Last Second TD Vaults Vikings Past #1 Sumner 31-28
Sterling debut for QB Blake Moser ends with game winner as time runs out. Vikings at #1 Bellevue Friday. Highlights, pics, stats.
LAKE STEVENS — In over two decades at the helm of the Lake Stevens Vikings football program, Tom Tri could only remember one game with comparable drama: a 2011 home playoff game that saw QB Jake Nelson walk the Viks off with a last second heave to All State WR Christian Gasca. Only one game, that is, until Friday made it two.
Fast forward 14 years and some 43 minutes of game time, and the Vikings found themselves facing a do-or-die drive in their 2025 home opener vs defending 4A champion and preseason #1 Sumner. (Story continues after ad.)
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It was time to lean on new starting QB BLAKE MOSER, and as the junior would say later — big time players have to make big time plays.
And that’s just what Moser and Junior wideout SETH PRICE proceeded to do.
With the Vikings trailing by 4 points late in the 4th quarter of the home opener Friday - facing the top-ranked Spartans’ formidable championship defense, Moser led an 80-yard, 11-play come-from-behind drive that consumed all but the last two-tenths of a second of regulation game time, connecting on the final play with Price on a 15-yard TD pass as time ran out.
The TD vaulted the Vikings (1-0) past the 2024 4A champion Sumner Spartans (0-1) by a score of 31-28.
Moser was responsible for all 80 yards covered on the drive, going 8/9 passing for 56 yards and rushing twice for 24 yards.
Ultimately, Moser found Price on the two most important plays of the game: a must-have 4th and 2 from the Spartan 20 with :23 seconds left (Price caught the ball short of the marker and dragged Spartan defenders to a first down); and the game winner one play later, wherein Moser scrambled right and hit Price in the right corner of the West end zone as time ran out.
At first, it didn’t seem like Friday’s game would come down to a last second play, that’s how dominant the Viks were in the opening frame.
In front of a standing room only home crowd on a hazy summer night, the Viks opened the scoring after holding Sumner to a quick three-and-out.
Continue through the jump for the rest of the recap + official game stats, postgame interviews and more.
After a Spartan punt, Lake took over on their own 27. Tom Tri sent out the offense and handed off to junior RB JAYVIAN FERRELL on the first snap.
The speedy back sorted through traffic around the right side before breaking two Sumner tackles down the right sideline, spinning back towards the middle of the field and into a cut after shrugging off a tackle from Sumner safety Elias Isaacs.
Picking up a convoy of three Lake wide receivers, Ferrell waited for WR SETH PRICE to take out All State defensive lineman Shaun Phillips, cutting against the block and across field, using blocks from Kekoa Okiyama and Max Cook to ultimately reach pay dirt 73 yards away. 7-0 Lake after one offensive play.
Sumner answered with a long drive, capped by a 31-yard field goal making it 7-3.
Lake drove again and this time the Vikings’ Junior QB showed some of the open field magic he displayed during last year’s playoffs.
Tri dialed up QB Power with left guard WILL LYNCH pulling. Lynch walled off All State linebacker Austin Glivar and Moser shimmied through a sliver of space created by Lynch and center CALEB CONNELEY.
Emerging from the line, Moser had open space at the second level and turned on the jets. Sumner couldn’t catch up to #6’s 4.47 speed. 14-3 Vikings, late first quarter.
Sumner wideout Braylon Pope would catch the first two of his four TDs before half, with Sophomore Viking wideout MAX COOK hauling in Moser’s first TD as a starter on a three yard pass in the second quarter. Lake led 21-16 at halftime, with Sumner failing to convert the try after a TD.
The Viks sputtered in the third quarter on offense, managing just a 22-yard LUCAS MOORING field goal, but the Viking D held Sumner scoreless. 24-16, end of 3Q.
Sumner would start the fourth with two unanswered touchdown drives, both culminating in Braylon Pope touchdown catches.
The Spartans failed to tack on the extra points though, so when the Vikings took over with 4:48 remaining, the score was Sumner 28 Lake Stevens 24.
That’s when Moser led the Viks on the scoring drive that used up all but two-tenths of a second, hitting Price in the end zone and sending the home crowd into a ground-shaking celebration.
As fireworks framed the night sky, Moser told KRKO “Tom Tri is going to be very happy with us.”
Moser was 21-38 passing for 183 yards, 2 TDs and 1 int. Moser also carried nine times for 90 yards and a touchdown. Price led the team in receptions with seven.
Junior back Jayvian Ferrell led a Viking rushing attack that totaled 230 yards. Ferrell carried 14 times for 136 yards and a TD.
Lake Stevens out gained the Spartans for the second straight year, 417 to 334. Both teams created one turnover. Sumner WR Braylon pope had 112 yards receiving and four touchdowns.
Safety DYLAN PHINNEY led the Viking D with 13 tackles and an interception. Fellow captain KAIDEN PECK added nine tackles and a sack in his return from injury. The Senior linebacker broke his leg a year ago at Sumner. Senior DL KEEGAN BROWN added a sack.
The Viking offensive line didn’t surrender a sack.
Up Next: at #1 Bellevue Friday
Lake Stevens is at 3A #1 Bellevue Friday, 7:90 pm for the fourth game in the current four year series between the two perennial powers.
Lake leads the series 2-1, winning at home in 2022 and at Bellevue in 2023. The Wolverines beat Lake in Lake Stevens last year, 31-21.
Both teams emerged ranked top in their classifications in the Evans Computer Power rankings. Varsity WA has the Viks ranked third in 4A behind two eastern WA teams (Chiawana and Gonzaga Prep).
Box Score and Official Stats
Previously:
Viking Football Tonight: #4 Lake Stevens Hosts State Champion #1 Sumner Spartans, 7:00 pm Kickoff at LSHS
LAKE STEVENS — After posting the team’s worst record in a decade, losing a 62-game Wesco winning streak and graduating program icons Kolton Matson (Gatorade Player of the Year, 99 career passing TDs) and Jayshon Limar (25 total TDs and 1,299 yards rushing last year), outsiders would be forgiven for assuming Tom Tri’s Viking football program was on the downswing.