SNOHOMISH — It’s heaven for a first-year starting quarterback.
On one side you see 6-foot-3 Rodrick Rumble, a standout high-jumper with eye-popping quickness. On the opposite side you see 6-5 wideout Michael Bell, who is a bit taller with comparable leaping ability and plenty of speed.
Yes, it’s good to be Johnny Encinas.
Encinas, a first-year starting QB for the Oak Harbor High School football team, made the most of his teammates’ numerous talents and put on an offensive show in the Wildcats’ impressive 38-10 victory over the Snohomish Panthers Friday. Watched by an overflowing crowd that exceeded 3,000, Encinas shredded Snohomish’s defense, completing 17 of 22 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns in a highly anticipated Western Conference North Division game at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Snohomish led 10-7 in the second quarter but Oak Harbor scored 31 consecutive points to trip up the previously undefeated Panthers (3-1). Oak Harbor, the defending Class 4A state champion, improved to 3-0 in the division (4-0 overall) and certainly backed up its No. 4 ranking in the current Associated Press 4A poll.
“It was a nice offensive win. We felt like when we got the ball we were gonna drive on ‘em,” said Oak Harbor coach Dave Ward, whose team won for the 11th straight time and won its third in a row versus Snohomish.
Encinas essentially clinched it for the Wildcats early in the fourth quarter. He gained 2 yards on a sneak up the middle on fourth-and-1 at the Snohomish 9-yard line. On the next play sophomore running back Donovan Hunt (nine carries, 79 yards) ran untouched around the right side and Oak Harbor led 31-10 with 10:39 to go in the game.
Encinas, a 6-1 senior, was on target virtually all night. He now has 12 TD passes in four games this season.
“He might have missed one pass in the end zone to (6-4 senior tight end Jake Rouser) — just overthrew him by an inch or 2. Otherwise, he was on,” Ward said. “He felt good. He was relaxed.”
It’s easy to be content with talented skill players like Bell (eight catches, 70 yards, two TDs), Rumble (five catches, 64 yards, one TD) and Rouser (two catches, 60 yards) on your side.
“(Encinas) was having fun out there and his receivers were running nice routes for him,” said Ward, “and everybody caught the ball.”
Unfortunately for Snohomish, Oak Harbor also had an effective rushing attack. Senior back Chris Valencia (17 carries, 93 yards, one score) combined with Hunt to gain 172 yards on the ground.
Snohomish’s Derek Jones, who entered the game as the area’s leading rusher with 589 yards, had another strong performance. He gained 158 yards on 19 attempts and scored the Panthers’ only TD, a 56-yard first-quarter burst.
But Snohomish’s run-focused offense isn’t exactly equipped to recover from a deficit like the one Oak Harbor built in the second half.
Oak Harbor receivers Rumble and Bell said the decisive victory felt great after the Wildcats barely pulled off a 14-9 non-division victory last week against 3A Meadowdale.
“We came out slow (against Meadowdale) and we wanted to come out and make a statement (versus Snohomish) because we are a superior team, we feel,” said Rumble.
Added Bell, who made a spectacular leaping TD catch in the second quarter, “We treated this game like it was a playoff game, so (it made us) work harder than we usually do.”
Early on, the massive crowd, which included hundreds of people crammed into a grass-covered area adjacent to the tightly packed stands, had reasons to cheer both teams. The squads combined for many efficient, mistake-free drives in the first half.
The offenses were productive and comparable in terms of yards gained.
Oak Harbor tallied 199 yards through two quarters.
Snohomish had 195 (178 on the ground).
Although their offensive styles are very different — Oak Harbor mixes in as many passes as runs — the teams each chewed up yards and time.
In the end, Snohomish hurt itself with three lost fumbles in the final two quarters.
The second one came at its own 34, and Oak Harbor quickly responded with a pivotal seven-play scoring drive and took a 21-point lead.
At Veterans Memorial Stadium
Oak Harbor710014—38
Snohomish7300 —10
Oak Harbor-Valencia 15 run (Johnston kick)
Snohomish-Jones 6 run (Wiseman kick)
Snohomish-FG Wiseman 35
Oak Harbor-Bell 20 pass from Encinas (Johnston kick)
Oak Harbor-FG Flavin 34
Oak Harbor-Bell 5 pass from Encinas (Johnston kick)
Oak Harbor-Hunt 7 run (Johnston kick)
Oak Harbor-Rumble 14 pass from Encinas (Johnston kick)
Records-Oak Harbor 3-0 in division, 4-0 overall. Snohomish 3-1, 3-1.
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