SHORELINE — Despite the absence of a trio of starters on the offensive line, Shorewood’s ground game reached new heights in a homecoming win over Everett last week.
Junior linemen Ishmael Easton and Bud Klosterman were sidelined with injuries and senior center Blair Shoemaker only played defense.
Still, the Thunderbirds surpassed 300 rushing yards for the first time this season and overpowered Everett 21-18 in a Western Conference 4A South Division contest Oct. 25 at Shoreline Stadium.
As unpredictable as Shorewood’s offense has been, the breakout performance hardly came as a surprise.
“We worked on offense a lot this week just on little things — carrying out our fakes better, going full speed and blocking every play,” Shorewood coach Jeff Weible said.
Seth Setterberg ran for a season-high 200 yards on 25 carries and Marcus Washington added 89 yards on 14 attempts to account for the lion’s share of Shorewood’s 304 total yards — which all came on the ground.
After barging ahead seven yards on the opening play from scrimmage, Setterberg got a feel for how the game would play out.
“From the first play, I knew we were going to have a good night on the O-line,” he said.
The junior fullback gave the T-birds the lead for good by capping a 12-play, 77-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown at the 3:42 mark of the second quarter. Setterberg carried the ball seven times for 50 yards on the six-minute drive.
Though their first two drives didn’t result in any points, the T-birds (5-2) owned a 10-minute time of possession edge in the first half.
Everett tailback Lee Smith turned a busted counter into a 54-yard TD run by cutting back across the field to put the Seagulls (2-5) up 6-0 with four minutes to go in the first quarter.
Shorewood reached the Everett 22-yard line on its ensuing drive and was about to go for a field goal on fourth-and-3 before calling a last-second timeout. When play resumed, the T-birds opted to run the ball instead and were stuffed for a 4-yard loss.
Setterberg took his first handoff of the second half 28 yards and Washington followed with a 15-yard gain to set up Setterberg’s 7-yard touchdown.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Setterberg dashed 40 yards to spark Shorewood’s final scoring drive. Washington recorded his first touchdown of the season on an 8-yard trap to give the T-birds their biggest lead at 21-12.
“I think it was very evident that we were controlling the line of scrimmage,” Weible said.
Setterberg passed the credit along to his blockers.
“They just blew ‘em off the line,” he said. “There were huge holes all night.”
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the T-birds are one of four teams tied for second place behind league-leading Kamiak (6-1). The top three 4A finishers advance to the playoffs.
Shorewood closes with Meadowdale and Edmonds-Woodway — teams that also sport 5-2 records, though the Mavericks have already locked up the league’s lone 3A postseason berth.
“We’re in a one-week season basically,” Weible said. “We control our own destiny. If we win out, we’re going to be in the playoffs. If we don’t, we’re going to need some help.”
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