SHORELINE — Glacier Peak’s spread offense did its job while its defense shut down Shorecrest as the Grizzlies secured a playoff berth in the first year of the football program.
Sophomore wide receiver Tanner Southard caught touchdown passes of 9 and 24 yards and finished with 147 yards receiving in Glacier Peak’s 34-7 Wesco 3A win Friday night at Shoreline Stadium.
“It feels great to have the opportunity to go the playoffs,” Southard said.
Glacier Peak improved its record to 3-1 league, 5-4 overall and clinched the league’s second playoff berth. The Grizzlies, who are in their first year as Snohomish’s second high school, have no seniors.
Both teams had to win to assure themselves a postseason spot or face a tiebreaker if they lost. On the game’s first drive, Shorecrest made an early statement going 92 yards in three plays. The Scots’ Jordan Brown broke loose over the left side of his line for a 55-yard touchdown run less than a minute into the game.
But Glacier Peak answered with 34 unanswered points and its defense made adjustments to stymie the Shorecrest running attack.
The Grizzlies cut the lead to 7-6 on a 9-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Zach Richter to Southard. A 20-yard completion from Richter to Southard kept the drive going on a third-and-7 play.
The Grizzlies took the lead for good on a 7-yard touchdown run by Alex Stepanchenko with 5:36 left in the half. Southard caught a 16-yard pass on fourth-and-12 to keep that drive alive. The two-point conversion from Richter to Luke Westberg made it 14-7, after Brown blocked Glacier Peak’s first extra point.
With Glacier Peak driving late in the half, Shorecrest caught a break when Michael Harris intercepted Richter in the end zone and took off down the sideline headed for open field. But an inadvertent whistle by an official blew the play dead and the Scots took over on their own 12-yard line.
On the next series, Glacier Peak linebacker Hunter Lundstrom drilled Brown and the ball squirted loose. Nick Sage pounced on it in the end zone to give Glacier Peak a 21-7 halftime edge after Jackson Miller’s extra point.
Much has been made about Glacier Peak’s spread offense that had averaged 40 points in its last five games, but it was the defense Glacier Peak coach Rory Rosenbach wanted to talk about.
“They made the necessary adjustments. They did a phenomenal job of containing (Shorecrest running back Harris) who is a heck of a playmaker,” Rosenbach said. ” They controlled the line of scrimmage. They were flying around in the secondary. Guys were coming up and forcing plays. We got some turnovers. That turnover right before the half, the touchdown, that’s the biggest play of the year.”
Glacier Peak tacked on a 24-yard pass play from Richter to Southard in the third quarter and a 4-yard touchdown run by Nathan Wirtz in the fourth quarter.
Richter completed 15 of 30 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. The Grizzlies finished with 121 yards rushing and 252 yards passing for 373 total yards. Shorecrest had over 100 yards rushing in the first quarter but finished with only 150 yards rushing for the game and 15 yards passing while committing four turnovers.
At Shoreline Stadium
Glacier Peak61567—34
Shorecrest7000—7
Shorecrest—Brown 55 run (Terrel kick)
Glacier Peak—Southard 9 pass from Richter (kick blocked)
Glacier Peak—Stepanchenko 7 run (Westberg pass from Richter)
Glacier Peak—Sage fumble recovery in end zone (Miller kick)
Glacier Peak—Southard 24 pass from Richter (kick failed)
Glacier Peak—Wirtz 4 run (Miller kick)
Records: Glacier Peak 3-1 league, 5-4 overall. Shorecrest 2-2, 4-5.
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