The first football game of the 2011 season ended early for the Lake Washington Kangs. Their opponent, Garfield, forfeited the match with 10:17 left on the clock in the third quarter, giving Lake Washington the 14-0 win.

Minutes earlier in the game Garfield fumbled the ball on their own 35 yard line, with Lake Washington’s Trey McMullen recovering the fumble. Garfield head coach Kelvin Goliday was upset over the fumble call, leading to two delay of game calls against the Bulldogs before he was ejected from the game. The officials called the match minutes later, giving the Kangs the win.

“He was upset over that fumble call apparently. It was his idea of protesting by not putting his team on the field, so two delay of games, he gets a unsportsmanlike conduct,” said Lake Washington head coach Steve Supple following the game.

Goliday was placed on administrative leave by the school while they investigate. An ejection equals an automatic one game suspension for the coach, and an assistant will coach the Bulldogs this Friday.

According to reports, Goliday said he was concerned with his players safety, and felt the referee’s whistle had been blown late, not that he had an issue with the fumble call.

Despite the untimely end to the game, Supple said he felt the game had been going well with Garfield showcasing their talent, which caused problems for the Kangs up front.

“They’ve got some talent. They gave us problems up front, but all that being said, we’re pretty solid in other places and we were probably going to win a tight game like that. Special teams were fantastic,” said the coach.

The night began with a 0-0 start at the end of the first quarter, as both teams worked out some kinks in the first game of the season.

“We were having trouble picking things up (on offense), it was giving us problems and we were getting pressure inside. If we can’t run, it makes if difficult to throw it,” said Supple. “Just playing fundamentally sound on defense, that kept us in the game.”

In the second quarter Lake Washington was posed to score on the 1 yard line, but after a 5-yard penalty and a fumble found their chance missed. It wasn’t until the last seconds of the game that they regain possession and returned to their end of the field, in scoring position.

With one second left on the clock before half time, Kangs quarterback Shawn Gray threw a 5-yard pass to senior Jack Michels for the first touchdown of the season, giving the Kangs a 6-0 lead at the half.

After the break with 10:39 to go in the third quarter, Garfield prepared to punt from near their own endzone, but the punt was blocked by Tad Iba and bounced back, giving the Kangs a safety and an 8-0 lead.

The kickoff just moments later was returned by Michal Wozeniak on a 61 yard run to give the Kangs another touchdown, and earning the team’s final points of the night.

Lake Washington will travel to Redmond High School next week for the first away game of the season on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.