MARYSVILLE — “Go O,” cheered Marysville Getchell’s fans and cheer team during their Oct. 14 home game against the also winless 3-A Conference rival Lynnwood Royals. Players hooted and hollered on the sideline to urge their side to victory at Quil Ceda Stadium.
But it was not to be.
Lynnwood beat Getchell off the ball and on key plays throughout the night to keep the Chargers off-balance and out of sync. The Charger defense held its own when it needed to, but offensive penalties and miscues doomed them to a 44-8 rout.
“We need to learn to play hard on every down,” sophomore defensive back Brandon Stickels said.
The Royals’ Blake Lord powered up the middle for a one-yard touchdown to draw first blood with 7:26 left in the first quarter. Getchell fumbled away the ensuing kickoff on its own 28 yard line at 7:18. The Chargers sacked Lord for a four-yard loss on the resulting drive, but senior running back Corey Hoerner got it all back with a 21-yard touchdown trot at 4:56 to put Lynnwood up 14-0.
Getchell’s offense sputtered on its first possession. Sophomore wide receiver Austin Miller was stuffed for a loss of a yard before junior quarterback Dylan Diedrich could not connect with receivers on second and third downs. Another disaster struck the Chargers when Lynnwood junior wide receiver Jesimon Smith returned Getchell’s punt for a touchdown on the next play.
“Some nights it clicks, sometimes it doesn’t,” sophomore wide receiver Kaleb Seymer said.
The Royals tormented the Chargers in the second quarter with a 10-yard pass on 4th and 9 from Getchell’s 27. Lynnwood junior tight end Jason Hall rumbled 17 yards for a touchdown with 10:30 remaining to put his team up 28-0. The Chargers attempted a fake reverse on the kickoff return but were frustrated to only reach the 19 yard line.
Hoerner caught a quick screen pass and scored again to push the Royals out to 35-0 with 56 seconds left in the half. Lynnwood pinned Getchell on its own 2-yard line and earned a safety when Diedrich was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone. The Royals were happy to run out the remaining time and ride a 37-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Getchell, having received a penalty for taking too much time in coming back out onto the field to begin the second half, had to kick off from its own 45. They went for a fourth down conversion from their own 30 when they got the ball back, but right-handed Diedrich’s pass to the left fell incomplete.
The Chargers at last found something to celebrate when Alexzander Seymer intercepted a Lynnwood pass with 32 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but misfortune befell Getchell once more when Lynnwood’s junior defensive lineman Andrew Basham took Diedrich’s pass 69 yards the other way for a touchdown to lead 44-0 with 11:18 left in the 4th.
“Bad things happened, but we came together. It’s a learning season,” Diedrich said.
Getchell at last found pay dirt when Kaleb Seymer caught Diedrich’s pass deep in Lynnwood territory and split the right side pylon for the touchdown. The Chargers converted the two-point conversion with a draw out of a spread formation to make the game’s final score 44-8.
“Take your helmet off and hold your head high,” Getchell head coach Davis Lura told his Chargers after the game. “They are not 40 points better than us. That team has one thing we don’t — a weight room. They outmuscled us. I wish you could see the amount of potential we see.”
