EDMONDS — The first minute of Friday night’s contest between Jackson and Edmonds-Woodway belonged to the Timberwolves.
The Warriors shined the rest of the way.
After Jackson scored on a 70-yard touchdown pass 59 seconds into the game, Edmonds-Woodway put up the next 35 points in the battle of former Wesco 4A South rivals. The Warriors, who moved to the Wesco 3A South this season, went on to win 35-14 Friday in the season opener for both teams.
“(Except for) that one play, our defense played an outstanding, outstanding game,” Edmonds-Woodway head coach John Gradwohl said. “… That’s a remarkable game because usually (the rivalry) comes down to the … last play of the game. Usually they give me a heart attack or I give them a heart attack. They’re a good football staff and a good football program, so I’m happy to come away with a win.”
Jackson received the opening kick and, on the Timberwolves’ second play from scrimmage, got a 70-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Alex Cheesman to Keynan Foster, giving Jackson a 7-0 lead with 11:01 left in the first quarter.
Edmonds-Woodway, while taking a little longer than 59 seconds, responded with a scoring drive capped by a 16-yard touchdown run by Chantz Justice.
Jackson punted on its next possession. After three consecutive penalties, E-W faced a third-and-25, but quarterback Nick Morales — in his first game as a starter — found running back Connor McCole down the sideline for a 32-yard completion to keep the drive alive. McCole capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give Edmonds-Woodway its first lead of the game.
“I felt great behind those guys,” said Morales, who finished 5-of-7 for 117 yards. “That (offensive line) got going. We were all pumped up and ready to go. … We just wanted to get back out there (after Jackson’s touchdown). It was just a missed assignment and stuff like that happens. We rebounded great. That was the big thing. Our offense and defense were able to come back from that and play good football.”
Things then went from bad to worse for Jackson. On their next drive, Warriors defensive back Anthony Schlegel intercepted Cheesman and returned the ball to the Jackson 15-yard line. Soon after, Nick Venema had a 15-yard TD run for the Warriors.
Edmonds-Woodway wasn’t done scoring in the half. The Warriors’ Tyler Rheinford blocked a Jackson punt, once again giving the Warriors excellent field position. That led to a 3-yard scoring run by Justice.
McCole rushed for E-W’s final score, from 5 yards out, midway through the third quarter.
“Our kids stayed in the game,” Gradwohl said. “You worry when you have a lead going into the second half that they’re going to be happy and let up and I didn’t see that.”
Justice led a balanced rushing attack with 55 yards on seven carries. Venema ran the ball eight times for 47 yards and McCole scored touchdowns on half of his four carries and finished with 12 yards.
“A lot of those guys play defense, too, so we’re trying to spread it around,” Gradwohl said. “A lot of different guys can run the ball, as you saw. So we’re trying to keep them all healthy and keep them all fresh.”
Edmonds-Woodway had a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown by McCole negated by a holding penalty. Gradwohl said cutting back on the yellow flags is going to be the Warriors’ focus going forward.
“First games, you just don’t know,” Gradwohl said. “… Look at the penalties. We’re happy in a lot of ways, but not happy in other ways. We’ve got to clean our game up a little bit. I’m just glad to get out of it, watch the film and get better for next week.”
At Edmonds Stadium
Jackson7007 — 14
Edmonds-Woodway72170 — 35
Jackson—Keynan Foster 70 pass from Alex Cheesman (Chandler Woolley kick)
E-W—Chantz Justice 16 run (Ebrima Fatty kick)
E-W—Connor McCole 1 run (Fatty kick)
E-W—Nick Venema 15 run (Fatty kick)
E-W—Justice 3 run (Fatty kick)
E-W—McCole 5 run (Fatty kick)
Jackson—Brandon Wheeler 19 run (Woolley kick)
Records—Jackson 0-1 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 1-0.
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