Welcome home, Salvon Ahmed.

The senior All-All American rushed for 226 yards and three touchdowns on Friday evening, leading the Juanita High football team to a 31-14 win over cross-town rival Lake Washington at Bergh Field.

Juanita students with the powder. We're all set. #KirklandWins pic.twitter.com/uJBeTZNRY4

— John William Howard (@JowardHoward) October 8, 2016

It was Ahmed’s first home appearance since the star running back fractured a bone in his hand on Sept. 3, forcing him to miss three weeks. Ahmed returned on Sept. 30 in a conference loss in Bellevue.

“When you’ve got the best player on the field, it’s always fun to know you’ve got that in your back pocket,” said Juanita coach Lele Teo. “The trust that he exhibits in his offensive line is fun and the love he gives those guys is awesome.”

Ahmed scored all three of his touchdowns in the second half, including a 56-yard burst in the third quarter. Juanita (1-1 KingCo, 2-3) outscored Lake Washington 14-0 in the third quarter alone.

Lake Washington (0-2, 2-4) entered the halftime break with a 14-10 lead, thanks to a big first half from quarterback Adam Long: seven receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown to Domonic Roussell.

The second half was similar to last season, when Lake Washington led at halftime and gave up a 17-0 third quarter.

“I felt like our offense was really clicking and we had a couple drives that were able to keep our defense off the field, which is something we hadn’t been able to do,” Lake Washington coach AJ Parnell said. “But man, the third quarter against Juanita the last two years, they’ve just blitzed us.”

“I felt really good at half, and we came out and Salvon, Salvon, Salvon,” he said.

The finish put Juanita in the position to challenge for the No. 1 seed out of KingCo’s Class 3A division. With Bellevue banned from the postseason for two years, there are still three playoff berths for five 3A KingCo teams.

“It’s good to get the momentum back,” said Juanita linebacker Dean Sise, who intercepted Long in the second half. “We got a little banged up and played four good teams to start the season, but this is the one we needed. I’m excited to get back, capitalize on this one and get better.”

Juanita quarterback JD Worcester, who has started four of the five games despite entering the season as a receiver, said the Lake Washington game had a little extra riding on it — and more than just the rivalry.

“We prepare for every game this season, but we realize the first half of the season doesn’t matter,” Worcester said. “This is what matters for playoff contention, and we’re really excited to get after it and we’re going to be laser-focused the rest of the way.”

Worcester attempted only 15 passes, but finished with seven completions for 64 yards. The Rebels ran the ball 54 times, finishing with 286 rushing yards.

Ahmed, who was still playing with a soft cast on his left hand, had his best game of the year.

“I feel like this is a big restart to our season,” Ahmed said. “We’re a young team, and getting into the flow of things has been difficult for us, but it’s all about the process. This is part of the process, and getting this W is really big for our team.”

While the win propels Juanita into the playoff picture, the loss put Lake Washington’s back to the wall. The Kangs have two difficult conference losses in succession, but are still within reach of one of the playoff spots should they win two of the final three games this season.

Lake Washington is scheduled to Play Interlake (0-2, 4-2) on Oct. 14 and Mercer Island on Oct. 21. The Kangs have been in each of the last three losses, especially at halftime, and are just waiting to break through.

“We were all really hopeful [at halftime], but sometimes things don’t go your way and you have to fight through adversity,” Long said. “It’s a good course of adversity for us to see how we respond and how we come together as a team. Expect big things ahead. Things are meshing.”

Lake Washington running back Ryan Clifford had 71 yards on 15 carries, and scored on a three-yard run in the second quarter. Clifford has scored seven touchdowns this season, and has scored in every game so far.

Ahmed’s three touchdowns brought his total to six scores in three games.

Juanita beat Lake Washington for the eighth consecutive game going back to 2007, and now hold a 24-19 edge all-time.

The Rebels are scheduled to play Redmond on Oct. 14 for homecoming. The Mustangs are 2-0 in conference after holding off a Hail-Mary to Mercer Island, 28-25, on Oct. 7.

SUMMARY

at Bergh Field, Juanita High School

Juanita 31, Lake Washington 14

LW 7 7 0 0 — 14

J 7 10 14 7 — 31

SCORING

First quarter

LW — Domonic Roussell 36 pass from Adam Long (Lance D’Alessio kick), 4:52

Second quarter

J — Sam Rice 25 pass from JD Worcester (Calum Garrigan kick), 10:52

LW — Ryan Clifford 3 run (D’Alessio kick), 1:57

J — Garrigan 25 field goal, :20

Third quarter

J — Salvon Ahmed 6 run (Garrigan kick), 10:25

J — Ahmed 56 run (Garrigan kick), 6:00

Fourth quarter

J — Ahmed 12 run (Garrigan kick), 11:54

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: LW—Clifford 15-71, Nation Wood 1-7, Reece Rudolph 2-0, Long 2-(minus 13); J—Ahmed 22-226, Andrez Trahan 20-34, Jake Languin 4-23, Worcester 7-2, Rice 1-1.

PASSING: LW—Long 12-25-2-172; Worcester 7-15-0-64.

RECEIVING: LW—Roussell 5-76, Jensen Leewens 1-25, Sean Gordon 2-16, Alex Bartoletti 2-12, Clifford 1-0; J—Rice 2-35, Ravi Regan-Hughes 2-18, Trahan 1-10, Sise 1-3, Ahmed 1-(minus 2).