Preparation for the first round of the state playoffs for the Lake Stevens Vikings football team started off rocky, as it was discovered that senior quarterback Conor Bardue had broke his throwing hand during practice for this game, effectively ending his high school football career. The big decision came down to two choices for the Vikings: start freshman Tanner Jellison or junior Tre Long.

After deciding to give the nod to Tre, he didn’t disappoint the Viking faithful, as he threw for 243 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 51-0 shutout win over the Kentlake Falcons in the first round of the state playoffs at LSHS Stadium.

In the first quarter, the game started off slow, with both teams exchanging punts, with the Vikings punting for only the third time this season. After Kentlake punts for a second time, the Vikings got on the board with a 41-yard touchdown (TD) pass from Long to fellow junior Ian Hanson to take a 7-0 lead with 2:58 left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Vikings got into rhythm once again, as they conclude a 6-play, 53-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Austin Calvin to make the score 14-0 with 10:50 left in the first half.

Once again, the exchange of opponent punts to Viking touchdowns continues when Long threw his second touchdown pass to junior running back Tom Lewis for 24 yards, increasing the lead once again to 21-0 with 8:17 left in the first half.

After yet another Kentlake punt, the Vikings drive down the field again, concluding with Long’s third touchdown pass of the night, tossing it to senior Austin Murren for a 2-yard score, to make it 28-0. The Vikings would go into halftime with a 31-0 lead after a field goal by junior Brock Widmann.

In the second half, it was business as usual for the Vikings, as Long threw his fourth touchdown pass of the night, his second for Hanson, for 15 yards to make the score 38-0 with 6:16 left in the third quarter.

The Vikings would start the running clock on their next drive, when Lewis ran it in from 15 yards out to make the score 45-0 with 122 left in the third quarter.

It was only after the Vikings pulled their starters out of the game when Kentlake got something going, as they were deep in Vikings territory with 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter before something unimaginable happened.

On a screen pass from Kentlake quarterback Brandon Mortensen to teammate Tony Heimannll, the receiver gets hit by sophomore Gabe Ramsey. Heimannll was laying on his back at the Vikings’ 15 yard line, and, while celebrating with his teammates, Ramsey was called for targeting and was ejected from the game, and, therefore, is not allowed to play in next week’s state playoff game.

To make things worse, on the next play, a pass from Mortensen was intercepted by sophomore Ty Hilton to end the possible scoring drive for the Falcons. On the ensuing drive, the Vikings would reach the 50-point plateau with a 6-yard run by sophomore Sergio Pelayo to make the score, and eventually the final score, 51-0 after a missed PAT by Widmann.

In addition to Long’s stellar performance under center, Lewis, senior Kayshawn Mounarath, and sophomore Dallas Landeros contributed to the running game, combining for 232 yards and a touchdown.

Hanson led the team in receiving, with 8 catches for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns. This season, he has caught 38 passes for 498 yards and has caught 7 touchdown passes on the year.

In a year that has clearly shown how tough the Lake Stevens defense is, it looks like they had their best performance of the year against a struggling Kentlake offense, as they allowed only 39 yards of total offense from the Falcons, 5 in the first half alone, to go with shared sacks from seniors Jevon Morris and Ryan Sander, where they both shared it with fellow senior Matthew Sevao, who now has 17 sacks on the year.

Your 9-1 Lake Stevens Vikings will move on to the next round of the state playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, and will play the Graham-Kapowsin Eagles on November 11 at Lake Stevens High School, who also comes into this game with a 9-1 record after shutting out the Todd Beamer Titans 31-0 in the first round of the state playoffs.