(8-1) dropped their first game of the season on Thursday night 17-14 to eighth-ranked (9-0) in front of a standing room only crowd at Pop Keeney Stadium in Bothell in the KingCo 4A Football Championship game.
"A series of mistakes cost us tonight," Eastlake head coach Gene Dales said afterward as he looked on at the trophy presentation to Woodinville across the field.
The Falcons jumped out early on the game's first drive taking nearly six minutes off the clock, marching down the field with a balanced attack, and quarterback Brett Arrivey capped it off with an option pitch to running back Alec Schwend, who punched it from 8 yards out.
Woodinville extended their lead to 14-0 when Arrivey hit Kyle Adkins in stride on a 48 yard touchdown pass just 27 seconds into the second quarter.
The Wolves would then fight back within less than two minutes as Keegan Kemp hit Brian Quick for 27 yards, and with a personal foul penalty tacked on Eastlake was quickly in the red zone. A couple of plays later Ryan Lewis scored from three yards out on a touchdown run to cut it to 14-7.
Woodinville soon extended their lead to 17-7 with a 28 yard field goal. Then the defenses from both sides took control in the second half and the turnover bug would rear its ugly head for the Wolves.
Eastlake took the ball right down the field on the opening drive of the third quarter but the drive ended with a fumble by Lewis at the Falcon 3 yard line.
"I take full responsibility," Lewis said.
However, Eastlake's defense stepped up and got the ball back, then Kemp and the offense put together their best extended drive of the game, running 14 plays and using up well over six minutes on the clock, cutting it to a field goal game at 17-14 with 9:18 left to go in the contest.
Kemp was 16 of 24 for 188 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions on the night.
Coach Dales praised his quarterback for continuing to battle all night long.
"Keegan played very, very gutsy tonight," Dales said. "Their defense was physical against us."
Falcon head coach Wayne Maxwell praised his defense on the ability to limit Eastlake's big plays.
"Our kids did a great job of tackling and limiting yards after contact," Maxwell said. "They have got skill kids who can make some plays."
After getting the ball back on downs with under two minutes to play, the Wolves had one last chance to mount a drive but Woodinville's Trey Fornelius clinched the win for the Falcons with an interception with under a minute to go.
With the state playoffs looming and the one and done reality, Lewis and Dales are confident about what lies ahead.
"I love our coaches, I trust our coaches, and I think we can come back from this." Lewis said.
Dales added, "We still have an opportunity to play five more games."
Eastlake will host a playoff game next Friday at 7 pm against a to be determined opponent from the SPSL, most likely Jefferson.
