In the postgame huddle at Mac Field, the Kelso High football team had plenty of good things to say about Lake Washington.
Kelso (2-1) had blown out its opponents during the first two weeks of the season before meeting Lake Washington, but left Kirkland on Friday night with a stinging, 12-8 nonconference loss.
The message? Lake Washington is “one of those good teams from up north.”
“We thought they were really fast on the edge and really stout up front,” said Kelso coach Steve Amrine. “We thought their defensive front was as good as advertised, and it was.”
Kelso and Lake Washington traded defensive blows for six rounds, with the Kangs (2-1) holding a 6-0 lead at halftime.
The Lake Washington defense held Kelso scoreless until the 7:46 mark of the fourth quarter, by which point the Kangs had already scraped out a two-touchdown lead.
Lake Washington intercepted Kelso quarterback AJ Hoggatt twice in the final minute of the game — once by senior Colby Coco, and a second time by Brayden Boyes.
The Kangs won by decision after 12 rounds, holding Kelso to 58 yards rushing and 163 yards of total offense.
Boyes and his fellow cornerback Cody Wilson have both made strides in the last two weeks, as has the rest of the defense, following a critical shift made by Lake Washington coach AJ Parnell in week two.
The idea was simple: save the experienced players for defense, and hope the young guys can figure it out on offense.
“Right now a lot of our guys are getting gassed, so we’re only playing one side of the ball,” said senior linebacker Caleb Rickels. “Me, I’m defensive side right now. Most of the guys starting on offense are taking all the offensive reps in practice and the guys starting on defense are taking defensive reps.”
That goes for a number of the upperclassmen expected to contribute offensively this season, including tight end Sean Gordon. And while the upperclassmen are used on offense — Coco and Rickels led the team in receiving — they’re not asked to do nearly as much.
“Week one I was burnt out, but tonight I had energy to keep going in the fourth quarter,” said Coco. “I think that’s helping us out tremendously. And those junior guys, they’re getting the reps they need.”
Boyes has been thrown into the fire for the first three weeks.
“Teams are coming at him and he’s had some tough moments, but he’s been able to stay in it,” Parnell said. “Tonight, from the first quarter to the fourth quarter, it was like you saw him figuring it out and getting some confidence in what he was doing.”
Offensively, though Kelso’s defense was tough on Friday, the Kangs have some questions to answer. Once again, junior Ryan Clifford used his speed to get to the edge and pick up important yards here and there, but the inside running game and short passing game were practically non-existent.
“They were blitzing a ton of guys, six or seven guys, every time, and we had some problems,” Parnell said. “We tried to get the quick game going and kept missing on stuff, so we need to go to work with our receivers and QBs this week.”
Raising the completion percentage for Long, who connected on 12 of 28 attempts for 155 yards and an interception, will be a focus in practice next week.
Clifford was the game’s leading rusher, with 21 carries for 43 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown. Max McDaniel led Kelso in rushing with 38 yards on 12 attempts.
Next, Lake Washington is scheduled to play its final nonconference game of the season against WF West on Friday, Sept. 23 in Chehalis.
SUMMARY
at Mac Field, Kirkland
Lake Washington 12, Kelso 8
LW 0 6 0 6 — 12
K 0 0 0 8 — 8
SCORING
Second quarter
LW — Sean Gordon 9 pass from Adam Long (kick failed), :14
Fourth quarter
LW — Ryan Clifford 2 run (Pass failed), 9:19
K — Ryan Lewis 5 run (kick blocked), 7:46
K — Safety, :39
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSH—K: Max McDaniel 12-38, John Roberts 6-23, River Liepa 1-7, Jordan Gladson 1-4, Jordan Miller 1-2, A.J. Hoggatt 6-(minus 16); LW: Clifford 21-43, Alex Bartoletti 1-2, Adam Long 6-1.
PASS—K: Hoggatt 11-26-3-105; LW: Long 12-28-1-155.
RECEIVING—K: Riley Noah 5-36, Sonny Chhim 1-35, Peyton Noah 3-21, McDaniel 1-9, Emmitt Kinch 1-(minus 2); LW: Colby Coco 3-56, Caleb Rickels 5-46, Shelby Merkatz 1-18, Domonic Roussell 1-11, Jensen Leewens 1-6.
