Before senior Kayshawn Mounarath arrived at Lake Stevens High School, there was a question of who would be able to replace last year’s all-star running back, Blake May. This is a position usually taken by someone who, one way or another, gets past defenders for touchdowns like a hound dog going towards the scent of meat – and this year was no exception.

Mounarath ran 225 yards with 17 carries and scored 4 touchdowns for the Vikings, as the Lake Stevens varsity football team opened the 2017-18 season with a 49-0 win over the visiting Stanwood Spartans at LSHS Stadium

Lake Stevens started off right out of the gate, taking a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard run by

Mounarath.

Then, after forcing Stanwood to punt, they converged a 10-play, 67-yard drive, capped off by a 15-yard TD pass from Bardue to Mounarath to take a 14-0 lead with 3:44 left in the first quarter.

After a bad punt by Stanwood puts the Vikings deep in Stanwood territory, Bardue threw the ball to the right side, intended for junior wide receiver Ian Hanson, and was intercepted by junior Jeremy Anderson of Stanwood.

On the ensuing possession, after a 32-yard pass play from Spartan quarterback Karl DeBoer to teammate Bill Wanambisi, bad communication occurred between DeBoer and the offensive line, and the ball was snapped early, rolling on the ground, and falling into the hands of Lake Stevens senior Ryan Sander at the Spartans’ 40 yard line.

The drive ended in a 15-yard touchdown run by Mounarath to increase Lake’s

lead to 21-0 with 7:27 left in the first half. After a bad punt by Stanwood, Lake Stevens started at the Stanwood 44-yard line, resulting in a 10-yard touchdown (TD) pass from Bardue to Hanson, leading to a 28-0 lead for the Vikes with 3:09 left.

After a muffed punt by Lake Stevens, Stanwood started their next possession at the Vikings’ 29 yard line.

On the first play, the ball was intercepted by Lake Stevens sophomore Devin MacWatters at the Vikings’ 3 yard line with less than a minute left in the first half.

The next possession was close to remarkable: a 4-play, 97-yard touchdown drive highlighted by a 62-yard run by Mounarath, concluded with a 26-yard TD pass from Bardue to senior Austin Murren, his third TD pass of the night, ending the first half with a 35-0 lead.

When the second half began, the Vikings came out of the smoke still kicking, letting Stanwood know that they weren’t one-half wonders.

The Vikings got on the board scoring on a 68-yard rushing touchdown by Mounarath, juking past five Stanwood defenders down the visiting sideline to take a 42-0 lead, which has started the running clock. After that, it was all defense from that point on.

On the first Stanwood drive, the Spartans turned it over on downs on an 8-minute drive, highlighted by back-to-back sacks by senior defensive end Matt Sevao. After a 12-play, 90-yard drive that ended on a 4th and 13 pass from Bardue to junior Tre Long, the defense was at it again, pulling off back-to-back sacks by junior Mason Gack and senior Jevon Morris.

Bardue finished the night completing 20 of 31 passes for 274 yards, tossing 4

touchdowns and an interception. Austin Murren led all receivers with 5 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. Ian Hanson also contributed to the cause, catching 6 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown.