It’s been a long and strange journey for the Lake Stevens Vikings. 671 days since a fall game, with fans in the stands, under the traditional Friday Night Lights. Lake Stevens should have started their season, along with everybody else, three weeks ago; but a couple of Covid-19 positive tests and their first two games were scratched. Lake did start their season, with a win, but played in the late afternoon at Seattle Memorial Stadium last week. So here are the Vikings hosting a very interesting foe in the Archbishop Murphy Wildcats.
For Archbishop Murphy it’s been a little bit of a stumble out of the gates this season. Murphy opened the season with a 42-18 loss to the Seattle Prep Panthers at home in South Everett; then the Wildcats became road warriors with wins two weeks ago way down south in Fife 27-17; then last week they traveled way up north and defeated Sehome 20-10 at Civic Stadium in Bellingham. Although still a quality ball club, Archbishop Murphy is not the team that caused other teams in the Cascade Conference to bail out of scheduled games a few years ago. First-year head coach Josh Jansen’s team seems to have found a good fit, competing in the Northwest Conference 2A Division with the likes of Lakewood, Sedro Woolley, Squalicum and Lynden. But there’s still plenty of talent on the Murphy squad with the likes of Colton Johnson and Kai Lewis, who have shared the quarterback duties in the first three weeks of the campaign. The Wildcats come into this non-league game with a 2-1 overall record.
Lake Stevens is 1-0 here in week three; they scratched their first two scheduled games to Covid protocols. 15-year head coach Tom Tri has once again reloaded the roster with an array of ultra-talented players; and it’s conceivable that this is the most talented Lake Stevens team ever; and that includes years when his starting quarterback is this week’s starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. Among the notables for the Vikings are Drew Carter, sr., WR/DB; he’s been on varsity since he was a ninth grader at Cavalero Mid-High School; listed as the No. 33 senior recruit in the state, according to 247Sports. Trayce Hanks, sr., WR/DB; he moved from running back to slot receiver. Jayden Limar, jr., RB/LB; The four-star running back already has offers from programs such as Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas A&M, USC and Washington. He is the No. 6 overall junior recruit in the state and the No. 7 junior running back in the nation, according to 247Sports. And in that long line of Viking’s quarterbacks is senior Grayson Murren.
High School Football on KRKO AM 1380 & FM 95.3; streaming live at www.krko.com and on the KRKO Phone App. Tom Lafferty, coach Joel Vincent and Steve Willits will have the call on Friday night, 6:30 pm Pregame Show; 7:00 pm Kick-Off, live from Lake Stevens Stadium.
