Coming off its worst rushing performance of the year, the Shorecrest football team got its ground game back on track last week against Mariner.
The Scots piled up a season-high 360 rushing yards and never trailed in a 28-22 Western Conference South Division victory Oct. 22 at Goddard Stadium.
Shorecrest (3-5) ran for just 51 yards on 27 attempts in a 45-21 loss to Edmonds-Woodway a week earlier.
Junior tailback Jesse Hoffman pounded Mariner for 216 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries, surpassing his previous career-high mark of 187 yards in a Week 2 win over Shorewood.
“He was a workhorse. He ran extremely hard,” Scots coach Mike Wollan said. “The guys up front did just enough for him. All he needs is a little gap to get through.”
Hoffman scored on runs of 1 and 8 yards to give Shorecrest a 14-0 halftime lead and added a 16-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Aaron Cartwright rushed for 150 yards and three second-half scores to rally the Marauders (3-5), who pounced on a pair of Hoffman fumbles in the final six minutes.
“The scheme we use is pretty good against wing-T teams and for the most part we contained them,” Wollan said. “Our defense really stepped up at the end and held them.”
In his second game back from injury sophomore Grady Small collected 81 yards on 11 carries for the Scots, who snapped a three-game losing skid. Small had a 60-yard TD catch-and-run called back in the first half.
Shorecrest quarterback Jon Glancy contributed a 4-yard TD run in the third quarter and finished with 63 yards on seven attempts. Glancy was 2 of 8 passing for 62 yards with an interception.
The Scots were flagged for 11 penalties totaling 82 yards, including six false starts. Wollan figured the infractions negated upwards of 160 passing yards.
“Those are just a lack of focus,” he said.
More troubling for Wollan were the four giveaways. In eight games, Shorecrest has committed 19 turnovers compared to six for its opponents.
“That’s something if we don’t fix, our season isn’t going to go on too long,” Wollan said.
After tonight’s regular-season finale against last-place Lynnwood the Scots will face Cedarcrest of the upstart Cascade Conference at 8 p.m. Nov. 4 at Edmonds Stadium.
The winner of the crossover contest will advance to a winner-to-state game Nov. 9 against the Northwest 3A League runner-up.
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