Arlington wins a thriller; M-P, Lakewood romp over foes

FOOTBALL

Arlington 27, Mariner 23

Griffin Gardoski hauled in a game-winning 5-yard touchdown from senior quarterback Anthony Whitis with 1 second remaining, giving Arlington a 27-23 season-opening win over Mariner.

The Marauders took a 23-20 lead with 1:38 to play before the Eagles’ comeback.

Whitis completed 20-of-29 passes for 252 yards, threw for two touchdowns and added two rushing touchdowns. Gardoski caught five passes for 100 yards, one a 46-yard TD, and Joey Stretch caught five for 78.

M-P 63, Snohomish 34

MARYSVILLE – Marysville-Pilchuck’s rushing attack is back.

In its home season-opener against Snohomish Aug. 31, M-P racked up 525 yards rushing in a 63-34 romp over Snohomish.

Trenton Hurst ran for scores of 65-, 60-, 12- and 10-yards, while Bryan Sanders scored on runs of 60- and 7-yards for the winners.

Sanders also took the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown.

“Obviously the first time you touch the ball, to take it to the end zone gets everyone fired up and into the game,” M-P coach Brandon Carson said. “Our sideline was excited, and that play really set us off. We blocked it pretty well, and Bryan made one good cut and was off to the races.”

Carson praised the Tomahawks’ offensive line for opening up holes that allowed Hurst and Sanders to have such big games.

“We did a great job up front blocking and our backs did a good job blocking, too,” he said. “It was nice to get the running game going.”

Jordan Justice added a 12-yard run and Jake Elwood scored from a yard out.

Lakewood 31, Kings 13

LAKEWOOD – The Cougar football team got its season off to a strong start with a 31-13 win over Kings Aug. 31.

Quarterback Jared Taylor threw for two touchdowns and ran for another for the Cougars. Tavion Henderson scored the other TD on a 28-yard run on his only carry of the game.

Taylor started it off with a 16-yard pass to Landon Pruitt, then scored on a 21-yard run. Alan Sepulveda kicked a 26-yard field goal before Henderson’s run. Taylor passed 25 yards to Brandt Starkey to finish the LHS scoring.

Taylor was 7 for 12 for 80 yards and ran 16 times for 90 yards to lead the Cougar offense. Starkey also ran the ball three times for 60 yards.

Shorecrest 28, MG 10

Marysville Getchell quarterback Caleb Koellmer played a standout game Friday in a 28-10 loss to Shorecrest.

Plummer passed for a touchdown and completed 13 of 36 passes for 113 yards. Running the ball, he picked up 103 yards on 19 carries.

Koellmer passed for a 33-yard score to Ryan King for the Chargers only TD. Cameron Hazelwood added a 24-yard field goal.

SOCCER

Lakewood 1, Sequim 1

LAKEWOOD – Lakewood’s girls soccer team hosted Sequim High School and fought to a 1-1 draw Friday in its season-opener.

At halftime, the score was 0-0, but Cougar ninth-grader Angela McDonald almost put one in from 25-yards out, but it hit the crossbar.

The defensive battle continued in the second half, until Lakewood scored with five minutes left in the game. On the play, ninth-grader Kaley Chang passed to yet another freshman, Jasmine Graham, at the top of the box. Senior Kloey Simons and sophomore Iliana Ramirez made a decoy run, allowing space for Jasmine, who dribbled in to score.

The lead was short-lived as Sequim scored with two minutes in the game to tie it.

LHS goalie Hailey Kohler made five saves, coach Nick Anderson said.