Lake Washington explodes in third quarter for critical win over Mercer Island | Prep football

Finally — finally — everything came together at once for the Lake Washington High football team.

By John William Howard • October 22, 2016 3:07 am

Finally — finally — everything came together at once for the Lake Washington High football team.

‘Finally’ happened over a 4-minute, 24 second of the third quarter on Friday evening, as the Kangs outscored Mercer Island 27-7 to take command of a critical conference matchup with major playoff implications.

Lake Washington rode an unbelievable third quarter to a 34-14 win on Mercer Island.

“Last week, it was troubling against Interlake,” said LW coach AJ Parnell. “We had a great week of practice, but the result didn’t match the effort. This week, we practiced well and had competitive week, and it was fun to see the culmination of hard work on Friday.”

The win keeps the Kangs (1-3 KingCo, 2-5) in contention for the postseason, but by the skin of their teeth. Lake Washington will still need a loss from Interlake and Mercer Island on Oct. 28 — or a huge upset of undefeated Bellevue.

Friday, through, was a celebration of Lake Washington’s motto: #aLWaysrising.

Lake Washington quarterback Adam Long hit receiver Domonic Roussell for a 30-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, and again at the 9:28 mark of the third quarter.

Then, the floodgates.

Ryan Clifford picked off Mercer Island quarterback Nikhil Nayar — his second pick of the game — and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown. Less than three minutes later, Long and Roussell connected for a third time, this one for another 30 yards.

Run 35 seconds off the clock: Lake Washington’s Rudy Wilkes picks up a blocked punt and scores.

Game, set, match.

It was the biggest offensive game of the season for the Kangs, who had scored 21 points in the last two weeks combined. Parnell said it was also the best game of the year for the young offensive line: four juniors and a sophomore.

While the Lake Washington defense has had successful stretches this season, including a 12-8 win over Kelso on Sept. 16, the Kangs haven’t been able to score enough to keep the defense off the field.

A 21-0 cushion against Mercer Island gave the LW defense the rest in needed.

“The kids played extremely physical, and the d-line caused problems up front by getting after the QB,” Parnell said. “The secondary was right in position where they should have been, and forced [Nayar] to make the perfect throw.”

Clifford had two interceptions, and 5-foot-11, 290-pound defensive lineman Walterius Jones tipped and intercepted a pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter.

Next, Lake Washington is scheduled to play Bellevue on Friday, Oct. 28 at Mac Field in Kirkland. A win guarantees, at the very least, a tie for third in the season standings with Interlake and Mercer Island.

SUMMARY

Lake Washington 34, Mercer Island 13

LW 0 7 27 0 — 34

MI 0 0 7 7 — 13

SCORING

First quarter

No score

Second quarter

LW — Domonic Roussell 30 pass from Adam Long (Lance D’Alessio kick), 10:17

Third quarter

LW — Roussell 21 pass from Long (D’Alessio kick), 9:28

LW — Ryan Clifford 41 interception return (D’Alessio kick), 8:34