Tommies dominate Berry Bowl, 51-7

MARYSVILLE — On Marysville Pilchuck’s first offensive play Friday night, Austin Joyner ran 62 yards for a touchdown. The next time the Tomahawks touched the ball, Joyner returned a punt 67 yards for a score.

And MP took off from there.

Marysville Pilchuck put up 51 points — all in the first half — on its way to a 51-7 victory over Wesco 3A North rival Marysville Getchell in the third annual Berry Bowl football game between the crosstown rivals.

The Tomahawks improved to 3-0 in the series and retained The Flat — the trophy awarded to the winner.

“That’s the way you like to start — the first time you touch it you score,” Marysville Pilchuck head coach Brandon Carson said. “We just played really well tonight in the first half, on both sides of the ball and special teams. It was one of the better first halves we’ve played.”

Joyner had one more run for 10 yards before leaving the game with a neck injury. Carson said Joyner could have returned, but by the time he was ready to go, Marysville Pilchuck had built a substantial lead.

Carson said he expects the senior to be ready for the Tomahawks’ game next week against Everett.

“He wanted to go back in real bad. I don’t think he’s too happy with me,” Carson said with a laugh.

In Joyner’s absence Killian Page rushed for 234 yards and four touchdowns on just 12 carries before sitting out the second half.

“He was outstanding,” Carson said of Page. “You’ve got to give credit to the offensive line. They blew up some pretty big holes for us there and we were able to run the ball with some really big success.”

The Tomahawks finished with 389 rushing yards.

Page said the game against Marysville Getchell was one of, if not the biggest game of the year for the Tomahawks.

“I’d rather win this game over any other game. I’m not even going to lie,” Page said. “Honestly, this is the funnest game to play because you know the kids.”

Page, a senior, found the end zone for the first time with five minutes left in the first quarter on a 22-yard score and added touchdown runs of 1, 16 and 66 yards, the last coming with a minute left before halftime to give Marysville Pilchuck (2-0 league, 4-1 overall) a 51-0 lead going into the break.

“We knew that we needed to come out hot and play as hard as we could,” Page said. “We were trying to just get the motor going right off the bat because we knew that once the tempo was up, it was going to stay up for us and then it’s probably going to be (tough) for them.”

The third time was not the charm for Marysville Getchell (0-2, 1-4), which suffered its worst loss in Berry Bowl history.

Devon Green got Marysville Getchell on the board with a 5-yard touchdown run on the last play of the third quarter. Green added the extra point and then kicked — and recovered — an onside kick, though the Chargers couldn’t get back in the end zone.

“I thought our defense performed really well,” Carson said. “We did a good job of slowing (running back Collin) Montez down and taking care of the pass and that sort of stuff. We played really well.”

Montez, the Marysville Getchell sophomore who came in as the leading rusher in the Wesco 3A North, had seven carries for 53 yards to lead the Chargers, who dropped their fourth consecutive game.

“They’re a good team. We prepare really, really hard for them,” Page said. “We know their weapons and whatnot, but we still prepare for them.”

Added Carson: “They’ve improved quite a bit over the last few years. They’ve got some really good guys. They’re going to do some good things.”

At Quil Ceda Stadium

Marysville Getchell 0 0 7 0 — 7

Marysville Pilchuck 21 30 0 0 —51

MP–Austin Joyner 62 run (Sebastian Navarro kick)

MP–Joyner 67 punt return (Navarro kick)

MP–Killian Page 22 run (Navarro kick)

MP–Drew Hatch 27 pass from Erik Lind (Navarro kick)

MP–Page 1 run (Navarro kick)

MP–Page 16 run (Navarro kick)

MP–Snap out of endzone for safety