Many local teams entered Friday night with a chance to secure postseason berths. And others came in with their backs against the wall needing a victory to keep legitimate hopes for a postseason berth in sight.
Coming into the night in a three-way tie for fourth place with Cascade and Mount Vernon, Mariner traveled to Glacier Peak for a Wesco 4A battle. The Marauders nearly pulled of an upset against the Grizzlies, whose only loss of the season came last week against top-ranked Lake Stevens, but a late TD pass by Glacier Peak thwarted off Mariner’s hopes of leaving the Snohomish Valley with an unexpected victory. With the win, Glacier Peak set up a showdown at Monroe next week that will determine Wesco 4A’s No. 2 seed for the Week 10 playoffs. And Mount Vernon took sole possession of fourth place with a win over Jackson and Cascade’s loss to Lake Stevens.
Marysville Pilchuck clinched a postseason berth, rolling to Wesco 3A North rout of Ferndale. The Tomahawks are set to play Arlington next week in a de facto conference championship tilt. Marysville Getchell and Stanwood each entered the night needing a win to stay in the postseason hunt, with the former needing some help from latter to stay alive. The Chargers did their job, pulling out a 20-13 win at Oak Harbor, but the Spartans couldn’t hold up their end of the deal. Stanwood played Squalicum tough and trailed 7-6 after a third-quarter field goal, but the Storm quickly ended any hope of a Stanwood upset by scoring 24 straight unanswered points.
Meadowdale picked up one of the biggest wins of night, topping Shorecrest 20-14 in a Wesco 3A South showdown. The Mavericks and Scots entered the night in a four-way tie with Snohomish and Edmonds-Woodway at 3-1 in league play. The Panthers and Warriors each cruised to victories, and Wesco 3A South’s title race will come down to the final week, which includes an intriguing battle between Meadowdale and Snohomish. With the loss, Shorecrest needs to beat Lynnwood next Friday to avoid being eliminated from the postseason. A win by the Royals would give Lynnwood the league’s No. 4 seed and a berth in a play-in game for the Week 10 playoffs.
An upset win by Sedro-Woolley over Lynden kept Lakewood’s hopes for a Northwest 2A Sky Division crown still alive, and left Archbishop Murphy needing a win over the Cubs next week to earn a bye in Week 9 and a spot in the Week 10 playoffs.
King’s sent the North Sound Conference title race into complete chaos. The Knights routed defending league champion Cedar Park Christian 52-6, ending the Eagles’ streak of seven straight wins in conference play since the league started play last season. Cedar Park Christian dropped into a tie with Granite Falls — who shutout rival Sultan — at 2-1 in league play. With two weeks remaining, four of the league’s five teams have still have a shot at winning a conference championship.
Here’s how it all went down:
Lake Stevens 48, Cascade 0
Behind five passing touchdowns from quarterback Tanner Jellison, two of which went to Joseph Gonzales for 76 and 70 yards, respectively, the Lake Stevens Vikings rolled over the Cascade Bruins 48-0 for a Wesco 4A home victory.
With the win, Lake Stevens stays undefeated, moving to 5-0 in Wesco 4A, and 7-0 overall, while Cascade falls to 2-3 in conference, and 3-4 overall.
Gonzales finished with four catches for 168 yards and two touchdowns, and added an interception on defense.
Jellison finished with 295 yards and five touchdowns through the air, working at an efficient 12-for-16 clip.
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Glacier Peak 21, Mariner 20
Glacier Peak capitalized on two late Mariner turnovers and escaped with a Wesco 4A home victory over the upset-minded Marauders.
Holding on to a 20-13 lead, Mariner took a fourth-quarter drive into the red zone, but the Grizzlies (6-1 overall, 4-1 Wesco 4A) came away with a big interception to avoid going down two scores.
After being forced to punt, the Glacier Peak defense once again came up big, causing a fumble and recovering the ball on the Mariner 20-yard line. Quarterback Tyson Lang found Reggie Valmonte for a 20-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing possession — the pair’s second scoring connection of the game — and Brayden Corwin nailed the extra-point attempt to put the Grizzlies up for good at 21-20.
Mariner (2-5, 2-3) led most of the way thanks to two big plays in the first half.
Roman Savchuck made a spectacular catch, extending out over the defender in front of him to snare what would have been a likely interception, and took it to the end zone for a 63-yard TD reception to open the scoring. Prince Riley put Mariner up 14-7 when broke on a screen pass and came up with a 56-yard interception return for a score.
Lang led the Grizzlies with three TD passes.
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Monore 54, Kamiak 0
Monroe dominated this game from start to finish, behind four touchdown passes from quarterback Gio Fregoso, and a smothering defense that held Kamiak to 21 yards of total offense on the night in a 54-0 Wesco 4A road win.
Special teams also played a huge role for the Bearcats, who had Blake Rybar return the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown and Efton Chism return a fourth-quarter punt for a touchdown as well.
With the win, Monroe moves to 4-1 in Wesco 4A, and 5-2 overall, while Kamiak falls 0-5 in conference play, and 0-7 overall.
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Mount Vernon 56, Jackson 9
Mount Vernon’s Trevor Beaner had a pair of touchdown runs, Carlos Garcia caught two touchdown passes from Skylar Jensen and the Bulldogs’ defense held Jackson without a first down until the third quarter in a Wesco 4A blowout.
Mount Vernon (4-3 overall, 3-2 league) also returned a blocked punt for a touchdown, scored on its first seven possessions and led 50-0 at halftime.
Jackson (0-7, 0-5) finished with four first downs in the game, and added two late scores on a 38-yard field goal by Daniel Yoon and a touchdown run by quarterback Nathan Clark.
Beaner is an Anacortes High School student who joined Mount Vernon’s team when the Seahawks decided not to play a varsity schedule this season. He also made plays from his linebacker spot for the Bulldogs.
Jackson’s first first down of the game came with 9:25 remaining in the third quarter, on a pass interference penalty against Mount Vernon.
With the Bulldogs’ reserves in the game for much of the second half, the Timberwolves picked up three more before the final whistle.
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Marysville-Pilchuck 42, Ferndale 14
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Marysville Getchell 20, Oak Harbor 13
Marysville Getchell overcame a 13-7 halftime deficit to pick up a Wesco 3A North road win over Oak Harbor.
Caleb Blonk’s 6-yard TD run in the third quarter and Cameron Hazelwood’s ensuing extra point put the Chargers (2-5 overall, 2-4 Wesco 3A North) on top for good. Cheron Smith and Austin Byron each added TD runs for Marysville Getchell.
Kaito White found Matt Kelly for a 15-yard TD strike to open the scoring for the Wildcats (1-6, 0-5).
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Squalicum 31, Stanwood 12
Stanwood trailed by just one point after Garrett Craig’s third-quarter field goal, but Squalicum pulled away for Wesco 3A North road win over the Spartans (2-5, 1-4 Wesco 3A North.
The Storm (5-2, 3-2) scored 24 unanswered points to take a 31-6 lead in the fourth quarter before Wyatt Custer found Logan Schweitzer for Stanwood’s loan touchdown.
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Snohomish 35, Lynnwood 0
The Snohomish Panthers trounced the Lynnwood Royals 35-0 on Friday night, behind a strong effort from Joshua Vandergriend, who had 240 total yards from scrimmage and was able to punch in two touchdowns in the win.
The Panther defense was swarming, dominating the line of scrimmage, and earned eight sacks on the night while allowing under 100 yards of total offense to the Royals.
Wide receiver Jacob Brandvold was another key player for the Panthers, grabbing touchdown receptions of 22 and 31 yards.
With the win, the Panthers move to 4-1 in Wesco 3A South, and 4-3 overall, while Lynwood falls to 2-3 in league play, and 4-3 overall.
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Edmonds-Woodway 21, Shorewood 3
Behind two touchdowns from Steele Swinton, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors cruised to a 21-3 Wesco 3A South road win over the Shorewood Thunderbirds.
With the win, the Warriors improve to 4-1 in Wesco 3A South, and 5-3 overall, while the Thunderbirds fall to 1-5 in conference, and 2-5 overall.
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Meadowdale 20, Shorecrest 14
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Lakewood 34, Blaine 16
Lakewood standout Jared Taylor has been carving teams up with his legs as a running quarterback during the No. 7 Cougars’ 5-1 start to the season, but he threw a pair of passing touchdowns to Brayden Boortz in the Cougars’ Northwest 2A Sky Division win over the Borderites, adding to his resume as one of the area’s most dangerous offensive players.
Taylor added a rushing touchdown for Lakewood, (6-1 overall, 3-1 league) as did Landen Pruitt and Malik Dotson.
The Cougars are in a three-way tie for the Northwest 2A Sky Division lead with Lynden and Sedro-Woolley after the Cubs upset the second-ranked Lions 14-7 on Friday.
Lakewood beat Sedro-Woolley and lost to Lynden earlier this year.
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Archbishop Murphy 28, Burlington-Edison 13
Victor Gabalis threw three touchdown passes and added another score on the ground to lead Archbishop Murphy to a Northwest 2A Sky Division victory over Burlington-Edison.
Gabalis found Joe Ennis for 12- and 21-yard scoring strikes, and Josh McCarron hauled in four passes for 115 yards and a touchdown for the Wildcats (5-2 overall, 2-2 Northwest 2A Sky Division).
Austin Higgins had 67 yards and a TD on 15 carries for the Tigers (1-6, 1-3).
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Mountlake Terrace 21, Bellingham 12
Mountlake Terrace (3-3 overall, 1-1 Norwest 2A Lake Division) picked up a conference road win over Bellingham (1-5, 0-2).
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King’s 52, Cedar Park Christian 6
Davis Campbell caught five passes for 152 yards for two touchdowns, and Colton Fleming and Royce Coleman ran for two touchdowns apiece as the Knights throttled first-place Cedar Park Christian.
Hayden Teeter threw the scoring passes to Campbell and ran for 117 yards on 12 carries for King’s (2-5 overall, 1-1 North Sound Conference).
King’s racked up 463 yards of offense (180 passing, 283 rushing) against the Eagles (5-2, 2-1), averaging 9.4 yards per play.
Zach Wilkins ran 21 times for 168 yards and Cedar Park Christian’s only touchdown, a 54-yard burst in the first quarter.
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Granite Falls 45, Sultan 0
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South Whibdey 35, Coupeville 7
South Whidbey (5-2, 1-1 North Sound Conference) topped rival Coupeville (4-3) in a non-league road contest.
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Cedarcrest 48, Lindbergh 0
Cedarcrest had its way in a non-conference victory over Lindbergh of the South Puget Sound League 2A, scoring touchdowns on the ground, through the air and on special teams in the rout.
Cameron Kohlruss threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers, Deuce Knowles ran for a 41-yard score and Sean Shannon returned a punt 57 yards for another touchdown for the Red Wolves (5-2).
Lindbergh fell to 0-6 with the loss.
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Naselle 58, Darrington 16
The Comets, ranked third in Class 1B in the AP poll, scored 52 unanswered points to begin their Northwest 2B/1B game against the Loggers.
Darrinigton (2-5 overall 0-4 league) added a rushing and passing touchdown in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, to avoid the shutout.
Naselle extended its perfect start to the season to 7-0 with the win.
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Arlington 40, Everett 7
Jaden Roskelley’s three rushing touchdowns lifted Arlington to a non-conference win over Everett.
Roskelley, a junior, scored on 32, 20 and three-yard runs for the Eagles (6-1).
Chase Petersen added a receiving score on a 15-yard pass from Trent Nobach in the second quarter for Arlington, and Gavin Skyles and Holden Erken tacked on rushing touchdowns in the game’s later stages.
Cody Bennett caught a 5-yard touchdown pass for Everett (0-7).
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