Skyline football dominates North Creek, achieves fourth win
The Skyline Spartans demonstrated resilience at home by defeating North Creek Jaguars, 39-13, with five touchdowns scored by the Spartans during the game.
From the first whistle, the Spartans took charge by opening with a 34-yard rushing gain and 16-yard completion. With three minutes remaining in the quarter, amidst a symphony of roaring fans, quarterback Michael Grimmer threw a short 9-yard pass to Josh Menold to score the first touchdown of the game. Skyline ended the first quarter with a 7-0 lead.
The second quarter continued to see the Spartans advance. Skyline quickly moved down field in the first few minutes, but they were unable to cross into the end zone and settled for a field goal.
As time ran down, the anxiety was palpable for both teams. With 90 seconds remaining until halftime, the Spartans threaded the ball to Joshua Menold. Menold forced his way through the defense for a 4-yard rushing play to score a second touchdown for the night. Sean Lee secured the extra point to give Skyline a 17-0 advantage.
With one minute remaining on the clock, North Creek knew they had to act fast. Jaguars quarterback Jackson McGill came through in a clutch with a thrilling 55-yard, Hail Mary pass that connected with Peyton Cunningham. Cunningham promptly ran into the end zone to put North Creek on the board, avoiding a deflated goose egg for a respectable half time score of 17-7.
The third quarter began with high excitement and lots of tension as neither team seemed to make progress for quite some time. Possession continued to change back and forth. As time ran down to just five minutes, the Spartans handed off the ball to Menold on the 2-yard line, where he stretched across the goal line for another Skyline rushing touchdown. With a surprise 2-point conversion on the play, JP Jones added to the 25-7 Spartan lead.
After the referee blew the whistle to start the final quarter, the Spartans wasted no time finding the goal line Menold managed to break away from the crowded field and sprinted to the end zone for his fourth touchdown of the night, extending the Spartan lead to 32-7.
When possession shifted, North Creek answered back and took the ball at the 29-yard line. Now, within striking distance, Pratham Gowda dashed his way down field and into the end zone for the Jaguars’ second touchdown. The score became 32-13 after North Creek failed a 2-point conversion attempt.
With eight minutes remaining and possession on the 42-yard line, Grimmer launched a 52-yard pass to Cameron Weir in the end zone to score Skyline’s final touchdown, securing their 39-13 victory.
“I feel great because we needed this win after losing last week,” said Skyline coach Steve Gervais. “The kids played really well, and we are proud of them.”
Josh Menold, who scored four touchdowns on the night, summed it up succinctly.
“We proved that we can run so why not be doing it more,” he said.
The Skyline Spartans (4-2) will face the Eastmont Wildcats (6-0) on Friday, Oct. 13 at Skyline at 7:00 p.m. for their homecoming game.
