Snohomish County tumbles to Seattle

EDMONDS

Mistakes turned out to be the pivotal factor in last weekend’s key Northwest League Football game between Snohomish County and Seattle.

The Stallions cut down on them in the second half, while the Vikings did not and, as a result, Snohomish County suffered a 41-0 loss June 28 at Edmonds Stadium.

The two teams came into the fourth week of regular season play tied for second place in the North Division. With the victory the Stallions (3-1) moved into sole possession of second place behind Puget Sound (4-0). The Vikings (2-2) dropped into third place. The top two teams in the North and South divisions advance to the playoffs.

Seattle head coach Merle Davis liked the way the Stallions played in the second half but thought the first half was sub-par.

“Anytime you have pretty close to 50 yards in penalties on the offense, it’s not that good,” he said. “We need to learn how to finish our drives. … The second half we started playing pretty good. I think we came together with our offense. Defensively, we played a solid game all the way through.”

The Viking offense that scored 28 points against Renton two weeks ago wasn’t able to get the job done against the Stallions, though Snohomish County did have its opportunities.

The Vikings recovered two fumbles and intercepted the ball twice, but the Snohomish County offense could not cash in on the turnovers.

“It still doesn’t take away from the fact that the guys played so hard for so long against a team loaded with talent,” Snohomish County coach Wes Fischer said. “I’m proud of our guys, proud of the effort.”

In the first half, Seattle switched from its normal 4-3 defense to a 3-4 to defend Snohomish County’s double Wing-T.

“They adjusted their blocking schemes at halftime, so we went back to a 4-3 (in the second half),” Davis said.

The final score wasn’t indicative of how close the game was. Seattle took a 6-0 lead on a 13-yard run by running back Brad Chappell with 2:33 remaining in the first quarter. The Stallions wouldn’t score their second touchdown until the 9-minute mark of the fourth quarter. After its second touchdown, Seattle tacked on four more in less than six minutes.

“We stopped making mistakes. That was the main thing,” Davis said. “Everybody was a little bit more focused, especially our offensive line. We’ve been averaging about 60 yards a game in penalties by the offensive line alone and that’s what killed us in the first half. … We started playing a little more focused football and I think that was the difference right there.”

Fischer sees the Stallions as a definite contender for the league title.

“If they put it together and get their timing down, they will be hard to beat,” Fischer said.

Snohomish County’s first takeaway occurred on the third play from scrimmage when Chris Lockhart stripped the ball away from a Seattle running back at the Viking 32. Snohomish County moved the ball to midfield before punting. The Snohomish County defense thwarted a potential scoring drive by Seattle early in the second quarter. The Stallions had moved the ball from their own 41 deep into Snohomish County territory before being stopped at the 18. Seattle’s 36-yard field goal attempt was blocked by the Vikings.

Seattle again threatened on its next drive, but Snohomish County defensive back EZ Jones picked off a pass in the end zone with 24 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Vikings’ defense forced another fumble early in the third quarter with Mike Seekins recovering the ball at the Seattle 44. But Snohomish County ended up punting the ball four plays later.

If Snohomish County scores off of one of those turnovers, it’s a different ball game, Fischer said.

Late in the third quarter, a bad punt by Seattle gave the Vikings the ball at Stallion 44, but Snohomish County was unable to take advantage of the good field position and turned the ball over on downs.

Seattle took a 14-0 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Ken Jackson at the 9:09 mark of the fourth quarter. Jackson connected with Jakoba Square on a 2-point pass conversion.

Later Jackson threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Square as Seattle took a 21-0 lead. Running back Jeff Poke added a 36-yard touchdown run with 4:51 remaining in the game.

Seattle defensive back Carlos Clark intercepted a pass and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown and then, following a Snohomish County fumble, running back Jeff Freeman ran 14 yards for a touchdown to close out the scoring.

Puget Sound, which beat Seattle 23-16 two weeks ago, is the lone undefeated team after four weeks of play.

“It’s pretty much unpredictable who’s going to win from one week to another,” Davis said. “The talent is spread out pretty evenly.”

Fischer still feels upbeat about Snohomish County.

“We are for real,” he said. “If we keep sticking together, we will continue to improve.”

No games are scheduled for the Independence weekend. Snohomish County resumes play at 6 p.m., Saturday, July 12 against Puget Sound at Newport High School in Bellevue.