Pilchuck squishes Getchell in the first ‘Berry Bowl’

MARYSVILLE — Normally, when the Marysville Getchell football team looks up and sees a “7” under the “Visitor” score at Quil Ceda Stadium, it’s very happy.

Friday night was the one exception.

Dubbed “The Berry Bowl,” the Chargers took on crosstown rival Marysville Pilchuck, and fell behind early as the Tomahawks rolled to a 42-7 win in the first meeting between the two teams.

“It’s a good win,” Pilchuck head coach Brandon Carson said. “The inaugural Berry Bowl … is a very big deal.”

It was the first contest between two Marysville schools since 1976, when Marysville and Pilchuck high schools were combined into one. Getchell, which opened two years ago, split the Marysville student population once again, and set the stage for another budding crosstown rivalry.

“This is great,” said Tomahawks quarterback Jake Luton. “We were pretty nervous getting ready for this one.”

Carson said his team was perhaps a bit more eager than usual to get this particular game under way.

“They’ve been pretty excited all week,” he said. “Once the ball is kicked off, though, it’s football. I was really, really proud of the way our players competed tonight. They showed up.”

The Tomahawks scored on every drive except their last one when many of the starters had been taken out of the game. Getchell could not stop the ground game led by Kacey Walker and Austin Joyner. Walker rushed for 170 yards on 17 carries, and Joyner ran the ball 11 times for 102 yards. Each had a rushing touchdown.

“I thought we ran the ball pretty well,” Carson said. “A lot of people’s key is to stop Joyner. Walker (a senior) has been consistent for us every year.”

Luton was also a force to be reckoned with. Despite just 12 yards rushing on six carries, two of them were for touchdowns. The junior also completed 4 of 6 passes for 73 yards, with half of his completions resulting in touchdowns.

Conner Martinis and Dante Fields caught touchdown receptions of 19 and 8 yards, respectively.

“I tip my hat to those at MP,” Davis Lura, the Chargers’ head coach, said. “We had trouble stopping them. I think we grew up today a lot playing a team of that caliber.”

Game of the Week: 9.28.12 – Marysville-Getchell Chargers @ Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks – Berry Bowl from Game Time Video Productions on Vimeo.

Luton, Walker and Joyner helped lead the Tomahawks down the field on a 10-play, 63-yard drive to start the game that took 5 minutes and 30 seconds. It was punctuated by the first of two 1-yard touchdown runs by Luton.

“We executed on all parts,” Luton said. “They keyed in on Joyner and he still rushed for over 100 yards.”

Walker helped take some of the burden off the Tomahawks’ star runner. There was one other aspect of MP’s offense that Luton really appreciated. “Our offensive line kicked butt,” he said.

The Tomahawks continued to roll, taking a 28-0 lead into halftime, thanks to Martinis’s touchdown reception three seconds before the second quarter ended. After the break, MP put up two more touchdowns, to give it a 42-0 advantage, and begin a running clock under the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association mercy rule with 1:48 remaining in the third quarter.

“Marysville’s had a small-town mentality, so this is probably one of the biggest games ever on this field,” Walker said.

The win ended the first winning streak in Marysville Getchell’s short history. The Chargers won their first game ever two weeks ago against Shorewood, and followed that with a 24-8 victory over Stanwood last week.

The Chargers punted on their first two drives, and turned the ball over on downs on their final shot before halftime. At the break, Marysville Getchell had minus-4 yards rushing and 14 yards passing, for a total of 10 offensive yards.

In the fourth quarter, MG finally got on the board with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Diedrich to Wil Owens. Diedrich finished 10-of-26 for 122 yards and an interception.

Lura said that even in the final minutes of the game, the Chargers’ coaching staff was trying to teach and help Getchell improve in the second half of the season.

“(The touchdown) helped with our team confidence,” Lura said. “We’re still teaching them stuff. Trying to take as many positives as we could. We can always get better.”

The contest was the first league game for MP, which improved to 4-1 overall. The Chargers fell to 0-2 in league and 2-3 overall.

“I’m happy for two reasons,” Carson said. “First, we got the win. Two, we’re undefeated in league.”

At Marysville Pilchuck H.S.

Marysville Getchell0007—7

Marysville Pilchuck1414140—42

MP—Jake Luton 1 run (Ryan Spiva kick)

MP—Austin Joyner 18 run (Spiva kick)

MP—Luton 1 run (Spiva kick)

MP—Conner Martinis 19 pass from Luton (Spiva kick)

MP—Dante Fields 8 pass from Luton (Spiva kick)

MP—Kacey Walker 2 run (Spiva kick)

MG—Wil Owens 14 pass from Dylan Diedrich (Eli Angulo kick)