Discover more from The Journal 425
VIKING "MELTDOWN" -- GLACIER PEAK 27, LAKE 10
By Mike Anderton
Journal/Purple and Gold Pigskin Contributing Writer
An overflow crowd was on hand last Friday at Lake Stevens to witness what was anticipated as a high-scoring thriller, but what they got instead was sloppy, mistake-prone football by both teams and a virtual "total meltdown" by the Vikings. Glacier Peak (second-year 3A Wesco school in Snohomish, expected to contend for its league title) won the non-league game, 27-10, thanks in large part to Viking mistakes, breakdowns, and penalties.
It was nearly 80 degrees at kickoff, in keeping with the game's meltdown theme.
Lake was flagged SEVENTEEN times during the game (for 104 yards), wrecking its momentum and spoiling its chances, while GP (11 infractions for 111 yards) was able to overcome its penalties by posting 341 passing yards (415 yards overall) and by holding Lake to 19 net yards in the second half (139 yards overall).
Lake was flat from the start, going three and out in its first two possessions (Bryson Daggett's zero for four in the passing department saw some drops by his receivers).
Glacier Peak, meanwhile, scored on its first possession. Following Jesse Porter's 6-yard sack of Grizzly QB Zack Richter, the latter completed three straight passes covering 16, 13, and 26 yards, to Tanner Southard, Tommy Rollins, and Rollins again for the touchdown. Jackson Miller's PAT was wide. 6-0, GP, with 9:44 left in the quarter.
Lake took the lead with about 2 minutes left in the quarter when Brandon Preslar returned a GP punt 14 yards to the GP 31. It took the Vikings just two plays to score, on runs of 20 and 11 yards (key block by Garek Stuart) by Brennan Frost. Arvid Isaksen's PAT kick made it 7-6.
Richter, shaking off a string of 7 straight prior incompletions, got his team on the board again with 16 seconds left in the opening quarter, engineering an 85-yard, 9-play drive (strewn with penalties against both teams), completing 4 of 6 passes for 88 yards including a 47-yard completion to Luke Westberg and a 20-yard touchdown to Jahu Coleman. Miller's PAT kick made it 13-7.
Richter may have set a record for most passes in a quarter, completing 8 of 20 in the first period (with an interception by Isaksen) for 155 yards. Overall, Richter completed 18 of 40 (with two interceptions), for 315 yards. The Grizzlies ran 28 offensive plays in the first quarter, an unusually high number.
GP pushed its lead to 19-7 with 4:44 left in the half when it drove 44 yards in 9 plays including an 18-yard Richer to Jack Bonner completion. Ben Kaestner scored the TD on a 3-yard run. Jackson's PAT hit the left goalpost and was no good.
Lake followed that up with its best drive of the game. Starting at the LS 20, Daggett completed a 27-yard pass to Isaksen. Daggett scrambled for a 13-yard gain, then hit Tyler Reside for a 20-yard gain. Later in the drive Daggett teamed with Isaksen for 11 and 4-yard completions, as Lake gained a first and goal at the GP seven-yard line. But a procedure penalty and two incompletions forced an Isaksen 25-yard field goal with 25 seconds left before halftime, paring the deficit to 19-10.
The second half was a soap opera of utter futility for the Vikings, during which time they netted exactly 19 yards, while the defense surrendered 211 yards to GP.
The third quarter got off to a promising start for the Vikings, however. After Richter drove his team to a first down on the Viking 8, Alex Moon intercepted his pass and returned it 81 yards to the GP 14. On the next play, Frost was nailed for a 6-yard loss, followed by two Daggett incompletions. That set up another Isaksen field goal try, a 37-yarder which was botched by a high snap, allowing an easy football-smothering by Glacier Peak's Brandon States.
Blown coverage resulted in a Richter to Bonner 29-yard touchdown pass with 5:10 left in the third quarter. Another Miller miss on the PAT try kept the score at 25-10.
Lake, pinned on its own one yard line, surrendered a safety when it was called for holding in the end zone at 9:50 of the fourth quarter, upping GPs lead to 27-10.
Glacier Peak, not known for good defense (it won its opener against Arlington the previous week, 52-51 in overtime) held Lake to 24 net yards rushing, sacking Daggett 4 times. Frost finished with 51 yards net in 9 carries. Daggett completed 11 of 35 passes (with two interceptions) for 115 yards.
Glacier Peak's control of the game is reflected in the first down department where the Grizzlies had 23 to just 11 for Lake.
Leading Viking tacklers were Brandon Belcher with 15 and Chase Crowley with 12. Vikings with quarterback sacks were Porter, Jason Mendel, Jordan Eckstrom, and Christian Gasca.