SNOHOMISH — Four games into the season, Snohomish High School football coach Kai Smalley challenged his winless Panthers.
“We got to a point, after we started 0-4, where we’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and say, ‘OK, what do we want out of this season?’” Smalley said. “‘Are we going to cash it in now or realize that, in reality, you’re 0-2 in league and you still have a chance to go and make a run to the playoffs if you keep your head in it.’
“The boys responded the way we wanted them to. They kept fighting.”
Snohomish has not lost since. An overtime decision against Mount Vernon and a big 34-2 victory against Cascade last week brought the Panthers to 2-2 in Wesco 4A play and right in the thick of the playoff hunt.
It’s a new feeling for the upperclassmen at Snohomish, who won three games in the previous two seasons.
“Basically, it’s the playoffs right now for us,” senior lineman Nathan Jacobson said. “From here on out we’re in the playoffs. We’ve got to win.”
Jacobson is one of 19 seniors for Snohomish that have helped lead the Panthers’ turnaround. Another is wide receiver/defensive back Boomer Vuori, who is proud of Snohomish’s transformation since the middle of the season.
“We’ve put in a lot more effort, lately,” Vuori said. “We’ve had better practices, we’ve had more people in the weight room in the mornings, we’ve come together more as a team. We’ve decided that we want to have a good season, we want to win — so we’ve come out and done it.”
In years past, the team found itself unwinding toward the end of a tough, losing season, players said. The seniors are determined that won’t be the case this year.
“We’ve just been working hard and sticking together as a team,” Jacobson said. “We’re not fighting with each other and picking at each other. The last two seasons we had a lot of trouble with that. A lot of kids started picking at each other and blaming kids and pointing fingers. We haven’t really had that at all (this season).”
Along with the play and leadership of the seniors, the Panthers have gotten a boost from the emergence of freshman running back Keegan Stich. Thrust into action due to an injury to senior starter Connor Browne, Stich had the game-winning score against Mount Vernon and 131 yards rushing and two touchdowns in Snohomish’s victory over Cascade.
According to Smalley, Stich — whose older brother Garrett was a running back at Snohomish the past four seasons — is the first freshman tailback to start at the school.
“We’ve had a punter play that was a freshman and I know there have been some other freshman that have played — the school has been around too long for a freshman to never have played — but to be in the position he’s playing right now he’s done a great job of stepping in,” Smalley said. “He has a great role model in front of him with Connor Brown. … He did a great job Friday night going against a tough Cascade defense. He’s not intimidated.
“It’s tough to throw a freshman into that mix and say, ‘OK, go perform like you did when you were an eighth grader,’ and have him do it against guys that are two or three years older. But he never batted an eye.”
Stich’s play has impressed the older Panthers, including Jacobson.
“When he first came out he was playing with the varsity in spring,” Jacobson said. “He was still in eighth grade then. We’re all just kind of like, ‘Who is this kid?’ But he’s a great kid. He’s so humble. We all just love him. And he can play ball.”
Snohomish is hoping Browne can recover from his knee injury in time to form a strong 1-2 punch with Stich for a playoff run as the Panthers look to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2011. That season, Snohomish made it to the regional round of the state tournament before falling to Federal Way 41-14.
Stich has helped the Panthers offense get rolling, which they hope continues tonight against Kamiak, currently second in Wesco 4A with a 3-0 league record.
“I don’t think we’re doing anything differently,” Smalley said. “I think we’re finally starting to click offensively and defensively. We saw some really good teams at the beginning of the season and saw a lot of different looks, so we’ve been able to build on it every week and get better because of that.”
Snohomish knows what it has to do to be successful against the Knights.
“We’ve got to stop Jo Jo Binda. He’s a great running back,” Vuori said of the Kamiak junior who has rushed for 885 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. “We’ve got to make sure we set an edge and our inside guys can tackle him.”
Added Jacobson: “They’re a good team, but they’ve got their flaws just like everybody. It’ll be a battle.”
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