Tigers’ Shaw unstoppable against Vikings
BOTHELL, Wash. – It didn’t matter which side of the field he ran to. There were never enough Inglemoor players to take on Lewis and Clark running back Alex Shaw.
Shaw gained 260 yards on 29 carries with a touchdown, leading the Tigers to a 35-0 State 4A quarterfinal football victory over Inglemoor Saturday at Pop Keeney Stadium. The victory sends the unranked Tigers (9-2) into the semifinals against Edmonds-Woodway (12-0), a 24-21 victor over Eastlake. The game will be played Saturday night at 8 in the Tacoma Dome.
Inglemoor, the fourth-place team from the KingCo Conference, finished 7-5.
The 6-foot-2, 216-pound Shaw had 91 yards at halftime and never slowed down in the second half. When it seemed Inglemoor had him corralled, Shaw simply lowered his head and ran for more yards. He had another 169 in the second half, including a 26-yard touchdown run in which he wasn’t touched, outracing the Vikings’ secondary to the end zone.
“The big kid is tough to bring down, especially in the fourth quarter,” LC coach Tom Yearout said. “People have their hands full when they try to take him on. He just wears teams down.”
If Shaw’s running wasn’t enough, Lewis and Clark quarterback Steven Eglet was on target, completing 14 of 18 passes for 127 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Lewis and Clark finished with 470 total yards against an Inglemoor defense that had allowed only 12 points and 211 yards per game coming in.
“They were just knocking us off the line,” Inglemoor coach Frank Naish said. “And when that happened, the big kid would just run right on by us. You need some big horses to deal with what they have up front.”
The Tigers’ defense was also punishing, holding the Vikings to 209 yards. Lewis and Clark forced three fumbles, recovered one and intercepted two passes.
LC won despite being called for 13 penalties for 120 yards. It was the third shutout in the past four games for the Tigers.
“At halftime, we knew we had to cut out the stupid penalties and play more physical,” Yearout said. “We did that and turned the game right around.”
Lewis and Clark led 7-0 at halftime on a 9-yard TD pass from Eglet to Alex Gauper. In the second half, the Tigers set the tone early, driving 96 yards on 15 plays for a 14-0 lead with 6:16 left in the third quarter on Shaw’s TD run.
“It all comes down to whether our front line is going to block, and they did,” Shaw said. “Our front line is amazing. It was really easy to run behind them.”
Lewis and Clark scored the next three times it had the football to seal the deal. The Tigers made it 21-0 on a 7-yard pass from Eglet to his brother, Charlie, with 54 seconds left in the third quarter. Backup running back Levi Taylor scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. Even Taylor was productive in his limited role, with 54 yards on nine carries.
Inglemoor had hoped to continue its magic run through the playoffs. The Vikings knocked off Rogers of Puyallup and Mariner while allowing only 13 points. But then came the offensive juggernaut of Lewis and Clark.
“They’ve got everything you need,” Naish said. “They can run, pass and are physical. You better be on your game when you play them.”
Lewis and Clark has 16 straight winning football seasons, but in the postseason, the Tigers have had their troubles. This season is the first time since 1979 the school has advanced past the first round.
“We’d like to keep it going,” Steven Eglet said. “People who have been around the program are hungry for the playoffs. We want to give everybody a couple of more wins.”