Lutton hauls in three TD passes to lift Knights

SHORELINE — Booting extra points after one of his King’s teammates scored used to be Andrew Lutton’s claim to fame.

The junior wideout showed he’s capable of much more in last week’s Cascade Conference contest against Sultan.

Lutton caught three touchdown passes — the first of his career — from quarterback Greg Uhrich and corralled a crucial fourth-quarter interception. His 26-yard diving grab in the end zone with 1:09 to go gave the Knights a 22-15 victory Oct. 1 at Woolsey Stadium.

“We’ve been working on that particular pass because he’d been overthrowing me,” Lutton said of the game-winner. “This time he gave me a perfect ball for me to lay out to. It’s one of those things where you just dive and try your best.”

Uhrich and Lutton hooked up for two more second-half scores that wiped out Sultan leads.

Three consecutive runs from Spencer Clark set up Uhrich’s 12-yard play-action touchdown pass to Lutton at the 7:49 mark of the third quarter. Clark improvised when the extra point snap was off target and lofted a pass to Austin Bowlin for a two-point conversion that gave the Knights an 8-7 edge.

Those turned out to be the only King’s (2-0 league, 3-1 overall) points not credited to Lutton, who drilled two extra points following his final two touchdowns.

The Turks regained the lead with 48 seconds left in the third quarter when Josh Mann took a pitch 84 yards for a touchdown and passed to Jake Lee for the two-point conversion.

Clark responded with a 61-yard pickup and on the third play of the fourth quarter Uhrich fired a pass to Lutton along the Sultan sideline. Lutton spun free from his defender for a 27-yard touchdown that knotted the score.

Facing third-and-19 on their ensuing possession, the Turks (0-2, 2-3) attempted a halfback pass. But Lutton picked off Shawn Wolster’s toss with nine minutes remaining.

Clark ended Sultan’s final drive with a leaping interception at the King’s 29-yard line in the final 30 seconds. The sophomore led all rushers with 150 yards on 21 carries.

Uhrich completed his final six attempts to finish 6 of 8 for 92 yards. The three touchdown passes were the first of the season for the 6-foot-5 sophomore, who threw for a combined 124 yards in his first three starts.

“I tried to start him off slow and get some passes under him,” King’s coach Jim Shapiro said. “Obviously he can make the reads and throw the football. I think that’s what the future of King’s will hold for the next couple of years.”

All but two of Uhrich’s passes went to Lutton, who gained 87 yards on his four receptions.

“He’s a great athlete,” Shapiro said. “Now that we’re throwing the ball more we’re putting him in position offensively to be the guy.”

With a young quarterback and a deep backfield, King’s started out focusing on the run. But a season-ending knee injury to all-league tailback Victor Quan and 13 fumbles in their first three outings forced the Knights to introduce more passing sets.

“We started throwing more passes in practice and got more confidence with our QB,” Lutton said.

King’s turned away the Turks inside the 5-yard line in the second quarter and limited Sultan to 53 rushing yards in the first half. Mann broke a scoreless tie with 35 seconds remaining in the second quarter with a 22-yard TD reception.

“We’re a good first-half team,” Shapiro said. “In the second half, something happens. We need to be finishers. We just need to put two halves together.”

By winning their first two Cascade Conference games the Knights moved closer to securing one of the league’s three Class 2A postseason berths.

“We’re in a good position to be in the hunt. That’s where you want to be,” Shapiro said. “My whole attitude this season was every game, let’s be in it. So far we’ve been in every game.

“You look at our team and we’re not the biggest, we’re not the fastest. But we’re consistent.”

Lutton called the 2-0 start a “complete confidence booster.”

“We came into this league thinking maybe we’ll get a win here and a win there,” he said. “We’re going strong.”