MARYSVILLE — The stands were completely packed on Friday, Sept. 28, for the first ever in-league football game between neighbors, Marysville Getchell and Marysville-Pilchuck, and despite a good start to the Chargers’ season, the Tomahawks emerged victorious with a 42-7 win.

The rivalry game, recently dubbed the Berry Bowl, brought with it an immense crowd and the Tommies took full advantage of the game’s popularity to prove their strength.

M-P’s quarterback Jake Luton had an incredible night, starting with the first touchdown of the game and two of the four touchdowns scored in the first half.

Although they scored often in the first half, it was really M-P’s defense that proved their strength throughout the game.

“I thought we did a good job on defense tonight,” said M-P’s head coach Brandon Carson. “This defense is as good as we’ve played all year.”

That skill was particularly evident during the final seconds of the second quarter when the defense successfully stopped an MG drive despite two defensive penalties for roughing the kicker, giving the Chargers extra opportunities to score.

When the Tomahawks regained possession of the ball — with only seven seconds left in the first half — Luton threw a 19-yard pass to Connor Martinis for a touchdown.

“Connor Martinis, Jake Luton and Kacey Walker all did a great job tonight,” said Carson. “Luton made some huge, huge throws, especially that one right before the half.”

For Getchell, it was simply a struggle for them to respond to the strength of the Tomahawks defense, yet they finally scored a touchdown on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Dylan Diedrich to running back Wil Owens.

“We’ve got some more building to do at Getchell,” said Davis Lura. “Hats off to the team at M-P. We had trouble stopping them and we had trouble moving the ball.”

Despite the rivalry between the two local teams, Lura insisted that there was no bad blood.

“It’s great for the community to have this rivalry, I’ve never seen this place this packed before,” said Lura. “These kids all grew up together. Sometimes you hear the bad stuff, but they come from three middle schools, they’ve played together before. They seemed like they were having a good time.”

The Tomahawks agreed.

“Our kids were excited, they knew who they were playing,” said Carson. “We just need to continue to keep getting better.”

M-P is set to face Stanwood at home on Friday, Oct. 5, and MG heads to play at Everett on Friday, Oct. 5.