Viking Football: Playoffs Open at Home Friday vs Tahoma, 7 pm - Stats, Schedules, Photos and Highlights
Lake Stevens saw its 63-game Wesco win streak snapped at Arlington, losing 28-14… but the Viks held on for a share of the Wesco title.
(Above) Viking captains near Arlington at midfield. See below for highlights, playoff seeding, the box score from Arlington and season stats to date.
ARLINGTON - For the first time in over a dozen years, the Lake Stevens Vikings (6-3, 5-1) lost a league game.
The 12 year streak of consecutive Wesco titles, however, was extended after after a rainy Friday night that saw the Viks lose in Arlington (8-1, 5-1) and Glacier Peak (8-1, 5-1) win at Kamiak.
On Sunday, the state seeding committee showed the two-time defending 4A champs respect, ranking them 7th in 4A, one slot behind Arlington but ahead of undefeated Moses Lake and several 8-1 teams including Glacier Peak.
This is in part due to respect, but also due to the fact that the Viks played the state’s toughest schedule, facing opponents with an average winning percentage coming in higher than the Vik’s own winning percentage — a first in the RPI era for a top ten team.
On Friday, Arlington came out slinging and hit a 40-yard bomb on their first possession, with a Viking defender millimeters from swatting the ball away. Kolton Matson immediately drove the Viks 70 yards, finding TE Keagan Howard from 19 yards out to equalize as the first quarter ended.
Howard (below) led the Viks with six catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns.
Battling through pretty serious ailments, Viking running back Jayshon Limar nonetheless grinded out 14 carries for 66 yards and reigning Gatorade Player of the Year Kolton Matson went 16-30 for 231 yards 2 TD / 3 INT, adding eight carries for 64 yards.
As in their previous losses, Lake Stevens out gained their opponent through the air and on the ground, held the edge in first downs (19-16) and time of possession.
The Vikings three turnovers compared to the Eagles’ one proved insurmountable, especially given the fact that Lake’s third turnover was an interception returned for a touchdown as Lake attempted to knot the score at 21.
Instead, the ball went the other way to pay dirt and it was 28-14 with mere minutes left. Lake was unable to spring big plays and again was let down by an offense that typically scores in the mid forties.
This year, the young defense has played well enough to win in the Vikings three losses:
Sumner was held to 21 points and just 9 minutes of possession in Week 1.
Bellevue was held to 24 points until the final moment.
Arlington was held to 21. (Video below: Dylan Phinney tackle)
See below for the Round of 32 seeding, opponent information, the box score from Arlington and Viking season stats to date.
Lake Seeking Big Play Threat, Secondary Ball Carrier
The common denominator in all three losses have been turnovers (eight of Matson’s nine interceptions have come in these games) and an inability to spring explosive plays.
Lake is perhaps missing a horizontal speed threat or second ball carrier that Tri has deployed to test the edges of opponent defenses in the past.
Guys like Trayce Hanks and Cassidy Banks come to mind, with 4.5 speed and the ability to catch the ball and carry five to eight times a game. Both guys were part of the starting offense and complimented Jayden Limar by carrying the ball over 30 times on the year, usually testing the edge of the defense. Both were big play threats with the ability to bust 50+ yard scores at any point.
This year, Kolton Matson (above) is the secondary ball carrier when the first team offense is in, and while he has the speed and quickness to break off big runs, he typically looks to
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