In a battle of playoff-bound teams, the Skyline Spartans reigned supreme against the Eastlake Wolves in a battle for “plateau” bragging rights in the regular season football finale for both squads. Skyline (6-3 overall) rolled to a 40-10 win against Eastlake (6-3 overall) on Oct. 31 in Sammamish.
The Spartans bolted out to a 14-0 lead with 9:29 left in the second quarter and never looked back. Skyline got on the board first when quarterback Blake Gregory connected with wide receiver Elijah Nichols on a 41-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline, giving the Spartans a 7-0 lead with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter. Nichols secured a 50-yard reception early in the second quarter, setting up a Rashaad Boddie 3-yard touchdown run extending the Spartans’ lead to 14-0. Spartans’ head coach Mat Taylor said he knew his team would have to get off to a fast start in order to have success.
“The biggest thing we had to do was get the momentum right away. In the few games that we have lost this year we have gotten down 7-0 right away. We knew we had to change that,” Taylor said. “The kids believe in each other right now.”
Boddie and Nichols turned in dominating performances against the Wolves. Boddie finished with three touchdowns, two rushing, one receiving, and Nichols had six catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. Boddie’s 59-yard touchdown catch came on a swing pass, giving the Spartans a 21-7 lead with 4:34 remaining in the second quarter. Boddie broke three tackles and stiff-armed a Eastlake defender to the ground near midfield before taking the ball to the end zone.
“We came in really fired up. We had a really good talk yesterday at our team dinner,” Nichols said. “We have worked so hard during the off-season and during the season. Everything is going the right way for us right now.”
Nichols, who hadn’t seen a lot of game action the previous eight contests, was grateful for the opportunity to play a significant role in his team’s offense.
“Coach gave me the call (starting receiver spot) and I went out there and everything just fell into place. I ran good routes and the offensive line gave Blake (Gregory) a lot of time to throw. Blake threw some beautiful balls,” Nichols said.
Taylor was beaming with pride after watching Nichols take his game to the next level.
“We challenged him and said to him if you show the effort in practice, you will start and you will be rewarded,” Taylor said. “I’m really proud of him.”
Skyline will host the Skyview Storm in a single elimination playoff game at 7 p.m. on Nov. 7 in Sammamish. Eastlake will face the Emerald Ridge Jaguars in a single elimination playoff game at 7 p.m. on Nov. 7 at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. Chandler Wong, who scored one rushing touchdown and recorded an interception against the Wolves, is ready for the playoffs to begin.
“It feels great that our season is still alive. We’re just taking it one game at a time from here,” he said.
Taylor agreed with Wong’s sentiment.
“The biggest thing we want to do is build off this momentum (victory against Eastlake),” Taylor said. “The bottom line is now we have to go 5-0 (which would result in a Class 4A state championship) but it all starts with us going 1-0 every week. The only focus right now is to go 1-0 from here on out.”
Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com
