Prep football: Warriors earn first win of season; defeat Terrace 27-10

Reid Whitson scored a touchdown for the Warriors. (Photos by Karl Swenson)
Reid Whitson scored a touchdown for the Warriors. (Photos by Karl Swenson)

After just one win in their first three games of the season, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors felt plenty of motivation for their Wesco League 3A football showdown with the Mountlake Terrace Hawks. On Friday night, the Warriors turned that drive into a victory.

The Warriors shut down a potent Mountlake Terrace Hawk offense and earned a 27-10 win over the Hawks at Edmonds Stadium.

Terrace, which had averaged 34 points and almost 390 total yards per game in their first three outings of the year, were held to just a touchdown, a field goal and 182 yards total yards by a retooled Warrior defense.

“It was a little bit of a new game plan for us,” said E-W Head Coach John Gradwohl of his defense scheme against the Hawks. “Because they run that double wing running game — and boy, do they do that well — we knew we needed another guy in the box to help stop it.”

By bringing defensive back Abdoulie Jatta up closer to the line of scrimmage, the Warriors were able to slow down a Terrace rushing attack that had averaged 307 yards per game this year; the Hawks could only run for 132 yards against E-W on Friday.

“We knew they were going to be ready for us,” said Terrace Head Coach Kelly Dougan. “They’ve got three weeks of (game) film – they’ve seen what we’re doing.”

“We thought at times we were doing things well,” Dougan continued. “But we got stopped; they played very good, we didn’t.”

David Woodard also scored for Edmonds-Woodway.
David Woodard also scored for Edmonds-Woodway.

In addition to their defense, the Edmonds-Woodway offense also played well, with 192 yards on the ground and 235 yards through the air. Senior quarterback Isaac Jackson completed 15 of 19 pass attempts, including a 43-yard touchdown pass to David Woodard and a 28-yard TD pass to Reid Whitson.

Gradwohl praised his quarterback’s ability to run and pass Friday night. “He’s not that tall, so sometimes we try to get him out of the pocket,” Gradwohl explained. “It helps him see better, and if there’s nothing there he’ll take off and get a first down for us. He made some great plays with his feet, and with his arm too — and some key first downs situations that we needed.”

Issac Jackson receives the Adrenaline Sports Player of the Game award from Sound Live Sports Network broadcasters Keith Nealey and Steve Willits.
Issac Jackson receives the Adrenaline Sports Player of the Game award from Sound Live Sports Network broadcasters Keith Nealey and Steve Willits. (SLSN photo)

For his efforts, Jackson was named the Adrenaline Fundraising Player of the Game on the Sound Live Sports Network.

Jackson ran for 40 yards on six attempts for E-W, but the Warriors’ top rusher for the game was senior Tyler Rheinford with 108 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns. Rheinford commended his offense line for the effort they showed against Terrace after disappointing losses the past two weeks. “We were struggling with assignments in our past two games, but they stepped it up and were killing stuff, making big holes,” he said. “I’m loving it. It makes running the ball fun.”

Rheinford also explained why the Warriors were so motivated for a victory. “We had to go hard for this win; we needed it,” he said. “If we had lost this game we might not have a chance at a playoff spot. We want a playoff spot.”

“We talked about how we needed this,” Rheinford continued. “We needed to come back after our two losses-in-a-row. We needed to come back and win this. It’s a big win.”

With the victory the Warriors even their Wesco League record at 1-1, 2-2 overall, and are tied for third place in the league’s South 3A division with their Friday, Oct. 2 opponent Lynnwood.

Despite the loss, Dougan found a couple positives to share with his Hawk squad after the game. “We talked about how the fact that they didn’t quit, they kept playing,” Dougan said. “And we had a lot young guys that played much more tonight than they normally do and they stepped up and did a good job. More than anything, we weren’t really doing very well at anything, offensively or defensively, but they were trying. They didn’t give up. They still kept working hard, supporting each other.”

Terrace (2-1 in Wesco League, 3-1 overall) will try to bounce back on Oct. 2 against a much-improved 3-1 Shorecrest Scot team whose only loss this season was a one-point defeat to Lynnwood.

Prep Football: Edmonds-Woodway at Mountlake Terrace, Sept. 25

Edmonds-Woodway                       0          7          14       6          —         27
Mountlake Terrace              0          7          3        0          —         10

First Quarter
No scoring

Second Quarter
11:53 Tyler Rheinford (EWHS) 2-yard TD run; PAT kick by Jake Stevenson converted
3:24 Tanner Munnis (MTHS) 6-yard TD run; PAT kick by Mikey Jenson converted

Third Quarter
10:54 Isaac Jackson (EWHS) 43-yard TD pass to David Woodard; PAT kick converted
6:23 Mikey Jenson (MTHS) 31-yard field goal
:21 Isaac Jackson (EWHS) 28-yard TD pass to Reid Whitson; PAT kick converted

Fourth Quarter
2:51 Tyler Rheinford (EWHS) 4-yard TD run; PAT kick missed

Records: Mountlake Terrace 2-1 in Wesco League, 3-1 overall; Edmonds-Woodway 1-1 in Wesco League, 2-2 overall

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Shorecrest, Friday, Oct. 2, 5:00 p.m. at Edmonds Stadium

Edmonds-Woodway next game: versus Lynnwood, Friday, Oct. 2, 8:00 p.m. at Edmonds Stadium

— By Doug Petrowski

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