There was no doubt heading into Friday night’s Crossroads Cup that containing Jordan Todd would be the primary concern for the Sammamish defense.
It’s still a concern.
Todd scored four first half rushing touchdowns and also returned a kickoff 78-yards for a score as Interlake rolled to its fifth consecutive Crossroads Cup victory, 53-25.
“He’s a phenomenal athlete,” Totems’ head coach Brian Tucci said of Todd. “That kid is a hell of a runner.”
It didn’t take long for the senior to get going in this year’s version of the rivalry game, as Todd bolted through the line and off to the races on the Saints’ first play from scrimmage for a 71-yard touchdown run that ultimately proved only a taste of what was to come.
Todd had 267 yards on 16 carries at the half as his team built a 47-18 lead that would prove far too much for Sammamish to overcome. He finished the night with 279 yards on 19 carries and was used only sparingly in the third quarter before head coach Jason Rimkus unloaded his bench.
The senior credited the play of his entire offensive line and particularly junior Fine Ngauamo, whom Todd called “tremendous”.
Sammamish senior Austin Lee did his best to keep his team afloat, matching Todd’s opening score with a 65-yard scoring run of his own on the next play from scrimmage and adding a 23-yarder to equalize another Todd score in the second quarter.
“10 (Lee) is a good player,” Interlake head coach Jason Rimkus said. “When you make mistakes, guys like that are gone.”
But even with the attempted heroics of Lee and running back Nick Meyers, who scored twice, it was the Totems’ offense that blinked first, fumbling on consecutive possessions inside their own territory and allowing Interlake to extend the lead beyond reach.
“You have to take care of the ball,” Tucci said. “The one win we’ve had this season (aside from the forfeit victory) we were plus-three in turnover ratio. We were negative-three at halftime tonight.”
The win keeps Interlake’s hopes of a 2A playoff berth alive with a crucial game against Lake Washington next week. Todd and Rimkus were both adamant that a repeat of last year’s performance against the Kangs, a 34-13 loss that also came on the heel’s of a rivalry game win, is not an option.
“Last year, we won this game and went into Lake Washington just thinking we were going to win,” Todd said. “We got it handed to us.”
His head coach had a similar message for the Saints postgame and said also that he believes the difference this year is higher expectations after the experience of 2010.
“I think these guys feel there is more in store for the future,” Rimkus said. “This is a building block for things to come.”
Game notes
Interlake quarterback Kamana Adriano tossed a first quarter touchdown pass Christian Price…he added a 39-yard strike to Ryan Turman on the Saints’ next possession…he had another would-be score to Ryuji Kawashima taken off the board on an ineligible player downfield penalty…the score was 28-18 with 7:16 left in the second quarter and was 47-18 less than six minutes later…junior running back Zakir Butte scored the Saints’ final touchdown from four yards out…Interlake will likely need at least one more win to qualify for the playoffs, unlike last season when their lone regular season victory over Sammamish catapulted them to the play-in round.
Other games
Bellevue rolled yet again, 42-14 over Juanita.
Newport was handed its second consecutive humbling defeat, 49-20 at the hands of Skyline.
Bellevue Christian twice erased a double-digit deficit en route to a 37-30 win over Concrete.
