Lake Stevens falls flat in the mud

By Aaron Coe

Herald Writer

MOUNT VERNON — When Mount Vernon scored against Lake Stevens late in the first quarter Friday night, few thought that’d be the whole show.

But it was. The Bulldogs made the touchdown stand up for a 7-0 victory over previously unbeaten Lake Stevens.

The skies above the Mount Vernon High School football field might have been clear, but the field certainly wasn’t.

The grass had been victimized by heavy rains for much of Friday. That earlier downpour resulted in an offensive drought for two teams that came into Friday night’s contest 1-2 in the Western Conference North Division standings.

The Bulldogs muffled the Vikings’ potent offense, then muddied the division standings. Both teams are 5-1 in the North Division. Mount Vernon (6-1 overall), forced four Lake Stevens turnovers while erasing some of the sting of last week’s 35-14 loss to Snohomish.

"That (Snohomish) game was a bunch of guys who were listening to the state rankings," Mount Vernon coach Paul Christenson said.

The Associated Press top 10 ranking disappeared after the Snohomish loss, but might be back soon enough. The defense that took much of last week’s game off was all over the field against the Vikings, who were missing starting tailback Justin Balunsat. Balunsat was serving a mandatory one-game suspension because of two personal fouls against Monroe in Lake Stevens’ 61-0 victory a week ago.

The Vikings had many opportunities to score in the game, including two deep in Mount Vernon’s territory late in the game.

Both of those drives ended with interceptions by Bulldogs safety Tim Woodmansee.

"I just found myself in the right spot," Woodmansee said. "This is big for us. That’s a season changer right there."

Middle linebacker Justin Adkins and defensive back Kyle Kendrick also made several key stops for the Bulldogs and harassed the Lake Stevens offense all evening long. Kendrick, also the team’s quarterback, completed four of 14 passes for 90 yards.

"Our kids on defense just rose up," Christianson said. "Justin Adkins — if there’s a better middle linebacker, show me. He’s impressive every week. Today he was running sideline to sideline."

Never mind that these teams averaged better than 30 points apiece per game. On a field that resembled a Slip-N-Slide, one little slip on defense was all it took to put Mount Vernon in first place.

Other than water-logged clods of dirt and grass flying, not a lot happened in the first half. The exception was a couple of big plays by the Bulldogs that amounted to the only scoring.

On second-and-9 from his own 35, Kendrick used a pump fake, then went deep to a streaking Tim Lehr for a 48-yard gain.

On the next play, Brian Bianchi scored on a 17-yard run for a 7-0 Bulldogs lead with 3:10 remaining in the first quarter.

That was it, but that was enough.

"That was a real football game — in the mud," Woodmansee said. "That’s the way football should be played."

The Vikings ventured inside the Mount Vernon 20 three times in the second half, but came away empty-handed every time. And that doesn’t count Woodmansee’s interceptions, both of which came after Lake Stevens receivers tipped high passes. His diving interception with 17 seconds remaining finally sealed victory.

Despite its rocky offensive showing, the Vikings’ defense was nearly as stout as Mount Vernon’s.

Eric Curnett ended a promising Mount Vernon drive by intercepting a pass at the Lake Stevens 15-yard line early in the second quarter.

Vikings defensive back Kevin Hutchinson gave Lake Stevens possession at the Mount Vernon 27 with a fumble recovery with 1:06 remaining in the half, but Kendrick’s diving break up of a Lake Stevens’ fourth-down pass ended the drive.

Lake Stevens running back Nate Thomason gained 53 yards on nine first-half carries in his first career start and finished with 20 carries for 113 yards.