Skyline holds off Lake Stevens in 37-34 4A state semifinal thriller
Even before kickoff, electricity was in the air when Skyline and Lake Stevens took the field in the 4A state semifinals.
The Spartans, led by senior quarterback Blake Gregory, had the pedigree and the experience of championships past. The Vikings, now led by senior quarterback and University of Georgia commit Jacob Eason, had been blanked by Skyline, 42-0, as Eason watched from the sidelines in the 2012 playoffs — the year the Spartans won it all.
Skyline came through again on Saturday, producing a 37-34 victory over the Vikings at the Tacoma Dome.
“The last two years, we had doubters,” said Skyline coach Mat Taylor. “But we continued to push forward, and now we are here.”
Gregory was 22 of 28 passing for 436 yards and three touchdowns. Eason was 32 of 42 for 390 yards and two touchdowns.
But Eason’s final two drives resulted in a fumble and interception in the end zone as Skyline held on.
Eason took the ball on a designed quarterback keeper, but was stripped by Skyline’s Kyle Matthews and Alex Diegel recovered with two minutes to play and the Spartans leading, 37-34.
Lake Stevens coach Tom Tri said it was the first time Eason has fumbled in his four years as a varsity starter. It was the first time Saturday he had called that QB draw, though the Vikings had ran it successfully in the quarterfinals last week against Graham-Kapowsin.
“We lined up in that formation about six or seven times in the fourth quarter alone and threw it every time,” Tri said. “You could see their safety and outside backer were getting wider and wider. We thought it was a good time to run a QB trap up the middle. Got to take care of the ball though.
“You call the play thinking he is going to take care of the ball, but that stuff just happens. I don’t put the blame on him at all. It just sucks because of the time and the situation.”
But Lake Stevens then forced one of its few stops on the night, used both its remaining time outs and got the ball back at the Skyline 48 after Brandon Otis’ 25-yard kick return with 38 seconds to play.
Eason took a few shots at the end zone, uncranking his big arm and nearly had a couple of TDs if not for deflections from Skyline’s Jake Pendergast and Colin Huber.
With three seconds to play, at Skyline’s 32, Eason’s final pass in a Lake Stevens jersey was intended for Riley Krenz, who led the Vikings with 12 catches for 173 yards, but was intercepted in the end zone by Skyline’s Danny Sinatro.
Sinatro, the son of former Mariners catcher Matt Sinatro, also had an 81-yard touchdown reception earlier in the game, with his quarterback, Gregory, looking as much like an NCAA Division I-bound quarterback as Eason.
“I’ve always wanted to play on this stage,” said Gregory, who threw the final go-ahead TD pass to Bradley Kim with 6:51 remaining. “We trusted in what Coach told us and adjusted on offense.”
While Skyline shouted for joy and could be heard singing in their locker room, Lake Stevens’ was just the opposite.
“I’ve been around high school football since 1994 and I’ve never seen a locker room like that,” said Tri, with his team still in the locker room. “They are emotional and they wanted it really, really bad.”
Eason finishes his career having thrown for 9,811 yards with 102 touchdowns (passing former Lakes quarterback Drew Miller for 10th-most in 11-man state high school football history) and 650 completions — the seventh most in 11-man state football history.
Staff writer TJ Cotterill contributed to this report
This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 11:30 PM with the headline "Skyline holds off Lake Stevens in 37-34 4A state semifinal thriller."