Snohomish fights off Shorecrest in OT for 3rd straight win

SHORELINE — Snohomish watched its three-touchdown lead evaporate, trailed late in the fourth quarter and had its star running back suffer an ankle injury.

Still, the Panthers weren’t fazed.

Tyler Massena shrugged off what appeared to be grisly ankle injury, returning in time to lead the Panthers on a fourth go-ahead scoring drive.

After Shorecrest kicker Gavin Dalziel sent the game into overtime with a clutch 40-yard field as regulation expired, Massena scored his fifth rushing touchdown to give Snohomish a thrilling 33-27 Wesco 3A South victory over Shorecrest on Friday night at Shoreline Stadium.

“Sometimes you feel like the world is against you, the tide is against you, but you just got to believe and know that if you do your role, good things will come from it,” Snohomish coach Joey Hammer said. “Our boys never wavered, and things went wrong for a while. But we rallied together. It brought us together tighter, and it was absolutely beautiful.”

The victory for Snohomish (3-2, 3-0 Wesco South) extended its winning streak to three games.

Massena, who in the third quarter suffered an ankle injury and at one point was on the trainer’s table with a large ice bag wrapped around the injury, finished with 172 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 20 carries. He added 84 receiving yards on four receptions and set up a Snohomish first-quarter score with a 59-yard punt return.

The Panthers led 21-0 with 1:59 to play in the first quarter before Shorecrest came to life thanks to Snohomish’s botched fake punt that led to a Scots TD just before halftime.

Shorecrest (3-2, 2-2) engineered two lengthy scoring drives in the third quarter and took the lead late in the fourth when Dalziel connected on a 22-yard field goal.

Massena then led a nine-play, 64-yard scoring drive with six carries that ended with a score and put Snohomish back in front with 27-24 to play, setting up Dalziel’s clutch kick.

KEY PLAYERS

Tyler Massena, Snohomish Panthers — The senior back displayed his toughness by returning after his injury. He amassed 256 total yards and scored on touchdown rushes of 41, 5, 2, 1 and 1 yards. He was clearly the difference maker for the Panthers on offense.

Gavin Dalziel, Shorecrest Scots — Dalziel was just about as good a high school coach could expect from his kicker. He was perfect on extra points, hit a 22-yard field goal to give the Scots a late lead and drilled a clutch 40-yarder as regulation expired to send the game into overtime.

Eladio Fountain, Shorecrest Scots — For as much as the Scots quarterback struggled in the first half, he looked great in the second. He finished completing 19-of-35 passes for 257 yards a touchdown.

QUOTABLES

“My adrenaline was just rushing so much. I can’t even feel my ankle right now. I just knew I had to finish for my boys. I knew I wasn’t going to go out like that.” — Massena

“Heart of a lion. That’s called brothers having his back, and he had theirs. It’s a constant response. The game of life is a constant response. Adversity is going to hit you, and you got to respond. I was proud of all our boys.” — Hammer on Massena

PLAY OF THE GAME

For all of Massena’s brilliance, the nod has to go to Dalziel and his 40-yard field goal at the end of regulation. Snohomish called two timeouts to freeze the sophomore kicker, but with 6 seconds remaining, he calmly split the uprights to extend the game.

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