Any questions? Graham-Kapowsin caps off perfect season, 4A state title with 44-7 win over Lake Stevens
Undeniable. Unbeatable. Untouchable.
Graham-Kapowsin, the Class 4A state tournament’s No. 1 seed, completed a perfect 14-0 season on Saturday night at Mount Tahoma High School, beating Lake Stevens, 44-7 to win the program’s first-ever state championship.
The Eagles came into the season as the favorite to win the state title and didn’t disappoint, going wire-to-wire to win the 4A crown. And Graham-Kapowsin didn’t just win the title this year — the Eagles won it without resistance, crushing everyone in their path. No matter how good a season each of its opponents were having, it ultimately didn’t matter when it came time to face the bully on the block.
“We didn’t expect to win like this,” Graham-Kapowsin quarterback Joshua Wood said. “We just told each other we’re going to come out and put points up on the board and do what we need to do to win.”
Graham-Kapowsin’s offensive line, as it has done all season, imposed its will against a clearly overmatched Lake Stevens defensive front. Graham-Kapowsin took a 24-7 into the halftime break behind a 49-yard rushing touchdown by Zack Lee, a three-yard run from Michael Toa and a 51-yard, highlight-reel run from quarterback Joshua Wood, in which he broke multiple tackles before waltzing into the end zone.
The second half felt like a mere formality, the Eagles putting up more points as the clock ticked down to an inevitable Graham-Kapowsin win, capping off one of the most dominant high school football seasons in Washington in recent memory.
When the dust settled, Graham-Kapowsin had racked up 563 yards of total offense — 524 of which came on the ground — compared to Lake Stevens’ 131 total yards. The Eagles converted 6-of-9 third down attempts; Lake Stevens converted 2-of-8. Lake Stevens had a fumble and an interception; Graham-Kapowsin had no turnovers. Graham-Kapowsin had 26 first downs; Lake Stevens had seven.
“We felt like we were built to throw or run, it didn’t matter,” said Eric Kurle, who won his first state title in his 26-year coaching career on Saturday. “We really felt like the weather in these last couple weeks — Josh had a little injury on his throwing hand, on the wrist and didn’t practice a couple times this week — and it didn’t matter. He took off running, made plays with his feet and it was exciting watching our front guys run and our running backs get out and run.”
The 524 rushing yards is now the 4A state championship game record, surpassing the previous high of 521 set by Gonzaga Prep in its win over Skyline in 2015.
Lake Stevens was without starting quarterback Grayson Murren, who suffered a collarbone injury in last week’s semifinal game against Eastlake. Freshman Kolton Matson made the start for the Vikings, completing 6-of-13 passses for 43 yards and a touchdown, also throwing an interception. Would the game have played out differently if Murren had been able to play?
“Absolutely different,” said Lake Stevens coach Tom Tri. “I mean, not that I’m taking anything away from Kolton Matson. He did a great job for us. But when you have a quarterback that can throw it all over the field and can run and spread the defense out? Yeah, that’s gonna make a difference. And that’s what Grayson’s been able to do for us all year. Kolton, it wasn’t his fault by any stretch of the imagination. We didn’t run the ball very well. We didn’t protect him very well. But yeah, it changes your whole mindset and your whole game plan when you don’t have the weapons that you might have if Grayson was with us.”
Still, Tri gave plenty of credit to Graham-Kapowsin.
“That was the best team we’ve played by far this year,” he said. “We didn’t play very well tonight, but give them credit. That’s the best team we’ve played all year, by far.”
Graham-Kapowsin finishes the season unblemished, 14-0, with no opponent so much as sniffing an upset against the Eagles. The closest contest of the season came in the state quarterfinals, a 41-25 Eagles win over Bothell. In the state tournament, Graham-Kapowsin outscored its four opponents 176 to 39.
Over 14 games, Graham-Kapowsin scored 649 points this season and conceded just 74, good for an average win margin of 41 points.
G-K’S WOOD AND ZACK LEE DUEL IT OUT FOR RUSHING LEAD
It was something of an “anything you can do, I can do better” back-and-forth from Wood and running back Zack Lee, each moving past each other during different times in the game for the team’s rushing lead. Lee eventually came out on top, rushing for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Wood was right there, rushing for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
“(Wood) was amazing,” Lee said. “We both had a really good rushing game, thanks to the No. 1 o-line in the state. It was raining, so we ran the ball. … (The offensive line) has been so dominant, carried us to the state championship. It’s the No. 1 o-line in the state, hands down. And it shows now. There’s no questioning it, no doubting it. We’re No. 1 in the state.”
Lake Stevens had no answer for the 1-2 punch of Wood and Lee.
“It’s a hard combo to stop,” Wood said. “Because we have it where you either have to stop the run or the pass. They couldn’t stop either so it just came down to it. … Every morning, we hit 6:30 a.m. weight room. (The offensive line) works on stuff during practice. They don’t mess around. They do know what they need to do. When they do what they need to do, this is what happens.”
Kurle turned 54 on Friday. Wood and his teammates told their coach they were going to give him a birthday present one day later. They sure delivered.
“It’s awesome,” Kurle said. “It’s incredible. It’s a great group of seniors to win this with with a group and we’ve got great teams coming up.”
Kurle has had plenty of good teams at Graham-Kapowsin over the years that have reached the state tournament. This group is the first to reach the state championship game.
“I always feel like I’m going to get here,” Kurle said. “It just hasn’t happened until today. We have good teams every year and we feel like we can compete every year. This is probably the most complete team I’ve ever had. They’re great kids, worked hard in the weight room all offseason. It’s been a really long year. They deserve every bit of this. We have done so well keeping our kids focused. We have some kids that are competitors and we have to keep them under control. They competed and competed. Everybody wants the ball. Our kids have been great to work with.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2021 at 9:16 PM.
