Rocco Koch leads Curtis over Emerald Ridge in Washington high school football showdown: 4 takeaways

Koch accounted for 6 touchdowns to lead the Vikings to a 50-34 win

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – Curtis High school keeps checking the boxes.

Four weeks into the season, the Vikings are a perfect 4-0 after an offensive onslaught in a 50-34 win over Emerald Ridge.

Following a scoreless first quarter, Curtis and Emerald Ridge traded scores, but the Vikings' offense never lost its rhythm and the defense was able to string together stops to pull the game the Vikings' way.

Quarterback Rocco Koch accounted for six touchdowns with three of them coming on the ground and three through the air. Wide receiver Parker Mady hauled in two of those touchdown passes on receptions of 53 and 3 yards. Mady also returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Emerald Ridge quarterback Jake Schakel threw for two touchdowns – both to Tony Harste – and ran in another in the loss. Running back Navarre Dixon had one rushing touchdown.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

SOME WELL-TIMED SCORING PAID ITS PART FOR CURTIS

Sometimes it's the simple things that can make a big difference.

Leading by a single point late in the first half, the Curtis offense drove down the field and added seven more points on the board on Koch's 3-yard pass to Mady right before halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Vikings got the ball and scored again on Koch's 8-yard run.

"We scored right before the half and we came out and scored on the opening drive of the second half. That kept momentum on our side," Curtis coach Darren McKay said.

THAT VIKINGS' OFFENSE IS A FORCE WHEN CLICKING

For those keeping score at home, the Curtis punting unit took the field just one time in the entire game.

Nearly every time the offense took the field for the Vikings, points were put on the board and Emerald Ridge couldn't keep up.

"Punting only one time is a really big deal," McKay said. "We didn't punt against Sumner and we only punted one time against these guys. Offensively, we thought we were going to get some looks where we could run the ball, especially with Rocco."

DESPITE WIN, CURTIS NOT LOOKING TOO FAR AHEAD

McKay said after the win over Sumner two weeks ago, his team immediately started getting hyped up for Emerald Ridge.

In last week's game against Bethel – a two-score win for Curtis – McKay said they weren't as sharp as he was hoping for.

"When we played Bethel last week we were in between Sumner and this game," he said. "We called it – it was a trap game and it's hard to tell young kids that you've got to come and play."

EMERALD RIDGE MOVED THE BALL EARLY, BUT COULDN'T FINISH DRIVES

The opening drive of the game provided some foreshadowing of the Jaguars' night.

Emerald Ridge drove down the field and got inside the Curtis 10-yard line, but the drive ultimately stalled and the Jaguars turned it over on downs. 

The Jaguars' second drive of the game produced the same results with the Curtis defense coming up with a stop at its own 11-yard line.

Emerald Ridge was able to find the end zone later on throughout the game, but those empty drives proved critical in the 50-34 final score.