After all the fans had left, the stands were cleaned, and the locker rooms cleared, the score still stood 35-0 as the Hawks were shut out by the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors.
But in all reality, that didn’t matter.
In a non-league game, (due to the fact that E-W is a 4A school) the Hawks played fantastic, especially in comparison to last week.
“I think we came out this week and we played a better game overall,” Coach Tony Umayum commented after the game.
And that they did. Despite the score, an injury riddled Hawks team competed for over half the game with a powerful Warriors team. With weapons such as RB Junior Opoku-Mensah and QB Giles Davis, the Hawks defense did an outstanding job limiting damage.
Mensah got his yards, but only broke free a few times during the game. Mensah was responsible for three of the Warriors’ touchdowns.
LB Brett Potter led the defense by example, making big play after play. “I was just trying to keep the intensity up. Make sure we weren’t giving up just because of the score. Fighting, giving it our all because any time you can make the big play.”
Along with Potter, Kaleb Davis, Austin Bates, Tanner Munnis, and Toby Munnis all elevated their game to make up for the absence of Jevin Pahinui and Dexter Kemper.
Just a few minutes before the half, with the Hawks trailing just 7-0, it looked as if they were ready to pull an upset on Edmonds-Woodway.
But with just 1:06 remaining, Davis Giles connected with Scott Myricks for the Warriors’ second touchdown of the night.
That turned out to be the dagger that the Hawks’ just couldn’t recover from.
Coming into the game, expectations were low for the team. After falling to the Stanwood Spartans 29-13 last week, and the Warriors smashing the Everett Seagulls 49-0, it was a real David vs. Goliath mismatch.
The defense held their own, despite being short handed. Unlike last game, they never burned out due to fatigue. The secondary remains a point of concern, but played far better than last week.
On offense, it was a night and day comparison between the two games. With Jonathan Williams filling in at QB, the Hawks had a competent offense.
On the Hawks’ first offensive play, Williams fumbled the ball, turning it over to the Warriors. After the fumble however, he looked fairly comfortable on the field, making a few good passes and keeping plays alive.
Obviously, playing out of position there were mishaps, dropped snaps, and a handful of interceptions, but all things considered, he was a big reason for the Hawks’ competence.
The other reasons would be named Chance Ragsdale, Ryan Lacasse, and Eni Klosi.
Ragsdale successfully established the run with his hard-nosed power-back running style, smashing through Woodway defenders and fighting for every yard. Ryan Lacasse also held his own, along with Eni Klosi.
The team looked really good last night. The biggest difference was just a few big plays that the Warriors made that the Hawks didn’t. This is still a young team, and remember, this game didn’t matter as far as conference standings go.
Umayum points out “We’re not far. We’ll get there. We were at this spot last year, at 0-2 and still thought we had a pretty good team. We’ll get better each week. Lynnwood will have their hands full.”
The Hawks play Lynnwood at home (Edmonds Stadium) on Sep. 20, at 5pm.
