Week 10 of the prep football season saw local teams battle for state tournament berths with their seasons on the line.
Many squads were sent home and just a couple got through to the final 16 in their respective classifications.
MARCHING ON
Week 10 wasn’t kind to teams from Snohomish County, but Lake Stevens and Snohomish each came away with victories to guarantee themselves at least one more game.
Class 4A No. 2 Lake Stevens, Wesco 4A’s top seed in Week 10 playoff matchups, rolled to a 56-0 victory Kentlake in a rematch of last season’s Week 10 matchup that Lake Stevens won 51-0.
The Vikings are heading to their fifth straight state tournament and have averaged to outscore opponents by 37 points per game this season.
Snohomish’s path wasn’t quite as easy.
The Panthers led most of the way but couldn’t shake a three-win Garfield team that was without star linebacker Sav’ell Smalls — a five-star recruit in the class of 2020 with offers from the likes of Alabama, Florida State and Washington.
Up 13 points with Garfield facing fourth-and-10 from the Panthers’ 17-yard line with just under seven minutes remaining, Snohomish had a chance to seal the game in the fourth quarter. But the Panthers defense couldn’t hold, and the Bulldogs made it a one-score game, 42-35, on 17-yard TD strike.
Garfield recovered the ensuing onside kick but couldn’t capitalize after being called for a sideline infraction that negated a 23-yard pass.
The Panthers forced a turnover on downs but couldn’t run out the clock and gave Garfield one more shot to tie it up.
Again, though, penalties bit the Bulldogs, and the Panthers held on to clinch their first trip to state since 2007.
END OF THE ROAD
Eleven of the 13 teams playing for state tournament berths this weekend saw their seasons come to an end.
Perhaps the biggest upset of the weekend was Sehome’s 37-9 win over 2A No. 9 Archbishop Murphy on Friday. The Wildcats opened the scoring with a first quarter touchdown pass, but it was all Mariners from there on out.
Sehome ran off 37-unanswered points and left Terry Ennis Field with signature victory for a team that was playing an independent schedule in 2017 as it tried to restore its suffering program. With the loss, Archbishop Murphy failed to make the state tournament for just the fourth time since 2002.
Arlington — playing without standout wide receiver Griffin Gardoski — was no match for Bethel and Division-I recruit Will Latu on Friday. The Eagles fell 50-15, ending a wild season that included numerous heroic late-game efforts from quarterback Anthony Whitits.
Glacier Peak was delivered a tough blow Saturday when standout dual-threat quarterback Ayden Ziomas left the team’s matchup with Eastlake with an arm injury after taking his fifth sack of the night. The Grizzlies simply couldn’t muster much on offense with their starting signal-caller sidelined, falling to the Wolves 25-9.
Monroe, Shorecrest, Shorewood, Oak Harbor, Lakewood, South Whidbey, Cedar Park Christian and King’s were all sent packing in games decided by three scores or more.
NORTHWEST NIGHTMARE
It would be an understatement to say local teams faired poorly against their counterparts from Whatcom and Skagit counties.
Once again, the squads north on the I-5 corridor proved why their talent-rich football programs are highly regarded.
The showing of dominance started Tuesday when Northwest 1A’s No. 3 team, Mount Baker, thrashed North Sound Conference No. 4 Granite Falls 61-0 in a Week 10 play-in game.
Friday saw more of the same in 1A games as Meridian trounced South Whidbey 59-8, jumping out to a 49-0 lead and losing its shutout with just 40 seconds remaining. Then, Lynden Christian routed King’s 42-14 after taking a 42-0 lead into the fourth quarter.
North Sound No. 1 Cedar Park Christian was the league’s last hope to to get a team to state, but the Eagles were no match for Mount Baker in a 49-10 loss on Saturday.
The area’s 2A teams didn’t fare much better.
Archbishop Murphy fell to Sehome, and Burlington-Edison scored 22-unanswered points after trailing 12-7 to thwart Lakewood’s hopes at ending a six year state-tournament drought on Friday.
To top off the big week for schools up north, 1A Nooksack Valley — which finished last in its conference — beat 3A Stanwood 26-16 in a non-conference tilt on Friday.
WEEK 10 STARS
Tom Lewis, sr., Lake Stevens
Lewis carried the ball 11 times and totaled 152 yards and two touchdowns in the Vikings’ 56-0 victory over Kentlake.
Kasen Kinchen, jr., Lake Stevens
Kinchen caught a pair of TD passes and totaled 136 yards on six receptions in the Vikings’ win.
Tyler Massena, sr., Snohomish
Massena ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries and added 62 yards on four receptions in the Panthers’ 42-35 win over Garfield.
Tyler Larson, sr., Snohomish
Larson rushed for 104 yards and two scores on 18 carries and added 17 yards on a pair of receptions in the Panthers’ win.
Davis Campbell, jr., King’s
Campbell hauled in seven receptions for 71 yards and a pair of TDs in the Knights’ 42-14 loss Lynden Christian.
Caleb Koellmer, sr, Marysville Getchell
Koellmer completed 22 of 34 passes for 313 yards and a touchdown and added a pair of scores on the ground — including the game-winner with seven seconds left in the game — in the Chargers’ 43-40 win over Cascade.
