ARLINGTON — Friday night’s football game between Lakewood and King’s took place in late September.
But both teams agreed it felt like a late October playoff game.
The Knights and Cougars battled in a cold, rainy game, with both defenses shining. Lakewood got a pair of second-half touchdowns, but King’s was able to hold on to defeat the Cougars 16-12 in a key Cascade Conference showdown at Lakewood High School.
“Even the kids in the locker room were like, ‘Shap, it kind of feels like a playoff game,’” King’s head coach Jim Shapiro said. “It’s a little colder, a little wetter, we’re in a big stadium. It’s definitely a playoff environment.”
Heavy rains made offense difficult in the first half. King’s opened the second quarter with a 33-yard field goal by Ryan Fransen to get on the scoreboard first — and added a 70-yard touchdown pass from Koa Wilkins to Karl Sather with 3:38 to go until halftime.
“The locker room was probably the most fired up I’ve seen it in a long, long time,” Shapiro said. “We had music blaring and kids dancing and getting into it. We had to calm them down and say, ‘Hey, it’s only the first half of football. We still have to go out there and get the victory,’ and they did that.”
Prior to the Wilkins-to-Sather touchdown pass, King’s had just 54 total yards of offense.
“The rain didn’t help but I expected this,” Shapiro said. “I expected it to be a very close game. Just both teams are that good and are that talented. … We had to establish the running game. Regardless of the weather, we were going to try to come out and establish the running game. We were able to do that, which helped because it was pouring cats and dogs.”
Lakewood didn’t fare much better in the opening quarters, getting a couple time-consuming drives that ultimately stalled deep in King’s territory. The Cougars had 133 yards at halftime, but trailed the Knights 10-0.
Then Lakewood’s defense stepped up.
Cougars senior Curtis Patton recovered a backward pass, which fell incomplete but was ruled a lateral, and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown. The score ignited Lakewood’s sideline and shot a burst of energy into the Cougars.
“We talked about doing exactly that at halftime,” lakewood coach Dan Teeter said. “We challenged the defense to come up with a defensive touchdown and get us back in the game.”
King’s responded with a six-minute, 64-yard drive capped by a 21-yard touchdown pass from Wilkins to Fransen that extended the Knights’ lead to 16-6.
The Cougars responded with a touchdown pass of their own — Paulmer Gregory to Matt Seiber — and then recovered an onside kick on the subsequent kickoff.
Lakewood had two more possessions late in the game, but the Cougars couldn’t get any closer than four points as King’s shut the door on the comeback effort and defeated the defending league champions.
“There were moments. We had chances,” Teeter said. “We got an onside kick after a touchdown and what happened in big moments, unfortunately, is we would get a penalty or a fumbled snap — something that would push us from first and 10 in a good situation to second and 20. That kills drives. Especially when it’s sloppy out.”
Wilkins completed 11 of 16 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns, and ran nine times for 40 yards. Shapiro praised his defense for keeping a dangerous Lakewood offense in check most of the game.
“Jake Welch at safety had (an interception),” Shapiro said. “Karl Sather played well on both sides of the ball. He had a nice run for the touchdown and had some good hits as well. The line guys: Jack McLeod, Calvin Kispert, Ryne Badgley, the guys inside the trenches that are fighting on both sides of the ball did great.”
Teeter also praised his defense, which helped keep Lakewood alive in the low-scoring contest.
“I would highlight the defense,” Teeter said. “The big play by Curtis Patton to scoop that lateral and run it back. The defense, for the most part, was solid all night. It’s a high-powered offense that moves the ball well and other than two plays, really, we did a pretty good job.”
Gregory was 17-for-38 for 132 yards passing and a touchdown. He added 94 yards on 24 carries for Lakewood, which hopes to rebound against Cedarcrest next Friday.
The Cougars, at 1-1 in league and 1-3 overall, are still in the playoff hunt. Teeter is hoping a difficult early-season schedule will prove helpful when the end of October does roll around.
“You’ve got to learn from every game,” Teeter said. “Obviously, we have a lot to work on and a lot to get better at. Our potential is high and we still feel confident that we’re going to be a really good football team. Our goal is to be our best by the end of the season and we’re just going to keep logging all these things in the memory banks and work harder and come out for the next week.”
King’s (2-0, 2-2) has an advantage against Lakewood for the league title. But Shapiro and the Knights know it won’t be easy to win what is widely considered a wide-open conference.
“To come away with this victory is a big thing for the program and even Teeter said it – he said, ‘Don’t screw up down the road. We might end up sharing this thing,’” Shapiro said with a laugh. “And that’s the right perspective. This is one game. It feels good. I told the kids take 24 hours to relish it and then tomorrow night put it off to the side, put it in the memory banks and start planning for Sultan.”
At Lakewood H.S.
King’s 0 10 6 0 — 16
Lakewood 0 0 6 6 — 12
K–Ryan Fransen 33 FG
K–Karl Sather 70 pass from Koa Wilkins (Fransen kick)
L–Curtis Patton 61 fumble recovery (kick failed)
K–Fransen 21 pass from Wilkins (kick blocked)
L–Matt Seiber 4 pass from Paulmer Gregory (pass failed)
Records–King’s 2-0 league, 2-2 overall. Lakewood 1-1, 1-3.
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