Even though the football field at Edmonds Stadium sits on level ground, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors made it appear otherwise on Thursday as the team seemed to be moving downhill all night long in their match-up with the Mountlake Terrace Hawks.

E-W’s rolled up 463 total yards of offense on their way to a 45-0 blowout win over the Hawks.

Cappasio Cherry rushed for 145 yards on 21 carries and scored four touchdowns — three in the second quarter alone — for the Warriors. Kelly Jackson added a rushing touchdown in the third quarter for E-W.

In total, Edmonds-Woodway used seven different running backs in the contest and grinded out 355 yards in rushing.

Quarterback Reilly Chappell got in on the scoring for E-W also with a 21-yard touchdown strike to Jaro Rouse late in the first quarter.

After humbling Terrace with a pounding ground game, Warriors’ Coach John Gradwohl had praise for his offensive line. “They’re really starting to gel and go some good things,” he said. “Our offensive line picked it up and did a good job.”

The E-W offense found the end zone on three straight possession in the second quarter and may have scored on a fourth, but a fumble inside Terrace territory stopped the promising drive less than a minute before halftime.

The Warrior scoring frenzy came after the Hawks put up some resistance early in the tilt. E-W had to settle for a field goal after reaching the Terrace two-yard line on their first drive of the game, then was forced to punt late in the quarter with their third possession.

“(Terrace) was looking very stout,” Gradwohl said of the Hawks’ first quarter defensive effort. “They did a good job. We had to move the ball around a little differently. They’ve got some good athletes over there, so we were just trying to find a way.”

By abandoning a game plan that originally showed a more balanced attack to almost exclusively keeping the ball on the ground, E-W was able to march down the field with their second quarter possessions, add two more scoring drives in the third quarter, then see the “mercy rule” running clock prevent any sustained effort by Terrace to climb back into the game.

“It was a tough start but then we started to roll a little bit,” Gradwohl summarized.

For Terrace, the loss represented their most lopsided defeat since Edmonds-Woodway rolled to a 56-7 victory over the Hawks on Sept. 28, 2007. Terrace earned only three first downs on Thursday (compared to E-W’s 25), gained only 74 total yards in the game, went 0-for-10 in third down conversion attempts, failed on two fourth down conversion efforts, and the offense never crossed midfield into Warrior territory.

Terrace Coach Kelly Dougan admitted his team was overmatched against an E-W team that he sees as having few faults. “Their power running game is extremely efficient and they have really strong, experienced offensive linemen,” he explained. “It’s crisp, the backs are good, the quarterback’s solid; (that’s) really tough for us to defend. And that’s just their offense.”

“The defense might be one of the best defenses in the state, the kind of numbers they’re putting up,” Kelly added.

Kelly also stressed that the Warrior dominance on Thursday was likely a result of more team strength and bulk on the Edmonds-Woodway side on the line. “One of the big things is our guys have to make a commitment to being in the weight room (because) it’s really an eleven-, twelve-month-a-year sport,” he said. “A game like this, we probably loss this game in March. They’re a stronger team and you can tell they put the time in in the weight room.”

With the loss Terrace dropped to 1-3 in Wesco League play, 4-3 overall.

E-W, ranked no. 10 in the Seattle Times 3A state football rankings, raised their league mark to 4-0, their overall record to 6-1 and strengthened their hold on first place in the 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference standings. The squad has two games remaining in their regular season – Oct. 20 at Shorecrest and Oct. 27 against Snohomish at home – then will likely play a 3A playoff game the first weekend in November, hoping to land a spot in the state playoffs later in the month.

Gradwohl is optimistic as his team heads into the final stages of the year. “If we stay healthy, I feel comfortable playing anybody,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we can beat them, but I feel like we can compete. The ball’s not round; if it bounces our way, who know.”

Prep Football: Edmonds-Woodway at Mountlake Terrace, Oct. 12

Edmonds-Woodway 10 21 14 0 — 45
Mountlake Terrace 0 0 0 0 — 0

First quarter scoring:
6:39 — Jackson Karr (Edmonds-Woodway) 37-yard field goal
3:16 — Reilly Chappell (Edmonds-Woodway) 21-yard TD pass to Jaro Rouse; Jackson Karr PAT kick good

Second quarter scoring:
8:26 — Cappasio Cherry (Edmonds-Woodway) 5-yard TD run; Jackson Karr PAT kick good
5:47 — Cappasio Cherry (Edmonds-Woodway) 4-yard TD run; Jackson Karr PAT kick good
3:05 — Cappasio Cherry (Edmonds-Woodway) 10-yard TD run; Jackson Karr PAT kick good

Third quarter scoring:
6:45 — Cappasio Cherry (Edmonds-Woodway) 9-yard TD run; Jackson Karr PAT kick good
3:40 — Kelly Jackson (Edmonds-Woodway) 26-yard TD run; Jackson Karr PAT kick good

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 4-0 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 6-1 overall ; Mountlake Terrace 1-3 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 4-3 overall

Edmonds-Woodway next game: versus Shorecrest, Friday, Oct. 20, 5:00 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Snohomish, Friday, Oct. 20, 7:00 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Snohomish

–By Doug Petrowski