Snohomish stages comeback

MARYSVILLE – Maybe the extra consonant stands for fate.

Snohomish quarterback Jefff Rodland directed two, late-fourth-quarter scoring drives to lift the Panthers to a 16-13 comeback victory over Marysville-Pilchuck at Quilceda Stadium Thursday night.

Rodland’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Reinhard with seven seconds remaining spoiled what would have been the Tomahawks’ first victory over Snohomish since 1989.

“He’s a leader out there and does a good job,” Snohomish coach Mark Perry understated. “He’s really developed confidence.”

The Snohomish victory gave the Panthers a share of the Western Conference North Division title with Oak Harbor. By virtue of its 19-0 loss to the Wildcats, Snohomish is the No. 2 seed from the North and will face Jackson, the South Division champion, at Everett Memorial Stadium on Tuesday.

“We had to scratch and fight to get everything we could,” Snohomish coach Mark Perry said. “We wanted some momentum going in to the playoffs.”

Rodland’s heroics did not negate the effort of a Marysville-Pilchuck team which had steamrolled opponents 177-13 in four consecutive victories coming into Thursday’s contest.

Rodland and the Panthers started the winning series with 1:19 left and no timeouts to work with.

It ended when Rodland drilled a strike between two defenders to cap an 11-play, 51-yard drive during which he completed six of seven passes. The lone incompletion was when he spiked the ball to stop the clock with 16 seconds remaining.

Before the touchdown, Rodland repeatedly lifted the Panthers flagging hopes.

On fourth-and-7 at the M-P 48, he rolled left and then scrambled back right before diving out of bounds at the 39 with 1:00 remaining.

On second-and-10 at the M-P 27, Rodland rolled right with a pack of Tommies closing in. He deftly veered back into the middle of the field near the 25. As he cut inside Rodland lost control of the ball and the Tommies must have surely smelled blood.

Instead, the ball caromed off the frozen field and back into Rodland’s arms as he darted for a first down at the 16.

“That was the grace of God to bring it back to me,” Rodland said.

Two plays later Reinhard caught his fourth pass of the drive and tumbled out of bounds at the 6.

On the winning play, Rodland looked to hit Reinhard at the sideline and let surefooted kicker Ace Younggren kick a field goal to force overtime if necessary.

Tightly covered, Reinhard cut inside and Rodland found him with a perfect pass that split two defenders.

“He just did a great job of getting open,” Rodland said. “The line was awesome, staving off the defense.”

The Panthers were behind 13-3 when they took possession at their own 47 with 6:33 remaining.

On first down Rodland completed his first pass of the game, a 30-yard completion to tight end Matt Farnam.

Four plays later Rodland scored on a 6-yard keeper and Younggren, who booted a 35-yard field goal in the first half, added the extra point to get Snohomish within 13-10.

Ken Kam led M-P with 88 yards rushing. He finished the season with 1,059 yards. Kam was also a defensive force with 13 tackles. Quarterback Damino Stewart staked the Tommies to a 7-0 first-quarter lead with a 46-yard touchdown run.