T-birds top the Seagulls 30-13, as Shorewood improves to 4-1 on the year

#31 Brandon Main #71 Cameron Whitehead #8 Kevin Hirohata plug the gap
Photo by Lisa Hirohata

Everett Veterans Memorial Stadium, Friday, September 28, 2018
As of Game Final - record for next week:
Shorewood (4-1 Overall / 3-1 WesCo South)
Everett (1-4 Overall / 1-3 WesCo South)

School	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	F
Shorewood	0	7	16	7	30
Everett	6	7	0	0	13

Going into the game this week versus the Everett Seagulls, Shorewood coach Brandon Torrey knew the game would be won or lost at the line of scrimmage.

“Everett has a lot of tough kids that never give up. It’s extremely important that we take care of the ball and create a new line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”

#22 Kaden Graves sacks the Everett QB
Photo by Lisa Hirohata

Shorewood has a fairly experienced offense line, anchored by senior Tres Zeigler, but they are extremely undersized when compared to other schools. Same story on the defensive side of the ball - the T-birds often lineup a nose guard who weighs around 190 pounds.

With a smaller line, success will come by blocking angles and pulling lineman in order to create running lanes for the back - seldom will you be able to stuff it down someone's throat in smash mouth football.

Speed becomes the defining factor on the defensive line - you take your quicker lineman and seek to use explosiveness off the ball to avoid getting locked into a block and seek to disrupt the run behind the line of scrimmage.

At the end of the first half - Shorewood was losing the battle at the line of scrimmage. Everett had a cadre of talented and disruptive offensive and defensive lineman and were winning the battle at the point of contact - pushing the T-bird defensive line back a few yards, and overpowering the Shorewood offensive lineman while the Seagulls bull rushed into the backfield.

Coach Torrey is a former offensive lineman, having played at Western Washington University and he must have put something in the halftime gatorade, or truly invoked the need to win the battle upfront, for both the offensive and defensive line came out in the second half and gave the T-birds the spark needed to turn the game around and record a solid victory.

#18 Alex Lim kicks off after a SW touchdown
Photo by Lisa Hirohata

In the 3rd quarter - Everett lined up for a punt around their own 25.

The snap sailed high over the punter's head and rolled to the end zone - the punter, in a moment of panic, tried to cover the ball, but then inexplicably decided to try and kick the ball off the ground.

Safety Shorewood and the score was now Everett 13 - Shorewood 9.

Offensively in the 2nd half - the T-birds went to the air, with senior quarterback David Snell hitting his cadre of sure-handed receivers - putting two TD’s onto the board to include a great catch by junior Spencer Osborn who leaped into the air between two Seagull defenders - brought down the catch and scampered in for a 30 yard touchdown.

Defensively - the T-birds adopted a swarm mentality, with the defensive line getting great pressure on Everett as they fell behind and were forced to go to the air. The Seagull running game which shredded the Shorewood front seven in the first half - had no answer in the second, as the white jerseys and blue numbers of the defense showed yet again, a bend, but not break attitude and nose for the ball.

#15 Kody Carpenter gets a pick six Photo by Lisa Hirohata

The night was capped by a Shorewood secondary pick 6 - their second in the last two games, as junior strong safety Kody Carpenter took the interception back for a 30 yard score.

The Shorewood Thunderbirds are on a roll and won the battle of the birds - as the victory soured Everett’s homecoming celebrations.

A few notes:

• Shorewood has not started 4-1 since 2002 - also the last time they made it to the week 10 preliminary state play-in game;
• In Shorewood's 4 victory’s to date - Shorewood has outscored its opponents by 114 points - with an average victory margin of 28 points;
• Through 5 games - Shorewood has scored more points than they did in their 3 previous full seasons - total points scored for 2017 - 150 / 2016 - 98 / 2015 - 150;
• Since 1997 - Shorewood is 13-5 against the Lynnwood Royals - next week’s opponent - but have dropped the last 3 meetings - including a 52-6 loss in 2016.

#1 Shorewood fan Nicole Nelson
Photo by Lisa Hirohata

The battle for the top spots continue to shake out at the mid-way point in the season. 

Snohomish sits atop the WesCo 3A South standings after a thrilling 33-27 overtime victory over Shorecrest. 

Snohomish is now 3-0 in league play followed by Shorewood at 3-1.

Shorewood plays Lynnwood next Friday night - October 6, 2018 at 7pm at Shoreline District Stadium.

Lynnwood comes into the game 0-5, but should not be overlooked - the Royals have played competitively all year.

--Aaron Bert