SNOHOMISH – A strong second half by the Panthers allowed them to come back and defeat the Strom 30-27 at Snohomish County Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday night to claim the #1 seed out of the WesCo 3A.
Squalicum had a chance with less than a minute remaining in the game, but a tipped pass was intercepted by Panther sophomore Caden Keithley, which terminated the chances of a Storm victory.
Quarterback Spencer Lloyd had an extremely strong performance, rushing for 86 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone. He finished with 112 yards rushing on 22 carries, and a touchdown that came in the fourth quarter to give Squalicum a 27-17 lead. He also completed 10-of-22 passes for 207 yards.
Squalicum was in control in the first half, as it limited the Snohomish big-play backs to minimal yards. They only double-digit yardage play given up on the ground was a 38-yard keeper by quarterback Tayte Conover. And, it was Conover who would go on to score the final two touchdowns of the game for the victorious Panthers.
The Storm ended the first half strong on a double-pass play that ended up with junior wide receiver Dedrick Mitchell throwing to a wide-open sophomore Steve Owens down the right side of the field for a 37-yard touchdown with eight seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Freshman running back Ben Schlenbaker also scored on a 15-yard touchdown in the second quarter. He finished with 53 yards rushing on seven carries.
Junior defensive lineman Jimmy Mena had a strong game with multiple stops for loss, with one coming on a third down play that forced Snohomish to settle for a 35-yard field goal in the second quarter.
Squalicum (7-2) will still advance to the district playoffs, and they will host Central Kitsap (6-3) at Civic Stadium this Friday night at 7:30.
Squalicum 27
Snohomish 30
SQU 7 14 0 6 – 27
SNO 0 10 7 13 – 30
SQU – S. Lloyd 2 run (M. Lloyd kick)
SNO – Hammer 35 FG
SQU – Schlenbaker 15 run (M. Lloyd kick)
SNO – Brandvold 54 pass from Conover (Hammer kick)
SQU – Owens 37 pass from Mitchell (M. Lloyd kick)
SNO – Massena 21 run (Hammer kick)
SQU – S. Lloyd 13 run (kick blocked)
SNO – Conover 1 run (kick failed)
SNO – Conover 2 run (Hammer kick)
SQU SNO
38-216 Rushing Att-Yards 36-216
11-23-1 Comp-Att-Int 13-23-1
244 Passing yards 152
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – SQU: S. Lloyd 22-112, Schlenbaker 7-53, Powell 7-33, Mitchell 2-18. SNO: Larson 18-125, Conover 8-51, Massena 10-40.
PASSING – SQU: S. Lloyd 10-22-1-207, Mitchell 1-1-0-37. SNO: Conover 13-23-1-152.
RECEIVING – SQU: Mitchell 3-68, Owens 2-56, Powell 2-40, McEachran 1-21, Tucker 1-13, Pennock 1-9. SNO: Williams 5-39, Massena 4-32, Brandvold 3-67, Douglas 1-14.
