TACOMA — Lightning couldn’t strike twice for the Lake Stevens Vikings football team.
Lake Stevens’ state semifinal game against Skyview was the reverse of its quarterfinal game against Eastlake a week earlier. In Sammamish, the Vikings took the lead on a safety not even two minutes into the game and never trailed. On Saturday night Skyview dominated from start to finish.
“We made some uncharacteristic mistakes to start the game off,” said Lake Stevens head coach Tom Tri after the game. “We just could never find a way to get the momentum.”
The big factor that led to a Lake Stevens upset against Eastlake was turnovers. The Vikings won the turnover battle, recovering two fumbles that helped them jump out against the Wolves. In the Skyview game the Storm won that fight, recovering three Lake Stevens fumbles and picking off Vikings senior quarterback Jake Nelson twice.
Nelson was another x-factor in the Vikings run to the semifinals. Nelson had 252 yards through the air on 19-of-26 passing. Skyview limited him to a completion percentage of a little over 50% (26-for-41) and 225 yards. In the third quarter, Nelson was walking with a noticeable limp on the field. But that didn’t stop him from continuing to throw the ball on the run and pound the football up the middle, right into the heart of the Storm’s swarming defense.
The Lake Stevens quarterback still through for two touchdowns. He spread the ball out to three receivers — all fellow seniors — with Christian Gasca pulling in eight receptions for a team-high 98 yards, Brady Pahukoa with a team-high nine grabs for 76 yards and running back Shae Giddens, who finished with seven receptions for 33 yards. Gasca and Pahukoa had the touchdown receptions
Lake Stevens finishes the year 12-1. Tri was bummed that the season ended on a loss, saying that “it’s terrible that this is the game that we chose to not execute the way that we should have.” The Lake Stevens coach tried not to make the game feel too big, but the Vikings looked rattled early on. The coach made it very clear, however, that he was very proud of his team and looks forward to improving next season.
“We’re gonna focus on the positives,” Tri said. “We had a great season. It obviously doesn’t feel very good right now but when these guys look back in a week or two I think they’re going to be dang proud of the season they had. I know I am very proud to be the head coach of Lake Stevens.”
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