Falcons win 34–14 over Inglemoor

For the senior football players in the Class of 2013, this game against rival Inglemoor High School was one for the books.

As wide reciever John Villaseñor said, “In last year’s win against Inglemoor, a lot more of the seniors did the work and it feels good to be the seniors this year and win the game.”

The game was far from perfect, but the start sure looked like it to most of the Woodinville faithful in the stands last night. Just thirteen seconds into the game…touchdown Woodinville.

Bringing their record to 3-1, Woodinville managed to win the first conference game of the season they’ve played in; something senior Niko Liera, was ecstatic about. 

“I really can’t explain it...it’s like the greatest feeling being able to come back from last week’s loss to Newport. We came back into this weeks practice with a fresh start, and the race for the KingCo championship has now started. Awesome way to kick it off.”

Although Woodinville had a quick start to the game, the rest of the first quarter was a bit of a struggle for the Falcons. With 7:19 left to go in the quarter, starting junior running back Wyatt Smith got injured and had to leave the game with what was later disclosed as an ankle injury.

With Smith out of the game, senior Niko Liera had to step up and be the main running back for the team. Stepping up to make big plays in key moments was a trend for Woodinville.

After Inglemoor went ahead 8-7 with a safety and touchdown late in the first quarter, Woodinville came out in the second quarter to score on an astounding 66-yard run down the right sideline by quarterback Caleb Hamilton.

In the ensuing possession by Inglemoor, defensive back Dane Hawkins made an interception, stopping an intimidating Inglemoor drive down the field.

Woodinville continued to roll, ending the first half by scoring two more touchdowns. The first was a pass to Alek Kacmarcik and the second was a run by Niko Liera, putting the Falcons up 27-8 at halftime.

After a fairly uneventful though highly penalty-filled third quarter, the Inglemoor Vikings scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t manage to score again.

However, mid-way through the fourth quarter, Woodinville scored on a toss to the right to breakout player Niko Liera, putting Woodinville up 34-14 to seal the win.

Liera was one of the key players last night with 16 carries for 101 yard after stepping in for the injured Wyatt Smith. Liera played with the intensity, fire, and drive that Woodinville needed to pull out a win.

As he stated after the game, “Subbing in...it really wasn’t that big of a deal, I just had to get in my rhythm and as it showed tonight, I got my rhythm. I found it. I did my job.”

Liera found the holes in the defense, made some great moves on some fast Inglemoor defenders, went out there with a strong mentality, and played like he owned the field.

After the game, Sean Willie commented on Woodinville’s change of mentality overall.

“We worked hard and we were way more focused in practice and one of our goals of the night was to move their D-line a lot and we got that done.”  

Drew Accimus echoed this statement saying that, “The team feels great, it’s such a good win overall. Great to bounce back from last week and improve.”

Next game is Friday, Sept. 28 at Pop Keeney against Monroe.