The Juanita High football team struggled to hang on to the ball on Friday, Oct. 28 in a 24-14 conference loss to Mercer Island at Mac Field in Kirkland.

The loss, though, didn’t hurt the playoff picture for the Rebels (3-2 KingCo, 4-4), who clinched the No. 1 seed from KingCo’s Class 3A division with a week eight victory over Interlake.

Mercer Island took a 7-0 lead with 6:55 left in the second quarter and led 14-0 midway through the third quarter.

Juanita senior Salvon Ahmed scored on a 69-yard run with 4:13 left in the third quarter to make it 14-6, but the Islanders tacked on a field goal and another touchdown for a 24-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Next, the Rebels are scheduled to play the winner of the Bi-District playoff game between Shadle Park and Southridge on Saturday, Nov. 5. The No. 2 seeds from the Greater Spokane League and the Mid-Columbia Conference, respectively, are scheduled to play on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Bellevue 42, Lake Washington 0.

Lake Washington needed a little magic on Friday to make the playoffs — either a huge upset over Bellevue, or losses by Interlake and Mercer Island.

The situation would have set up a three-way tie for the third seed and a chance at new life for the Kangs. Instead, Mercer Island, Interlake and Redmond finished in a three-way tie for the second seed, effectively eliminating Lake Washington (1-4, 3-6) from playoff contention.

Lake Washington is expected to schedule a week 10 consolation game with one of the schools from the Seattle Metro League on Friday, Nov. 4.

This story will be updated.