by Staff Report
Snohomish (1-1, 2-2) at Oak Harbor (1-0, 2-2), 7 p.m. Friday
The Wildcats jump back into Western Conference North Division play after a high-scoring non-league win over Mount Vernon, 42-32 last week, in which they ran for 446 yards.
“I think we got the running game going pretty well,” Oak Harbor coach Jay Turner said. “If we keep that success going, we’ll be OK.”
The Wildcats will have to stop a Snohomish squad thinned this year by the opening of Glacier Peak High School. The Panthers still prefer to run the ball, handing it mostly to Ray Purviance (64 carries, 461 yards, three touchdowns). Cameron Woolsey (11-108 and three TDs against Monroe last week) is also dangerous. Snohomish has used three quarterbacks who combined have thrown for less than 100 yards.
“They’re a very strong, run-oriented team,” Turner said. “They want to keep their offense on the field. We need to get some three and outs and get our offense on field as quick as we can.”
Turner said defensive end Nick Rouser will not play in the game because of a hip injury he suffered early against Mount Vernon.
Stanwood (0-1, 0-3) at Monroe (0-2, 2-2), 7 p.m. Friday
There will be a familiar face on the enemy sideline as the Spartans face a Monroe squad guided by Dave Telford — a former Stanwood assistant.
The Bearcats will be led by quarterback Brian Sonneveldt, who had 787 yards and nine touchdowns through three games. Sonneveldt is aided by a deep squad of receivers. Five have at least five catches, led by Connor Shelford (12 catches, 259 yards, four touchdowns).
“They have quickness and overall team speed,” Stanwood coach Dick Abrams said. “They have a talented tailback, quarterback and excellent receivers. We have to stop the long ball.”
The Spartans will be without lineman Dexter Charles, who is out for the season with a back injury, Abrams said.
Anacortes (0-2, 0-4, 0-4) at Burlington-Edison (2-0, 4-0, 4-0), 7 p.m. Friday
The Seahawks enter this one banged up and still looking for their first victory. The Tigers come in looking to stay undefeated and are getting more weapons back.
Still, the Tigers are not taking this one for granted, coming a week before the annual Battle of the Bridge against Mount Vernon.
“They gave us a scare last year, so we’re not taking them lightly,” Shearer said of Anacortes. “The no-huddle offense will create a few problems. They, like a lot of teams, have a lot of guys going both ways, which may hurt them. We’ll try to push that advantage.”
The Tigers are getting healthier. Running back Jeff Adams will be back. Troy O’Neill, who was the team’s quarterback for the first three weeks of the season, will be back at wide receiver, where he started the past two years. Sophomore Dylan Boe, who threw for 166 yards last week, will keep his job at quarterback.
Anacortes, on the other hand, is still banged up. Quarterback/defensive back Chris Stoneham and running back/linebacker Carenza Farrell are both going to miss the contest, and running back Wyatt Hendricks (ankle injury) is also unlikely to play, coach Charlie Bell said.
“We still feel that we can turn our season around, and look forward to giving it a try on Friday,” Bell said. “It’s not a surprise that they are undefeated. They are really smooth, they are really balanced. They don’t make any mistakes. They don’t beat themselves. They play opportunistic, steady football and they are well coached. We have to not make mistakes ourselves and force some turnovers.”
Bellingham (1-1, 1-3, 1-3) at Mount Vernon (0-0, 2-0, 2-2), 7 p.m. Friday
With a run-heavy offense and a bevy of skilled players at both running back and quarterback, the Red Raiders may be tough to slow down.
Mount Vernon coach Jaxon Schweikert said that staying disciplined will be the key.
“We’ve got to stay in our gaps,” he said. “We’ve got to make it difficult on them to throw the football. They don’t throw it a lot, but teams like that rock you to sleep, then try to throw a big one.”
Schweikert said the Bulldogs are fairly healthy coming into the game.
“We’re probably healthier now than at any point in the season,” he said.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 42-32 non-league loss to Class 4A Oak Harbor. Quarterback Ray Walser threw for 257 yards, He threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for two more scores.
Sedro-Woolley (0-0, 1-2, 1-3) at Shorecrest (0-0, 2-2), 7 p.m. Friday
The Cubs are coming off their first Northwest Conference win, a victory against Anacortes, and now will face a non-league opponent in Shorecrest.
The Scots began the season with blowout losses to Marysville-Pilchuck (46-14) and Ferndale (61-0), but have come back the past two weeks to beat Snohomish (28-14) and Shorewood (21-14).
Shorecrest doesn’t pass the ball much. Michael Harris is the team’s top rushing threat with 346 yards and four touchdowns. Jordan Brown, who caught one touchdown and ran for another in the win over Shorewood, is another threat.
“Our guys are going to have to adjust to their speed right from the beginning and tackle well,” Sedro-Woolley coach Bryan Alexander said. “We’ve been doing well and have to maintain that. We’re going to have to be really physical. That’s become what we do well.”
Darrington (0-0, 3-1) at La Conner (0-0, 0-4), 7 p.m. Friday
The Braves enter Northwest 2B League play still searching for that elusive first victory. They will look for it against a Darrington team that is not as physical as last year’s squad, but still has plenty of speed at the skill positions.
“They’ve got a lot of good athletes in the backfield, a lot of speed,” Braves coach Patrick Brown said. “They don’t have the same offensive or defensive lines, and they’re a little younger. Defensively we have to account for those athletes.”
The Braves will be without Nathan Lease, who injured a shoulder in last week’s loss to Liberty Bell, but get back receiver Conner Anderson.
“We’ve made progress every week,” Brown said. “We can build on what we did last week. We didn’t turn the ball over, which shows me that the game’s slowing down for the kids. We need to become a better tackling team, which takes time, and we need to play four quarters of all three phases.”
Concrete (0-0, 3-1) at Orcas Island (0-0, 2-2), 1 p.m. Saturday
After a strong non-league performance, the Lions finally get into Northwest 2B League play against the Vikings. Orcas Island is likely the most physical squad in the league, one that includes a 300-pounder and a Division I recruit among it’s front five.
“They have the biggest and probably most talented line in the league,” Lions coach Ron Rood said. “That’s the strength of their team, their line play and their defense overall ... If our kids up front can do the kind of job we think they can, we have pretty good speed. It’s a big challenge for us.”
Also working against the Lions in this one is the long road trip out to the islands.
“I think it’s a key game in the league, pretty important,” Rood said. “Having to play them out on the island is tough.”
