Before Lake Washington coach Steve Supple addressed the Kangaroo’s student body during Friday’s homecoming assembly, senior quarterback Spencer Jackson had a quick message for the coach.
Tell them a fire is coming, Jackson said.
Just before kickoff, Supple had another message for his quarterback.
Light the flame.
Jackson lit it. The senior quarterback threw for 174 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Kang’s to a 34-13 win over Interlake and helping Lake Washington capture its first home win in nearly five years.
“This is one we had to have,” Supple said. “We wanted to give these people something to celebrate in this community. This was big for our seniors.”
Lake Washington survived an early blitz by Interlake, as Scotty Gehlhausen returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, giving the Saints a quick 7-0 lead.
Jackson gathered his troops on the field and promptly led the Kang’s (3-4, 2-3 KingCo 3A/2A) on a 6-play, 78-yard scoring drive, tying the game up with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Max Simkins.
“I told the guys it was a long football game and we had a lot of football to play,” Jackson said, noting what he told his teammates after the quick Interlake score. “We were bigger, we were more athletic and we could beat them.”
Interlake coach Jason Rimkus said the kickoff return had the opposite of the desired effect on his team.
“We returned the kickoff and the sideline was just flat,” he said. “We had guys just walking off the sidelines after we returned a kickoff for a touchdown.”
From that point, it was all Lake Washington, riding the arm of Jackson and the legs of Alex Donnelly, who rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries before leaving with an injured shoulder in the third quarter.
Jackson hit Simkins, Robert Reyes and Gavin Santjer-Goetz for touchdown passes. The senior said his receivers made life easy on him.
“My receivers were where they should have been all game,” Jackson said. “It was all good.”
The Kang’s defense did its best to stifle the Interlake (1-6, 1-4) offense. Lake Washington stifled Interlake star quarterback Matt Malos, picking the senior off four times (including two by Reyes) and holding him to minus-6 yards rushing on seven attempts, making the negative yardage on late sacks. The Saints only points the rest of the game came on a 62-yard touchdown run by Jordan Todd with just 1:56 remaining.
The loss all but eliminates the Saints from 2A playoff contention. Interlake had a shot to steal one of the Seamount League’s slots, but with games remaining against No.8 Liberty and No.4 Juanita, it will be a tough road for the Saints.
“When our team plays for one another, we’re really good,” Rimkus said. “When we don’t play for each other, you get games like tonight.
“They didn’t do anything fancy, they just rammed it down our throats,” he continued. “This one hurts. It’s a tough one.”
