Tough loss for Viks, playoffs on horizon

by By JOSHUA ADAM HICKS
Some victories don’t go in the win column.

They go down hard, like strong medicine.

Those are the moral victories.

Inglemoor High’s football team didn’t win its rivalry game against Bothell High last Friday, and a 4A Kingco title is out of the question.

But the Vikings kept Western Washington’s No. 1 team on its heels until the final minute of a soaking-wet game at Pop Keeney Field.

They answered the Cougars drive-for-drive in the first two quarters and then one-upped them with a field goal for a 13-10 halftime lead.

They kept Bothell’s leading rusher, Jon Kirchner, from reaching the end zone, held a potent offense to one touchdown and stood tall in the red zone, forcing the Cougars to settle for field goals on three deep drives.

“I felt really good about what we did,” said Inglemoor head coach Frank Naish. “It was a good game for us and we showed that we can play pretty high levels of football.”

In the end, it was a second-half scoring drought that kept the Vikings from all-out glory. Bothell won by a score of 16-13, the closest margin of victory for the Cougars this year.

“It’s all field goals,” said Inglemoor head coach Frank Naish. “We did pretty well. Our offense really hurt our defense by not controlling. We were three-and-out how many times in the second half? You’ve got to give that to Bothell, but we made some mistakes.

“We had too many mistakes, and you can’t do that in a game like this and survive.”

The Vikings fumbled on first-and-10 from their own 26 when they needed a fourth-quarter surge. A.J. Morrow then looked out of sync with his receiver after bobbling a snap out of the shotgun on third-and-8, and Inglemoor had to punt for the fourth consecutive time in the second half.

Bothell answered by setting up Johnny Hekker for a game-winning 20-yard field goal.

Naish opted to use Kurt Wagner at quarterback for the ensuing drive, which would be the Vikings’ last. Morrow had no complaints after the game about his coach’s decision.

“It’s always disappointing to come out of a game, but it just wasn’t working out there, so we wanted to try something different,” Morrow said. “We’re a team, me and Kurt. We support each other. He went out there and did the best he could, and we almost got it.”

The Vikings started at their own 22 and made it across mid-field with help from a pair of pass interference calls. Then they stalled.

Cougar fans breathed a sigh of relief as their team gained possession of the ball with just over a minute remaining in the game.

“Bothell took it to a higher level defensively, and then the darn wind really hurt us in the fourth quarter,” Naish said. “They had the big punts and really kept us pinned down there.”

Senior running back Brandon Thurston ended the game with 74 yards on 15 carries. He came alive in the second quarter by plowing over a Bothell defender en route to a 25-yard run and then scoring Inglemoor’s only touchdown six plays later.

Ian Quinn picked off a pass in the same quarter to set up Anthony Arena’s 33-yard field goal, which gave the Vikings their halftime lead.

“We played great,” Morrow said.

“To us, it wasn’t surprising that we hung with them. It’s just kind of disappointing that we let it slip there in the end.”

Inglemoor plays Redmond at home before heading into the postseason.

“This is just one loss,” Morrow said. “We don’t get the Kingco championship, but, hey, we’ve still got the playoffs, we’ve still got a chance.”

The Vikings will have to let that medicine do its work if they want to have a successful go at things.

“We’ve got to get this out of our system,” Naish said. “It’s going to be hard. This is a big game, this rivalry game.”