Snohomish County’s tough season ended with a thud.
On the road with a depleted squad, the Vikings were pummeled 78-0 by the Yakima Mavericks in a first-round Pacific Football League game July 7 at Marquette Stadium in Yakima.
Just about everything that could go wrong went wrong for Snohomish County, who finished the season 3-6 overall. Yakima (7-1) hosts the Bellingham Bulldogs in a semifinal game July 16.
“We didn’t travel well. We missed a bunch of people,” Snohomish County coach Wes Fischer said. “We had a bunch of injuries. It was unbelievable. When we finished up we didn’t have a quarterback who could play. We had to go to a different offense to make it happen.
Yakima quarterback John Lobbestael threw a team record seven touchdowns and the Mavericks defense picked off seven passes and returned four for scores.
For the first time in his coaching career, Fischer decided to call off the game in the fourth quarter. He was concerned about what he considered to be some cheap shots in the game.
In Fischer’s opinion, the officials had lost control of the game.
“This was not a good atmosphere,” he said. “I never had it get this out of control. I told these guys (officials) ‘if you don’t call certain things you lose control of what’s going on. …. I’ve never had to do this before.”
Fischer was hoping to have about 40 of his players suit up for the game but ended up with an active squad of about 30 players.
“You’ve just got to go on with what you’ve got,” he said. “It didn’t work out well.”
The Vikings also weren’t really prepared for what turned out to be 100-plus degree temperatures at Marquette Stadium.
“It was so hot that some of my best players could hardly breathe,” Fischer said. “It was 103 degrees before we started the game and it continued to get hotter.”
The 2012 season was a year of transition for Snohomish County, which had new offensive and defensive coordinators. The roster also saw a significant turnover.
“We didn’t have the returning players like we’ve had before,” Fischer said. “We had less than I’ve had in a long time. I’m not trying to say it in a negative way. The fellas we had were just learning the system.”
Another factor was the talent pool from which the Vikings were able to draw from this season. Bellingham was a combination of two teams: the Bulldogs and the Blitz.
“That made them twice as tough,” Fischer said. “It showed in the way they won most of their games.”
The Mavericks are the only semi-pro team in the Yakima area, Fischer added.
“They have quite a few college players,” he said.
Snohomish County, however, had to compete with a number of semi-pro teams in the area, including the Seattle Stallions (Shoreline) to the south and the Snohomish County Thunder (Everett) to the north.
“It all dilutes the talent pool,” Fischer said. “It’s hard to get talent than it used to be.”
The Vikings still were able to attract some quality players, including wide receiver Patrick Sullivan, who drew double and triple coverage throughout the season.
Erik Emme excelled at running back and linebacker.
“I saw him play healthy and hurt,” Fischer said. “He still plays with intensity.”
Running back Marquise Smith also helped to power the Vikings’ ground game but his season was cut short two weeks ago when he suffered a leg injury.
On the defensive side, linebacker Tom Fischer, Wes’ son, finished playing his 20th season of football,
Other key players sidelined include offensive linemen Dustin Geveshausen and Burley Lockhart. Quarterback Charlie Combs suffered an elbow injury during practice and wide receiver Brandon Judy missed most of the season due to a leg injury.
“If an injury could happen, it did,” Fischer said.
Fischer already is looking ahead to next season and his top priority is to do a better job of recruiting players.
“We’re looking for talented young men who have played in our area, who may have played college ball,” Fischer said. “That talent, I know it’s here.”
Fischer, also the owner of the team, still is committed to offering men the opportunity to continue their football careers.
“Our mission is still to make a difference in the community,” Fischer said. “Football is a vehicle to do that.”
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