ARLINGTON – Back and forth touchdowns in the first half turned into back and forth turnovers in the second half, with Lakewood making one less mistake as the Cougars defeated the Storm 46-42 on Thursday night.
With 992 yards of offense put up by both teams, it was a defensive play that seemed to be the difference when Lakewood scored on a 25-yard fumble recovery in the third quarter. That play broke the rhythm if each team scoring back and forth on each other, and gave the Cougars the momentum that lasted throughout the rest of the game.
Lakewood also intercepted a pair of passes in the second half of the contest.
There were a lot of explosive plays by both teams, and junior quarterback Marcus Nixon was responsible for a lot of them with 357 yards of total offense. He ran for two scores, and had his best passing performance of the season with three touchdown tosses, despite three interceptions thrown.
Nixon also intercepted a pass, and forced a fumble, on defense from his cornerback spot.
Nixon’s first touchdown pass was thrown to a wide open Chase Nelson in the corner of the end zone, which the 6-foot-5 senior hauled in for his first touchdown of the season.
Nixon also connected on a pair of deep passes for touchdowns to wide receiver Ansen Asbjornsen. The speedy sophomore finished with four receptions for a career-high 129 yards.
Junior Malaki Smith also got into the scoring act on an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter. He also had a long touchdown run called back on the first drive of the game, and he finished with 61 yards on 14 carries.
Defensively, sophomore defensive end Laki Fagaatau and junior safety Joaquin Ortiz each had six tackles to lead the team. Fagaatau also had two sacks, while senior inside linebacker Deandre Dunmore had three tackles for a loss.
The Storm (3-3) will travel to Anacortes (5-0) to take on the Seahawks next Friday at 7:00.
Lakewood 46
Squalicum 42
SQU 14 14 7 7 - 42
LAK 7 14 18 7 - 46
SQU - Nixon 3 run (Haggen kick)
LAK - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good)
SQU - Nelson 12 pass from Nixon (Haggen kick)
LAK - 7 yard touchdown run (kick good)
SQU - Asbjornsen 44 pass from Nixon (Haggen kick)
LAK - 8 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
SQU - Nixon 11 run (Haggen kick)
LAK - 44 yard touchdown pass (pass failed)
LAK - 25 yard fumble recovery (pass failed)
SQU - Smith 87 kickoff return (Haggen kick)
LAK - 1 yard touchdown run (pass failed)
SQU - Asbjornsen 50 pass from Nixon (Haggen kick)
LAK - 54 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
SQU LAK
43-307 Rush Att-Yards 27-81
13-27-3 Comp-Att-Int 16-22-2
220 Passing Yards 384
Individual Leaders
RUSHING - SQU: Nixon 20-137, Smith 14-61, Ortiz 5-56, Dunmore 4-53. LAK: N/A.
PASSING - SQU: Nixon 13-27-3-220. LAK: N/A.
RECEIVING - SQU: Asbjornsen 4-129, Nelson 3-35, Ortiz 3-26, Smith 2-19, Fagaatau 1-11. LAK: N/A.
