Prep football: Warriors hand Hawks first loss of season

Mountlake Terrace's Jordan Bishop runs over an Edmonds-Woodway defender during a Wesco 3A game Friday night at Edmonds Stadium. (Photo by Karl Swenson)
Mountlake Terrace’s Jordan Bishop runs over an Edmonds-Woodway defender during a Wesco 3A game Friday night at Edmonds Stadium. (Photo by Karl Swenson)

After just one win in their first three games of the season, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors felt plenty of motivation for their Wesco 3A football showdown with the Mountlake Terrace Hawks. On Friday night the Warriors turned that drive into a victory.

The Warriors shut down a potent Mountlake Terrace offense and earned a 27-10 win at Edmonds Stadium.

Mountlake Terrace, who had averaged 34 points and almost 390 total yards per game in its first three outings of the year, were held to just a touchdown, a field goal and 182 yards total yards by a retooled Warrior defense.

“It was a little bit of a new game plan for us,” said E-W coach John Gradwohl of his defense scheme against the Hawks. “Because they run that double wing running game – and boy, do they do that well – we knew we needed another guy in the box to help stop it.”

By bringing defensive back Abdoulie Jatta up closer to the line of scrimmage, the Warriors were able to slow down a Mountlake Terrace rushing attack that had averaged 307 yards per game this year; the Hawks could only run for 132 yards against E-W on Friday.

Mountlake Terrace's Daniel Johnson (left) attempts to run away from Edmonds-Woodway's Nathan Phan. (Photo by Jonah Wallace)
Mountlake Terrace’s Daniel Johnson (left) attempts to run away from Edmonds-Woodway’s Nathan Phan. (Photo by Jonah Wallace)

“We knew they were going to be ready for us,” said Mountlake Terrace coach Kelly Dougan. “They’ve got three weeks of (game) film — they’ve seen what we’re doing.”

“We thought at times we were doing things well,” Dougan said. “But we got stopped; they played very good, we didn’t.”

In addition to their defense, the Edmonds-Woodway offense also played well, with 192 yards on the ground and 235 yards through the air. Senior quarterback Isaac Jackson completed 15 of 19 pass attempts, including a 43-yard touchdown pass to David Woodard and a 28-yard TD pass to Reid Whitson.

Gradwohl praised his quarterback’s ability to run and pass Friday night. “He’s not that tall, so sometimes we try to get him out of the pocket,” Gradwohl said. “It helps him see better, and if there’s nothing there he’ll take off and get a first down for us. He made some great plays with his feet, and with his arm too – and some key first downs situations that we needed.”

Jackson ran for 40 yards on six attempts for E-W, but the Warriors’ top rusher for the game was senior Tyler Rheinford with 108 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns. Rheinford commended his offense line for the effort they showed against Mountlake Terrace after disappointing losses the past two weeks. “We were struggling with assignments in our past two games, but they stepped it up and were killing stuff, making big holes,” he said. “I’m loving it. It makes running the ball fun.”

Rheinford also explained why the Warriors were so motivated for a victory. “We had to go hard for this win; we needed it,” he said. “If we had lost this game we might not have a chance at a playoff spot. We want a playoff spot.”

“We talked about how we needed this,” Rheinford added. “We needed to come back after our two losses in a row. We needed to come back and win this. It’s a big win.”

With the victory the Warriors even their Wesco 3A record at 1-1, 2-2 overall, and are tied for third place in the league’s South Division with next week’s opponent Lynnwood.

Despite the loss, Dougan found a couple positives to share with his Hawk squad after the game. “We talked about how the fact that they didn’t quit, they kept playing,” Dougan said. “And we had a lot young guys that played much more tonight than they normally do and they stepped up and did a good job. More than anything, we weren’t really doing very well at anything, offensively or defensively, but they were trying. They didn’t give up. They still kept working hard, supporting each other.”

Mountlake Terrace (2-1 in Wesco 3A, 3-1 overall) will try to bounce back on Oct. 2 against a much-improved 3-1 Shorecrest Scots team whose only loss this season was a one-point defeat to Lynnwood.

— By Doug Petrowski

Mountlake Terrace's Michael Jenson runs the ball against Edmonds-Woodway. (Photo by Karl Swenson)
Mountlake Terrace’s Michael Jenson runs the ball against Edmonds-Woodway. (Photo by Karl Swenson)

Prep Football: Edmonds-Woodway at Mountlake Terrace

Edmonds-Woodway             0          7          14        6          —          27
Mountlake Terrace               0          7            3        0          —          10

First Quarter
No scoring

Second Quarter
11:53 Tyler Rheinford (EWHS) 2-yard TD run; PAT kick by Jake Stevenson converted
3:24 Tanner Munnis (MTHS) 6-yard TD run; PAT kick by Mikey Jenson converted

Third Quarter
10:54 Isaac Jackson (EWHS) 43-yard TD pass to David Woodard; PAT kick converted
6:23 Mikey Jenson (MTHS) 31-yard field goal
:21 Isaac Jackson (EWHS) 28-yard TD pass to Reid Whitson; PAT kick converted

Fourth Quarter
  2:51 Tyler Rheinford (EWHS) 4-yard TD run; PAT kick missed

Records: Mountlake Terrace 2-1 in Wesco 3A, 3-1 overall; Edmonds-Woodway 1-1, 2-2

Mountlake Terrace next game: vs. Shorecrest, Friday, Oct. 2, 5 p.m. at Edmonds Stadium

Edmonds-Woodway next game: vs. Lynnwood, Friday, Oct. 2, 8 p.m. at Edmonds Stadium

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