Thunderbirds blank Royals

EDMONDS — Two changes to its backfield gave Shorewood the boost it needed in last week’s matchup against Lynnwood.

Making their first varsity starts at quarterback and tailback respectively, Jordan Kellington and Kelley Neubauer paced the Thunderbirds to a 24-0 victory in Western Conference South Division football action Sept. 15 at Edmonds Stadium.

Kellington was six of 12 passing for 114 yards and a touchdown and Neubauer rushed 19 times for 113 yards and a score as Shorewood easily claimed the matchup of teams which dropped their first two games of the season.

“After all the hard work we’ve put in over the summer, it feels good just to get that first win. Everybody did their job today,” said Kellington, who also snagged an interception to stop the first Lynnwood drive.

After three hard runs by Neubauer to open the game, Kellington connected with Tysen Allumbaugh for a 23-yard play-action touchdown pass to put the Thunderbirds in front less than two minutes in.

Allumbaugh’s 34-yard catch-and-run down the Shorewood sideline led to a 1-yard TD plunge by Neubauer at the 3:47 mark of the first quarter. Tight end James Danner grabbed a pair of first-down catches late in the second quarter and Dorian Lair tagged on a 27-yard field goal for the Thunderbirds (1-2 in the league and overall).

Five of Kellington’s first six passes found their mark. By halftime, the sophomore had compiled 88 yards and Neubauer had run for 58 — one more yard than the Royals (0-3, 0-3) gained as a team in the first two quarters.

“I’ve been playing quarterback my whole life, so I tried to say to myself, ‘It’s nothing different,’” Kellington said of his first varsity start. “Today it felt like I had all the time in the world (to throw). The line did a great job.”

Shorewood stretched its advantage to 24-0 with 11:14 remaining as running back Nathan Cook motored 21 yards for a key first down and 11 more on the next play for a touchdown.

Lynnwood answered by driving to the Shorewood 13, with the help of three penalties on the Thunderbirds. Junior quarterback Andrew Beatty took three shots at the end zone before the Royals turned the ball over on downs.

Beatty completed his first five passes of the second half and finished 13 of 20 for 119 yards with two interceptions. The Royals were missing two starters due to injury and mustered just 16 rushing yards.

“They scouted us pretty well,” Lynnwood coach Reggie Corns said. “They knew what we were going to do. We’ve got to catch the ball a little better. We’ve told the kids if they don’t hang onto the ball, we won’t be successful.”

Corns was encouraged by his team’s defensive effort, particularly in the second half.

“Coach (Andre) Taylor has done a great job with the defense all year, breaking down the film and having a good idea of what’s going to happen. The kids are pretty prepared,” Corns said. “We missed some tackles and their draw plays killed us. But our defense has played well all year. We’ve just been having trouble offensively.”