SNOHOMISH — The Lake Stevens football team kept its decade-long run of Wesco dominance rolling on Friday, as the Vikings ended the regular season on a strong note.
Lake Stevens handled Glacier Peak 42-7 in a de facto Wesco 4A league championship game at Veterans Memorial Stadium, claiming its 10th straight title heading into the Week 10 playoffs.
After Friday’s Week 9 performance, it’s been 3,675 days since the Vikings lost a league contest.
“We knew we wanted to win a lot of games this year, that was our intention coming into the year. .. get as many home games as we can,” Vikings junior quarterback Kolton Matson said. “When it comes down to Lake Stevens culture, community is everything to us. So, playing at home is huge thing for us, it helps a lot.”
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Matson, who eclipsed the 2,000-yard passing mark on the season, finished the night with 213 yards through the air and two touchdowns while completing 16-of-19 passes.
Lake Stevens (8-1, 4-0) bolted out to a 28-0 halftime advantage as Matson hit Paul Varela from 12 yards out, giving the Vikings a commanding four-touchdown lead with 41 seconds left in the second period. Varela finished with five receptions and 76 yards.
“When you don’t play very well against a really good football team, that’s what happens,” Glacier Peak head coach Shane Keck said.
The Grizzlies (6-3, 3-1), had one of their opportunities to climb back into the fold in the second period, as the GP defense held Lake Stevens to a missed field goal with under five minutes left before intermission.
However, at the 4:33 mark, Vikings defensive back Gabe Kylany scooped up a Glacier Peak fumble and returned it seven yards for the score as Lake Stevens took a 21-0 lead.
Jayshon Limar, who had missed the past several weeks due to injury, was slotted back in at running back for the Vikings. The junior supplied 108 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 14 attempts, adding a 53-yard grab.
Limar’s screen reception set himself up for a 2-yard plunge at the 10:43 mark in the second, giving Lake Stevens a 14-0 lead.
In the second half, Glacier Peak got a needed shot in the arm from senior running back Chrisvin Bonshe, who compiled 111 yards on 20 carries.
After GP forced a three-and-out on Lake Stevens opening second-half drive, Bonshe took two carries up the middle for 10 yards a piece before blasting up the sidelines on a 30-yard rushing score, making it a three-possession contest at the 8:50 mark in the third.
“I thought we made some plays on defense, we did some good things,” Keck said. “Offensively, we really struggled tonight. We struggled to block people up front and we pride ourselves in our ability to run the football. Give credit to Lake Stevens, they played really well in the box and we had a hard time running the ball.”
Glacier Peak forced a second-straight punt on the Vikings following drive, but wouldn’t put together another clean offensive drive of their own for the rest of the night.
Lake Stevens crafted out an eight-play, 44-yard scoring drive, ending with a six-yard TD grab from David Brown (four receptions, 42 yards), giving the Vikings a 35-7 lead with 2:23 left in the third, and Limar’s fourth quarter TD made it 42-7.
“We got skills players all around,” Matson said. “We got everybody, and all the offensive weapons in the world. .. We’re locked and loaded, as long as they keep trusting me and believing in me, I’ll believe in them and now we’re just gonna get things rolling.”
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