SHORELINE — One week after celebrating a historic win, the Lakewood High School football team made history again on Friday night.
Someone else’s history.
The fifth-ranked Cougars found themselves on the other side of an upset Friday, when their steamroller ran out of gas early in the
third quarter and never recovered in a 51-25 loss to King’s. The Knights (5-1 overall, 3-1 in the Cascade Conference) piled up 595 yards of offense and outscored Lakewood 37-10 after halftime to punctuate one of the program’s more impressive victories of recent memory.
“I’ve been coaching here 18 years,” King’s coach Jim Shapiro said after the win, “and this is one of the biggest victories we’ve had. This is in the top five. The kids don’t even realize how big this win is. … I didn’t really know we had that in us.”
King’s running back Zach Evans, a 190-pound senior from Edmonds, rushed for 272 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries, and yet an argument could be made that he wasn’t even the Knights’ best player Friday night.
Junior quarterback Billy Green had another stellar performance, completing 21 of 27 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns, while brothers Caleb and Christian Taylor combined for 11 receptions for 144 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Younger brother Caleb accounted for two of the interceptions and 101 receiving yards.
Both of Caleb Taylor’s touchdown receptions came during an incredible second half explosion that saw the Knights score three touchdowns in a span of 31/2 minutes. Green had three consecutive completions go for touchdowns. His 11-yard pass to Ben Welch put King’s up 20-18 with 3:22 remaining in the third quarter, then Caleb Taylor recovered an onside kick, scored from 44 yards out two plays later and added a 28-yard reception on the first play of the fourth quarter.
After Lakewood quarterback Justin Peterson ran for a score from 5 yards out to pull the Cougars (5-1, 2-1) to within 32-25 with 9:14 remaining, the Knights responded with three rushing touchdowns in the final five minutes to put the game away.
Evans scored from 56 yards out with 4:02 to go to give King’s a 19-point lead and put the game away.
“I felt like as the game got going, our offensive line played really well,” he said. “We started running better, we started wearing them down, and they got tired.”
Afterward, Lakewood coach Dan Teeter was visibly upset by his team’s performance, which tasted even more bitter since it came one week after the Cougars handed Archbishop Murphy its first conference loss ever.
“I got outcoached, and they outplayed us,” Teeter said after Friday’s loss. “I warned them all week about it being a potential letdown game. I read them articles on letdown games.
“We’ve never been the top dog. We’re always chasing something. Archbishop Murphy was the goal all summer, and after the win we were thinking about that all week. That was a fun one, but this one hurts.”
At King’s H.S.
Lakewood 7 8 3 7 — 25
King’s 6 8 12 25 — 51
K–Zach Evans 1 run (run failed)
L–Donovan Evans 64 run (kick)
K–Christian Taylor 24 pass from Billy Green (Caleb Taylor pass from Green)
L–Brandon Stott 65 pass from Justin Peterson (Peterson run)
L–Alec Gotts 28 FG
K–Ben Welch 11 pass from Green (run failed)
K–Ca. Taylor 44 pass from Green (pass failed)
K–Ca.Taylor 28 pass from Green (pass failed)
L–Peterson 5 run (Gotts kick)
K–Trevor Hanson 3 run (run failed)
K–Evans 56 run (kick failed)
K–Jonathon Hockman 14 run (Joel Gleghorn kick)
Records–Lakewood 3-1 league, 5-1 overall. King’s 4-1, 5-1.
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