WIAA: 4A Lake Stevens defends their Title, repeat Champions!

12/2/2023

Lake Stevens 31, Graham-Kapowsin 6

(Seattle, WA) The Lake Stevens Vikings were defending 4A Champs, this was their 4th appearance in the State Championship game in the last 5 years and out of the 5 defending Champions still in the final game they were the only one with the 2 seed. 1B Liberty Bell, 2B Napavine , 1A Royal and 3A Yelm all defending Champs and all #1 seeds. Vikings Head Coach Tom Tri when asked if the 2 seed worked as a chip on the Vikings shoulder when he broke into a sly smile and said absolutely. Tri says our only loss was against Oregon power house West Linn in a non-league win. Tri says real or imagined they used that as motivation from the beginning of this tournament.

Graham-Kapowsin got the #1 seed by running the table in the SPSL 4A a league that is always tough and they handled each and every challenge thrown at them knocking off Curtis, Emerald Ridge and Sumner in league play all who made the final 16. But it’s tough to judge the SPSL 4A against others because they are a 10-team league it leaves no chance to play outside your league and so impossible to compare potential head-to-heads or comparable games.

G-K kicked off to Lake Stevens to begin the 6th and final Championship of 2023 at Husky Stadium. The 2 teams would hold each other on the 1st two drives resulting in each team punting. The Vikings would get it back a 2nd time with 8:16 to go in the 1st on their own 28 yard line. L-S would drive the ball down to the 10-yard line where the drive stalled and the Vikings lined up for a 27-yard field goal. Lucas Mooring got just enough on it as it cleared the bar by a yard or two and gave the Vikings a 3-0 lead with 4:26 to go in the 1st.

The Eagles would quickly answer and take the lead on the next possession. Beginning on their own 22 G-K’s coach Jeff Logan faced a big decision on a 4th and 6 near midfield when they went for it. QB Daveon Superales dropped back and then scrambled from the pressure and scooted up to the 29-yard line for the 1st down. Superales would finish off the drive himself rushing it to the 2 and then in for the score. The PAT kick doinked off the upright but G-K led 6-3 with jut 39-seconds to go in the 1st.

From this point forward it was all Lake Stevens who would answer and re-take the lead on the next possession with the help of a defensive pass interference call set-up Vikings QB Kolton Matson who hit Jesse Lewis from 26-yards out. Mooring added the PAT and it was 10-6 with 10:11 to go in he half. The teams would exchange several possessions as the game remained tight at 10-6.

After a big sack by Lake Stevens, the Eagles had to punt and with just 19-seconds to go in the half. L-S was not about to waste the opportunity and Matson made G-K pay for it when he found his leading receiver Paul Varela with a 45-yard dagger, the kick was good and the defending champs held a 17-6 advantage at halftime.

After the break Graham-Kapowsin looked like they would get right back into this game with an impressive drive beginning on their own 27. The Eagles offense led by QB Superales who took the team on his shoulders as their leading rusher with 89 yards and throwing for 306. They would work the ball down the field in this opening drive with a combination of passes and runs by Superales hitting his reliable receivers Malachi Durant and Jabez Woods who would combine for 21 receptions.

As the Eagles rolled into the red-zone it was the Vikings defense that stiffened and forced a 4th down but on an end around by Woods the Vikings were able to stop him short of the 1st down and the Vikings took away a huge opportunity for the Eagles. Not only did the Eagles not get the score but burned off more than 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter.

Lake Stevens took over on their own 7 and worked the ball out to their 39-yard line when Matson struck again hitting Lewis for a 2nd time but this one was a 61-yard pass-catch and run to the house and the Vikings extended their lead to 24-6. Lake Stevens would score again before the end of the 3rd when G-K gambled on a 4th down from their own 27 and could not convert.

The Vikings drove it down to the 3 yard line and with just 31-seconds to play in the 3rd Matson would complete his 4th touchdown of the game a little 3-yarder to David Brown, Mooring added the point after which ended up being the final point scored for the 31-6 final.

Despite having a full 4th quarter left and outgaining Lake Stevens with 405 yards of total offense to the Vikings 365 the Eagles moved the ball well but could not finish another drive. The Vikings defense stepped up time and again to deny G-K and kept them from getting back in the game.

Lake Stevens finished their journey and got their revenge on G-K from 2021 when the Eagles beat up on many of these same players as sophomores 44-7. Lake Stevens finished the year 12-1 earning their 2nd Championship in school history and 2-1 over the past 3 years. G-K finished a tremendous season also 12-1 and are now 1-1 in State Title games. Our ESN crew named Kolton Matson our MVP for his 231 yards of passing with 4 touchdowns.

Link to watch full replay on the NFHS Network (Subscription required)

Final Stats

Lake Stevens

Rushing Yards: 365
Passing Yards: 231
Total Yards: 134

Passing
Kolton Matson 13-25-0 231 4TD

Receiving
Jesse Lewis 4/102 2 TD
Paul Varela 4/86 1TD
Talha Rai 5/21 1TD
Jaxon Lewis 1/15

Rushing
Jayson Limar 18/92
Kolton Matson 5/35
Talha Rai 5/17

Napavine

Rushing Yards: 99
Passing Yards: 306
Total Yards: 405

Passing
Daveon Superales 31-48-2 306

Receiving
Malachi Durant 11/104
Jabez Woods 10/97
Noa Fox-Flores 4/25
Mika Roberson 3/27

Rushing
Daveon Superales 15/75 1TD
Jabez Woods 3/14
Alele Fa’apito 3/10