LAKE STEVENS — The word ‘game-changer’ gets thrown around a lot in high school football, but in 21 years as the Lake Stevens football head coach, Tom Tri has only seen a player literally change his program’s game plan three times.
The first time was with Jacob Eason. After previously running a read zone option offense, Tri implemented a Run-Pass Option (RPO) system entering Eason’s sophomore season in 2013 because it better fit his skillset. By Eason’s senior year, he was a five-star recruit and one of the top quarterbacks in the country, enrolling at Georgia before eventually transferring to Washington.
The second time came in 2023 with Kolton Matson, who was named the Washington Gatorade Player of the Year for football after Tri reverted the playbook back to more zone read.
The third time was this season, when junior Blake Moser took over the offense.
Equipped with a rocket arm that can throw a baseball 95 miles per hour and a pair of legs that can turn a five-yard scramble into a 50-plus yard touchdown, Moser’s dual-threat ability forced Tri to break out of his “traditionalist” mindset when it comes to the quarterback position, blending both RPO and zone read with designed quarterback runs for the first time.
“This year, we really opened (the playbook) up and started putting in different QB run concepts,” Tri said. “Just to match Blake Moser’s strengths.”
Much like the previous two changes, it’s safe to say this one worked.
After passing for 2,612 yards and 39 touchdowns, adding 850 yards and 16 more scores on the ground in a season that ended with an appearance in the WIAA 4A State Championship, Blake Moser was named The Herald’s 2025 All-Area Football Offensive Player of the Year.
As good as it felt for Moser to be placed in the same company as Eason and Matson — “They’re both dawgs,” as he put it — he feels like he brings something different to the table, and he was thankful that Tri altered the system to put him in the best position to thrive.
“I feel like me and Tri really connected this year. He was able to learn my game, and I was able to learn his game,” Moser said. “He made my job easier while I made his job easier. He wrote up really good (game) script, and I really like how he got me involved in the running this year, because coming into the year, I knew that was going to be a big factor. And through the games, when I’m running more, I’m throwing better. It just gives me that confidence and just carries me through.”
That confidence wasn’t always there. Taking over a program with state championship aspirations, Moser was thrown into the fire right away as the Vikings took on Sumner, the reigning 4A champions, in Week 1. Battling nerves through the first half, Moser capped his first start with a game-winning touchdown pass to Seth Price in the final seconds to seal a 31-28 win. Lake Stevens followed that up with a 21-14 win against 3A heavyweight Bellevue in Week 2, and that gave Tri the confidence to start opening up the playbook.
Moser’s relentless study habits — he was watching film up to five nights a week by the time the postseason rolled around — and his willingness to be coached played a large role in his immediate success as a starting quarterback, according to Tri, but arguably the biggest aspect was his competitive nature.
Tri had Moser in one of his physical education classes at Lake Stevens, and whether the class was playing softball, doing a lifting marathon or running a mile, Moser would put forth maximum effort.
“Kid is a winner,” Tri said. “He just hates to lose. … That kid competes in everything he does, and he wants to win, and so I just see that in his personality and I think that really helped him, because he’s so competitive and he wanted to be successful, that he was really willing to put in the time, the mental effort as well as the physical effort to be successful as a first-year quarterback for us.”
Moser tracks his competitiveness back to his older brother, Bryce, who he considers a huge role model. The two grew up pushing each other, and ultimately got to share the Lake Stevens baseball diamond together for one season when Blake was a freshman and Bryce was a senior, which was a special experience for both.
“I feel like my bond with my brother really helps me through a lot of things in life,” Moser said. “Growing up with him, he’s always pushed me to be better, and he helps me in the weight room, and he helps me with training. He has the best work ethic (of anyone) I’ve ever met.”
With a solid foundation, Moser seized the mantle of the Vikings program and took a new step each week, both as a player and a leader. As the season progressed, Moser went from locking in on a receiver depending on the route to reading the full field and finding the open man. Meanwhile, the leadership was evident to teammates as early as the team’s summer training camp at Central Washington University, where he would push guys during lifts the same way Bryce had pushed him.
Once the season rolled around and Moser started establishing a firm command over the offense, he became more vocal. He wouldn’t hesitate to call out teammates if they weren’t working hard enough, or talk to seniors with two or three years of varsity experience about what would be happening on the next play.
He also wouldn’t hesitate to take the blame if he made a mistake.
“Him speaking up for himself, taking accountability for his mistakes and the things that he’s done wrong (really stood out),” senior offensive lineman Caleb Connolly said. “I think, as well, just yelling at guys on the field when they’re not going 100 percent. He notices it. He’s just really trying to do better for the team and get the team better.”
It all manifested in a run to the state title game, where the Vikings had a rematch against Sumner.
The game was an instant classic. Moser accounted for four touchdowns, helping to execute a comeback and force overtime after Lake Stevens entered halftime trailing 28-14. However, the offense failed to convert on fourth down in overtime, and Sumner star running back Lance McGee secured the program’s second straight championship two plays later with his championship record-tying sixth touchdown on his 41st carry and 356th yard, plunging across the goal line in the 41-35 win at Husky Stadium on Dec. 6.
After 13 straight wins in a season of growth, it ended in heartbreak for Moser and Lake Stevens. Tri and Moser hugged each other after the game, expressing love for each other and gratitude for what they accomplished this season.
“Emotions were really bad,” Moser said. “I was sad and all that, but as the weeks go by after, I just realized how truly grateful I am for this group we had this year, and just like how far we came and the adversity we went through.”
As much as the Lake Stevens football program changed for Moser, Moser changed as much for them.
Entering the year, baseball was his number one sport. It’s where he received the most attention from colleges, and where he derived much of the physical arm traits and mental acuity that helped him succeed on the gridiron. After this season, the two sports are neck-and-neck.
As of now, Moser will choose the path that grants him the best opportunity — somewhere he can play right away, in a great atmosphere, where he would play for a coaching staff that has a plan for his future. He’d even consider playing both sports in college if it were the right situation.
Either way, it’s a dilemma he never would have foreseen.
“I feel like being a starting quarterback, nothing really matches that,” Moser said. “Just the feeling it brought and all the emotions it came with, and just the success I had with it, I feel like it sparked something in me that I never really knew I had a love for football like that before until I was able to start here at Lake Stevens, with a good environment like that’s something, definitely, I would want to strive for in the future. …
“I’m trusting in God’s plan, and I just want to see where my future takes me, but I love both sports.”
Before he makes that decision, he has his senior football season next fall. Along with Moser, the Vikings are set to return leading rusher Jayvian Ferrell (1,764 yards, 24 touchdowns) and leading receiver Seth Price (912 yards, 14 touchdowns), as well as a handful of key pieces on both sides of the ball. As the disappointment from the championship loss fades, excitement for next season grows.
Moser referred to the 2025 season as “chemistry-building” year, and the Vikings plan to hit the ground running in 2026.
“He’ll come into the season with a lot more confidence,” Tri said. “He’s been there, done it. Now he can just refine his skills even more, and that’s only going to lead to more success on the field. I think teams are going to be a lot more ready for him because he kind of came out of nowhere in terms of the teams didn’t realize how good of a runner he was, how athletic he was, or how much skill he had throwing the ball down the field, and teams are going to know that now.
“But that being said, you still have to stop us.”
Tri cited the run game as well as the screen and short-intermediate passes that will keep opposing defenses on their toes. For Moser, even after winning Offensive Player of the Year, he feels like he has another level to reach in his game.
“I want a defensive coordinator to just not be able to sleep that week when they have to play us,” Moser said. “Because he doesn’t know how to stop us. I feel like I’m just going to be (at the) next level next year, too. This was my year just to get ready, you know? And it was a good year, and it helped me a lot.
“But next year, I feel like, is definitely my year.”
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