The Lake Washington High football team came one play away from a thrilling victory.
Instead, the evening ended with a gut-wrenching double-overtime loss to Redmond, 28-27, on Friday, Sept. 30 at Mac Field in Kirkland.
The Mustangs went for two after scoring a touchdown in the second overtime, and quarterback Taryn Berry found Devon La Pierre on a fade route in the left corner of the end zone. It was the first time Redmond, which moved down to the KingCo 3A division this season, and Lake Washington had met in football since 2011.
The two conference opponents are only five miles from one another, and Friday’s result is likely to be remembered next fall when the teams meet in a rematch.
“[Lake Washington] is definitely a rival now,” said Redmond coach Jason Rimkus. “The way their kids played — so dang tough — and the way the game went, you can’t say it’s not going to be a rivalry.”
The loss came in spite of a big night from junior running back Ryan Clifford, who racked up 104 yards on 25 carries, scoring twice in regulation and once in overtime. Clifford’s touchdown midway through the fourth quarter tied the game.
“It was a tough loss, but I think we’re going to come back,” Clifford said. “It’s hard, but it’s a positive for us. We’re coming together this week and we’re going to push a big game against Juanita next week. We played tough. We wanted it bad.”
The Kangs (0-1 KingCo, 2-3) were without a handful of players, including starters, due to undisclosed suspensions. Lake Washington coach AJ Parnell declined to give any information on the reason for the suspensions and didn’t mention any of the suspended players by name, saying he wanted to keep the incident in house and do right by the player’s families.
The losses, though, were felt on both sides of the ball.
“We’re always rising,” said Kang receiver and defensive back Colby Coco. “We had an adverse situation that affected our game today, but we’re going to bounce back. We’re going to move forward from that situation.”
“Right now, it’s tough but we have a standard here: 24 hours,” Clifford said. “That’s what we get to erase everything and start over. Next game. Once we do that and 24 hours go by, we’re going to get ready and go off.”
Lake Washington struggled to move the ball consistently throughout the game, and had a hard time slowing Redmond running back Joel Hargin. Though he didn’t score until overtime, Hargin finished with 116 yards and two touchdowns on 36 carries.
The Mustangs finished with 184 yards of total offense, but capitalized on a blocked punt to score in the first quarter and connected on two midrange field goals. Lake Washington was flagged for encroachment on the first two plays of overtime, giving Redmond another short field.
Lake Washington finished with 240 yards of total offense, and 151 passing yards from quarterback Adam Long. Completion percentage had been low for the first four weeks of the season, but Long found a breakout target in Domonic Roussell for eight receptions and 91 yards.
Roussell caught a 22-yard touchdown pass in the second overtime, bobbling the ball just after crossing the goal line.
Next, Lake Washington is scheduled to play against Juanita High for the Bronze Man Trophy on Friday, Oct. 7 at Bergh Field.
Redmond 28, Lake Washington 27
at Mac Field, Kirkland
R 7 3 3 0 15 — 28
LW 6 0 0 7 14 — 27
SCORING
First quarter
LW — Ryan Clifford 5 run (kick missed), 6:55
R — Teryn Berry 4 run (Pedro Menchaca kick), 2:11
Second quarter
R — Menchaca 23 field goal, 4:24
Third quarter
R — Menchaca 32 field goal, 1:27
Fourth quarter
LW — Clifford 7 run (Lance D’Alessio kick), 8:14
Overtime
R — Joel Hargin 2 run (Menchaca kick)
LW — Domonic Roussell 22 pass from Adam Long (D’Alessio kick)
LW — Clifford 12 run (D’Alessio kick)
R — Hargin 4 run (Devon La Pierre from Berry)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSH — R: Hargin 36-116, Berry 5-28, Cameron Boone 3-7; LW: Clifford 25-104, Long 5-(minus 1), D’Alessio 1-(minus 13).
PASS — R: Berry 5-21-0-33; LW: Long 14-24-0-151.
RECEIVING — R: La Pierre 2-27, Bradley Cagle 1-4, Ryan Mossman 2-2; LW: Roussell 8-91, Alex Bartoletti 3-34, Jensen Leewins 1-14, Hudson Jones 1-9, Colby Coco 1-3.
