Washington high school football: Eastlake defense stands tall over Skyline, 3 takeaways (9/16/2023)

Jack Edmunds stops Skyline cold in the final seconds with his end-zone interception in the Wolves' 9-6 victory

SAMMAMISH, Wash. - Jack Edmunds finished off Skyline in fitting fashion Saturday - on a defensive stop.

Edmunds' jump-ball interception in the end zone with 9.7 seconds to go preserved Eastlake's home 9-6 victory over the Spartans on Saturday.

It was the theme of the night - Eastlake's bend-but-never-broke red-zone defense.

Grady Woodward also netted a pair of interceptions as Eastlake forced three turnovers, and turned away another Skyline drive in the first half on four plays inside the Wolves' 1-yard line.

Eastlake scored the game's lone touchdown on Landon Renfroe's 41-yard pass to Marcus Angiuli at the 10:20 mark of the second quarter to give the Wolves a 6-3 lead.

After Sean Lee's 27-yard field goal for Skyline tied the game at 6-6 midway through the third quarter, Alex Dreher provided the game-winning points for the Wolves with his 25-yard field goal with 6:20 remaining.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

DISSECTING THE MADNESS OF THE FINAL PLAY

First-year Eastlake coach Scott Hare joked, but he wasn't far enough: "The ball was inside the red zone (for Skyline) half of the game."

But the Spartans just couldn't punch it in.

They had one more try from the Eastlake 5-yard line with 22 seconds to go. This time it was to win the game.

Skyline coach Steve Gervais said he did consider calling a run play, but opted to put the ball in the hands of quarterback Michael Grimmer.

"We thought we would be able to get something inside. We had a couple of slants on the outside, and an outside swing route and though we’d be able to pull them out with (receiver) Cam (Weir)," Gervais said. "But I don’t think anything was there."

The incredible part about Edmunds' interception - he was on his hands and knees in the end zone as Grimmer let go of a high-arcing pass after being flushed to his left.

"It was kind of a busted play, and the quarterback got flushed out to one side. I got my eyes on him - I am kind of the spy guy in our defense," Edmunds said. "I saw him cock back and throw, and saw the ball float up there.

"My eyes got big. I just knew it was mine."

SAMMAMISH SMASH

Traditionally, this rivalry game has been marked by electrifying touchdowns, not turnovers.

Both defenses were kings Saturday. And each offense tried pushing the envelope, going for fourth downs just to put a touchdown on the board to create breathing room.

It never happened.

"A lot of kids played really tough," Gervais said. "I could not be more proud the way our kids played on defense."

Eastlake is in a different situation: Hare's brother, Cory, is the team's defensive coordinator, installing a 3-3 stack. Thing is, Cory also lives in San Diego with his family.

But Cory gets on an airplane to fly up for games.

"He puts so much into it, and it’s so hard," said Hare, who moved up here from Arizona. "It’s such a tough thing for him to leave his family and do this, but he has to do it for us to be successful."

THERE WAS A TOUCHDOWN SCORED

Eastlake's touchdown came on a heads-up throw by Renfroe and a heck of an individual effort by Angiuli, who grabbed the pass over the defender, regained his balance and sprinted to the end zone on the 41-yard score.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound receiver, who was at Skyline last season, was featured throughout the game as a big-play weapon opposite of Woodward.

"Maybe I did that (force-feeding the ball to Angiuli) a little too much, to be honest with you," Hare said. "We didn't play well enough on offense, and that is not how we are going to win moving forward.

"Tonight, it was our defense."