SEC of Washington 2A football. And if you get a chance at a week-10 meaningful game, you’re going to make a deep playoff run.”

The Wildcats face Burlington-Edison, and the Cougars battle Bellingham on Sept. 13.