BELLINGHAM – The ground game came alive for the Storm as they captured a 42-22 win over Lakewood at Civic Stadium on Friday night.
Squalicum rushed for 469 yards as a team, the most in a game since 2018 when they rambled for 572 yards against Central Kitsap.
It was a big start for the Cougars, though, as they took the opening kickoff and then scored just five plays later on an eight-yard touchdown run.
The Storm didn’t even have time to hang their heads as they countered with a 3-play drive that ended with a 50-yard touchdown run by senior Maddox Strickland.
The first quarter ended with the score tied at 7-7, but the second quarter opened with a 13-yard touchdown run by sophomore Tucker Hofstedt.
Another pleasant surprise to Squalicum fans was seeing Asher Asbjornsen on the field. With a hot pink club completely covering his left wrist and hand, the speedy junior was still able to make a difference as he scampered 17 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to give the Storm a 21-7 lead.
Asbjornsen also floated around on defense between outside linebacker and safety, and was able to finish with five tackles, three tackles for loss and a quarterback sack. His defensive numbers were great, but it was junior inside linebacker Brock Scammell who made the biggest difference on defense as he finished with nine tackles, four quarterback sacks and a tackle for loss.
Strickland scored his second touchdown of the game early in the third quarter, this time it covered 30 yards. He finished with a career-high 182 yards on 14 carries.
Lakewood cut the lead to just two scores after scoring on a 66-yard touchdown run down the visiting sideline, but the Storm answered back once again, this time on a 7-yard scoring run by Hofstedt, who also had a career-high in rushing yards with 125 on 16 carries.
Sophomore running back Gage Oswald was able to score on an 11-yard touchdown run on his only carry of the game in the fourth quarter, before the Cougars put up one last touchdown just before the end of the game.
The Storm (3-4) will host Lynden (6-1) at 7:00 on Friday back at Civic Stadium.
Squalicum 42
Lakewood 22
LAK 7 0 7 8 - 22
SQU 7 14 14 7 - 42
LAK - 8 yard touchdown run (kick good)
SQU - Strickland 50 run (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Hofstedt 13 run (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Asbjornsen 17 run (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Strickland 30 run (Larranaga kick)
LAK - 66 yard touchdown run (kick good)
SQU - Hofstedt 7 run (Larranaga kick)
SQU - Oswald 11 run (Larranaga kick)
LAK - 13 yard touchdown pass (2pt pass good)
LAK SQU
26-53 Rush Att-Yards 47-469
14-28-1 Comp-Att-Int 4-11-0
205 Passing Yards 44
Individual Leaders
RUSHING - LAK: N/A. SQU: Strickland 14-182, Hofstedt 16-125, Asbjornsen 10-89, Sone 5-62, Oswald 1-11, Price 1-0.
PASSING - LAK: N/A. SQU: Price 4-11-0-44.
RECEIVING - LAK: N/A. SQU: Hofstedt 3-43, Strickland 1-1.
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