EDMONDS — Last week, the Marysville Pilchuck football team’s offense couldn’t find the end zone until the waning moments of its season-opening loss.
The Tomahawks were living in paydirt Friday.
Marysville Pilchuck scored touchdowns on all five of its first-half drives, and the Tomahawks’ defense added a touchdown, too, as Marysville Pilchuck bullied its way to a 49-0 nonconference win over Lynnwood at Edmonds Stadium.
“I thought we played really good in the first half,” Tomahawks coach Brandon Carson said. “We were very efficient. We threw the ball well. We ran it well. We got the ball in the red zone too much and didn’t come away with any points last week. Tonight, obviously, when we got down there, we did a good job.”
Marysville Pilchuck’s starters played only the first half, but running back Trenton Hurst ran for a 130 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Quarterback Kee-An Ballard completed 6-of-10 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran for 24 yards and two scores.
Sophomore Jordan Justice enjoyed a big night, returning a fumble for a touchdown while also catching a 36-yard touchdown pass.
The Tomahawks (1-1) quickly put Week 1’s offensive struggles in the past, marching 80 yards in eight plays for an opening-series touchdown. Hurst capped the scoring drive with a 2-yard plunge up the middle.
Following a Lynnwood missed field goal, Marysville Pilchuck’s offense gave the Royals more of the same — a steady dose of Hurst running right up the middle — and the junior back once more finished the drive with a 2-yard score, which put the Tomahawks in front 14-0 with 1 minute, 3 seconds to play in the first quarter.
”I thought our offensive line did a fabulous job up front creating some pretty big gashes for (Hurst) to run through,” Carson said. “He did a nice job. Kee-An did a nice job. It was just an all-around nice game for us.”
A third consecutive scoring drive — this one a six-play, 75-yard drive highlighted by a 56-yard pass from Ballard to Jordan Luton — finished with a Ballard 8-yard touchdown run to put Marysville Pilchuck in front 21-0 with 7:55 left in the second quarter.
Then, a stifling Tomahawks defense which created five turnovers and scored twice last week blew the game wide open. Lynnwood quarterback Nate Killen rolled out to his right, and as he elevated his arm to throw, a Marysville Pilchuck defender sacked him from behind, sending the ball bouncing to the turf. Justice scooped up the ball at the Royals’ 12-yard line and strolled into the end zone, giving the Tomahawks a 28-0 advantage.
“They are just flying around and doing a good job of rallying to the football,” Carson said of his defense. “We were able to force a turnover. The ball’s on the ground, the kids makes a heads-up play, picked it up and walked in for a touchdown. We just keep getting better, but we have to keep it up.”
Justice found himself back in the end zone minutes later.
After a Lynnwood three-and-out, Ballard connected with Justice on a beautifully thrown fly route down the left side of the field. The sophomore wideout was wide open, brought the ball in for a 36-yard score and extended Marysville Pilchuck’s lead to 35-0.
The Tomahawks weren’t done yet.
A high snap on a Lynnwood punt set Marysville Pilchuck up in prime scoring position just before the half ended. Ballard, facing a fourth-and-goal on the Lynnwood 7, scrambled and ran over a Royals defensive back at the goal line to put the Tomahawks in front 42-0 with 43 seconds to play in the half.
The score set up a second-half running clock.
For Lynnwood (0-2), its first-half struggles continued. A week removed from falling into a 26-0 halftime hole during a loss against Ballard, the Royals found themselves in a similar, but even worse, situation.
Lynnwood opened with a methodical 12-play drive but came up empty on a missed field goal. Three more times the Royals moved the ball into Tomahawks territory, but the Royals never finished, and their defense had no answer for Marysville Pilchuck’s potent attack.
Running back Connor Bjornson offered Lynnwood a bright spot, but the junior back exited midway through the second quarter with a leg injury.
Tomahawks running back Isaiah Galindo topped the decisive win a 13-yard touchdown run in which the junior back refused to go down before scoring. The touchdown gave Marysville Pilchuck a 49-0 advantage.
Next the Tomahawks open their Wesco 3A North schedule with a home game against Squalicum on Friday, while Lynnwood travels for a Wesco 3A South matchup against Snohomish.
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