Credit: Woodinville Football
Dan Baerwald
LAKE STEVENS, WA – The 2023 season ended for the Woodinville Falcons last Friday, who fell by a score of 41-0 to the defending state champions, the Lake Stevens Vikings.
Woodinville was competitive early against Lake Stevens, holding the Vikings to zero points through the first quarter and only trailing by 14 at halftime, but Lake Stevens made second-half adjustments that led to the blowout victory.
Woodinville finished the game with 205 yards of offense led by Levi Grothen, who finished 11 of 32 for 171 yards of offense through the air, while Chase Rudin added 37 yards on 18 carries in his last game as a Woodinville Falcon. Casey Larson led all receivers with 4 catches for 118 yards, and Adrian Calozza, Ryan Bowles, and Alex Torgeson all added catches to bolster our offense. The Woodinville offensive line held their own against Lake Stevens, once again behind the efforts of Sam Allyn, Alex Kromann, Alex Wenzel, Evan Gaylord, and Tenzin Stull.
On defense, Woodinville dealt admirably with the tough task of containing a highly touted Lake Stevens offense. Dylan Jewell and Ryan Bowles were key contributors, with Jewell finishing with 14 tackles and a sack, and Bowles with 6 tackles and an interception. In addition, Makoa Peneku, Sean Choquette, Alex Torgesen, Cadan Van de Wege, Trevor Larson, Nate Pickering, Cooper Angellar, Gabe Porter, Nour Elgohary, Aiden Erickson, and Brayden Howell all assisted in with tackles.
Aiden Erickson, Cadan Van de Wege, and Levi Grothen helped keep Lake Stevens in check with strong kicks and punts on special teams. Casey Larson led the team with 32 return yards, and Alex Torgeson added 21 return yards to set up the offense.
The season is over for the Woodinville Falcons (7-4. 3-3 KingCo), who finished fourth in KingCo and were one of sixteen teams to make the state playoff bracket but were eliminated in the first round. Overall, this season proved to be very successful for the Falcons, who made the playoffs for the third straight season (tenth straight if the 2020 season is not counted) and advanced into the state bracket for the second straight season.