MARYSVILLE — Marysville-Pilchuck remained perfect (6-0) on the gridiron with a 36-20 home win over Lake Stevens Oct. 9.

“In all it was pretty much a team effort, and that’s how we play,” said Tomahawks head coach Brandon Carson. “Lake Stevens is a pretty tough team and we’re very happy to get the win.”

With the score just 9-0 at halftime, Carson said that it was hard to get into a rhythm because of penalties — a problem that has popped up in a few games so far.

“We’d get a few things going and then get a holding call and knock us right back out of it,” he said. “It just shows us that there are things we need to fix and we can’t just rest where we are.”

The Tomahawks scored first on a 66-yard run by quarterback Zack Hanson in the first quarter and again on a 27-yard field goal by Kyle Bluhm in the second.

Austin Denton broke off a 63-yard run to score one of the three M-P touchdowns in the third quarter. The senior added two more of his own on the night for three total, and ran for 229 yards on 28 carries. It was his sixth consecutive 200-yard game this season, giving him 1,394 so far this season. With three games to go, Denton trails Kyle Woods by just 294 yards for the school record set in 1994 of 1,688.

Linebacker Siti Tamaivena intercepted a Lake Stevens pass on the following possession and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown, giving the Tomahawks a 23-0 lead.

“That really helped,” Carson said. “We were able to breathe a little easier. Siti had a really nice game. That return was big for us, but he also had a couple of big hits.”

Carson said this win was big for his group, as it now stands as the only remaining undefeated team in the Wesco North play at 4-0. Lake Stevens remained in second place (2-1).

“This sort of puts us in the driver’s seat to win the conference and make it to the playoffs, and that is where we want to be headed,” Carson said.

In what might be Marysville’s biggest test this season, Carson, Denton and company take on Kamiak in the homecoming game Oct. 16.