SNOHOMISH – In a cluster of Marysville-Pilchuck High students who were celebrating Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium, a Tomahawks fan draped a white T-shirt over the front of Marquise Moses’ sweat-soaked No. 27 football jersey.
Moses beamed, and rightly so. His performance during M-P’s 15-14 upset victory over Snohomish summed up what the red letters on the shirt proclaim: “The future has arrived!”
Moses carried 34 times for 224 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning 9-yard score with 94 seconds to go, as the Tommies shocked the Snohomish Panthers in a Western Conference North Division battle.
After rushing for 145 yards and two scores in a win against Cascade last week, Moses again asserted himself as one of the area’s brightest new stars.
“Looking at him in the preseason, we weren’t sure, hoping that he was going to be our guy,” said Marysville-Pilchuck coach Rudy Grandbois, whose team improved to 2-0 in league and overall. “We’re very happy with the success he’s had and the offensive line did a great job tonight.”
Moses fumbled three times, losing one, but he held on when it counted most. Grandbois said he couldn’t fault Moses after such an outstanding performance.
“He’s trying to reach and get more yards every time. You can’t dog a guy for trying to get more yards and giving effort like he did.
“We’ll probably talk to him about it, but we’re gonna let it go right now.”
Moses and the rest of the Tommies watched in agony as it appeared Snohomish might mount a last-minute, game-winning drive. The Panthers got a 62-yard kickoff return from Sean Morishige to get within striking range, but Kevin Rodland mishandled quarterback Nick Caraballo’s handoff with 25 seconds to go. M-P linebacker Todd Zamora pounced on the loose ball to seal a surprising second consecutive defeat for Snohomish (0-2, 0-2).
“I was just thinking, ‘We have to stop them, and if we do we’re gonna win,’ ” Moses said of the nerve-racking final minute. “This was a lot tougher (than beating Cascade), and it showed how we can come together.”
The Tomahawks trailed 14-3 at the start of the fourth quarter, but their domination of the line of scrimmage pushed them to what Grandbois said he believes is M-P’s first victory against Snohomish since 1989.
Fullback Casey Fortin led the Panthers, running for 132 yards and two TDs on 20 carries. Snohomish was in control early but shot itself in the foot with an interception, the costly last-minute fumble and some key penalties.
“In the fourth quarter we couldn’t stop them,” Snohomish coach Mark Perry said. “They were kickin’ our tails out there up front. That kills you.”
Unlike last week when the Panthers started slow and lost 19-14 against lowly-regarded Arlington, Snohomish built an early lead Friday but then made too many miscues late.
“Our league is too tight to make mistakes like that,” Perry said. “We just gotta play better.”
Snohomish scored on the game’s opening drive when Fortin shot up the middle from the M-P 20 and reached the end zone with 8:55 to play in the first quarter. Panthers placekicker Ace Younggren made the point after.
Fortin struck again in the second quarter, scoring from 3 yards out with 4:07 to go in the half. Younggren made it 14-3.
Marysville-Pilchuck rode Moses’ shoulders to cut the deficit to 7-3. With 26 seconds to go in the first, Moses busted a 44-yard run from the M-P 17. On the 13th play of the drive, placekicker Kaleb Kuehn booted a 22-yard field goal with 6:05 to play in the first half.
With the Tommies’ window of opportunity closing quickly, Moses exploded for a 40-yard TD run with 8:03 remaining in the game. M-P failed on its two-point conversion run but, trailing 14-9 at that point, the Tomahawks were well on their way to a stunner.
At Snohomish
Marysville-Pilchuck03012-15
Snohomish7700-14
Snohomish-Fortin 20 run (Younggren kick)
M-P-Kuehn FG 22
Snohomish-Fortin 3 run (Younggren kick)
M-P-Moses 40 run (run failed)
M-P-Moses 9 run (run failed)
Records-Marysville-Pilchuck 2-0 in league, 2-0 overall. Snohomish 0-2, 0-2.
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