Playoff Football: Lake Stevens Vikings Blowout the Tahoma Bears in Business-as-Usual 56-24 Victory
Lake Stevens moves on to the Round of 16 with another home playoff game on the cards for next weekend. Highlights, photos, box score, season stats, analysis and more...
LAKE STEVENS — Business as usual.
That was the feeling in Lake Stevens, where the two-time defending 4A state champion Vikings once again dispatched an overwhelmed playoff foe under leaden gray skies, in front of a raucous home crowd.
Lake Stevens (7-3) battered North Puget Sound League opponent Tahoma (6-4) by a final score of 56-24, in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicates. The victory was Tom Tri’s and the Viks’ ninth consecutive playoff win: two short of tying the 4A record.
Friday’s game was marked by a devastating ground attack that churned out 333 yards and by a swarming defense that totaled 12 tackles for loss and six sacks.
The turnovers and anxiety on display in Arlington the week previous were replaced by killer efficiency and “been-here-before” assuredness, with supreme confidence quietly emanating from the posture, communication and movements of Lake players and coaches.
Running back Jayshon Limar continued an outstanding senior season by posting his biggest night thus far. The multi-talented back carried15 times for 204 yards and a touchdown.
He also opened the scoring by hauling in a swing pass from QB Kolton Matson, lowering his shoulders and steaming through an opponent for the final eight yards until paydirt.
The Limar touchdown catch capped a brutally efficient 72-yard opening drive punctuated by four runs of ten yards or more: three by Limar and one by sophomore back Jayvian Ferrell.
Next Man Up Works Again
The Lake D held serve, sacking the Tahoma starting QB twice. That was the last Lake Stevens would see of the starter, as a different signal caller played the rest of the way for the Bears.
It was quickly more of the same for the Matson-led offense, this time working in a new weapon.
Sophomore QB Blake Moser is no stranger to varsity action: he’s 10/11 passing on the year for 124 yards a 2 TD. All of that action came in relief of Matson, during the second half of Viking blowouts. The baseball star (Moser played 3B and batted leadoff for much of his freshman season for Viking varsity baseball…he’s also a highly regard pitcher on the club circuit) is also the Vikings starting punter, showing off a foot that seems to be fashioned out of pure concrete, judging by the 60 yard blasts we’ve seen him hit.
All of that is to say, the stage wasn’t too big for Moser when he was asked to slide over to slot receiver and start in a playoff game on a few days notice, after the Viks’ injury woes at the position continued post-Arlington,
Moser was a revelation in his role, catching a seven yard touchdown pass that – along with a two point conversion (Pester to Phinney) – put the Viks up 15-0.
It was on Lake’s third drive that Moser really left his mark.
Signaling Moser into jet motion left, Matson snapped the ball just before Moser arrived at the mesh point. Matson handed the ball to Moser who raced parallel to the line, towards the visiting sideline, trailing a Jayshon Limar lead block.
As Moser reached off tackle, he bent the corner like a racer on a street bike, leaning hard right and cutting a sharp path vertical, in doing so eluding two would-be tacklers. Now pointed towards the end zone, Moser used a Dylan Phinney block to get past on outstretched defender, darted left leveraging a Will Lynch block to beat an arm tackle from another Bear…and then made another MotoGP inspired turn back across the grain, heading back right. He had two defenders to beat on his own. He went to stiff arm the first, but was by him so quick that the arm wasn’t even needed. Waving that defender to the ground, Moser leaned into the last man between him and the goalline.
Extending his left arm, Moser met the diving safety palm-to-helmet and redirected the defender directly into the green Lake Stevens FieldTurf.
Clutch, Gear, Gas, Gone. 28-yard-TD run puts Lake up 22-0.
Game Notes:
Lake’s Dominating Ground Game Controls Contest
Lake Stevens rushed for 333 yards on the night, with Limar’s 204 leading the way. Ferrel had 87 yards and a touchdown, Moser had his 28-yard TD run, and Matson added another 14
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