Edmonds-Woodway football starting to click in restorative season

EDMONDS — For Edmonds-Woodway football, this season has been about rebuilding trust and self-discovery.

After a turbulent 2024 campaign that saw head coach Bill Marsh inexplicably resign after just five games with the program, going 1-4 and providing no reason for his sudden departure, which pulled longtime Warriors coach John Gradwohl back out of retirement to finish out the 4-6 season, former assistant coach Joe Roth took over the program.

On top of installing a new offense (Spread) and a slightly different defensive structure (Okie Front) from the previous season, Roth — who coached on the Edmonds-Woodway staff from 2014-2019 and returned in 2025 from Stanwood’s staff — had to earn the trust of his players.

“A new guy came in and said, ‘Hey, you don’t know me, but trust me,’ and then it didn’t work out,” Roth said. “So I said the same thing: ‘You don’t know me, but trust me,’ and just developing those relationships with the kids. Just doing all the little things.

“I think it’s really gone a long way, and I think we’re really bought in.”

That effort started all the way back during summer workouts, and with a mix of faces old and new on the coaching staff, it didn’t take long for the players to see things would play out differently this year than last.

“I think there’s just an air of like, coming back from last season,” senior offensive/defensive lineman Alex White said. “Coming back, becoming a team. We know we can be a much better team than last year, and I think just having more-involved coaches has brought up the morale.”

The Warriors started off 3-0, scoring over 50 points in two of the wins but facing programs that have a combined 5-16 record entering this weekend’s slate. What followed was an upset 34-31 loss to Meadowdale, where the Mavericks won on a last-second touchdown after Edmonds-Woodway overcame a 10-point deficit to take the lead.

Reflecting on that Sept. 26 matchup, Roth said he takes responsibility for not preparing his team enough, falling for what he called “a trap game.” The team returned to practice that week with a new level of intensity, bringing extra focus to film and fixing assignment issues that plagued the team in the loss.

“Our team was definitely down,” senior defensive back/quarterback Andrew Bau said. “But all the captains, we lifted up the whole team, and ever since, we’ve been a lot better about staying positive and staying confident week by week.”

The next week saw progress, building up a halftime lead but eventually losing 28-25 against a strong Sedro-Woolley program that is still undefeated (7-0) entering this weekend.

Entering their final three regular-season matchups, the Warriors stood at a crossroads. With a variety of outcomes against a wide range of opponents, the team still needed to figure out who they were.

“Do we play bad teams or are we good?” Roth said. “Is it a mixture of both? And then losing kind of brought us down to reality. This is where we are. … It’s a learning curve throughout that, and in the long run, those losses will probably be good for us, right? And so we don’t get too high.”

With a refocused mindset, Edmonds-Woodway scored 41 points in each of its next two games, picking up wins against 2-5 Shorecrest (41-0) and a Shorewood team that entered the game 5-1. Facing a a Wesco 3A South contender, the Warriors ran away with a 41-14 victory on Oct. 17.

Roth cited the team’s ability to control the line of scrimmage and stop the Stormrays’ run game as big factors in the result, as well as the motivation of knowing that whichever team lost would fall out of the race for the league’s top spot.

“I think we just got a whole lot better during those weeks,” senior receiver/defensive back Cruz Escandon said. “We faced adversity, and then just got better. Our run game was working well, and we passed (well). Everything was just clicking for us.”

Entering the final week of the regular season, Edmonds-Woodway is still in control of its own destiny. A win against Mountlake Terrace on Thursday would put both teams at 6-1 in league play, but the Warriors would own the tie-breaker with the head-to-head win.

It won’t be an easy task facing a Hawks squad that entered the season as the league favorites and has allowed more than seven points in a game just once so far this season, in a 35-14 win against Shorewood on Oct. 10.

The Warriors hope their ability to make explosive plays allows them to test the Mountlake Terrace defense, and that their strength on the line of scrimmage carries over in an effort to stifle an effective Hawks run game led by quarterback Mason Wilson and running back Owen Boswell.

Even with so much at stake, the Warriors are staying even-keeled as they try to cap their restoration season with a league title.

“The focus is always on us,” White said. “We’re always trying to get better. They’re a good team, obviously, but again, it’s just another game. No need to put it up super high, stress everyone out. We’re good. We’re us. I think we’ll go out and perform how we always do.”