The Newport Knights kicked a field goal to score first points of the game against the Eastlake Wolves. But the Wolves weren’t deterred in the least.

Eastlake scored a mind-boggling 48 unanswered points and cruised to a 55-9 victory against Newport on Oct. 2 at Eastlake High School in Sammamish. The Wolves forced six Newport fumbles and recovered four of them. Eastlake defensive lineman Jacob Kaufman had two quarterback sacks and fellow defensive lineman Will Bickford forced two fumbles and recovered one.

On offense, Eastlake senior signal caller Mark Whitley accounted for six touchdowns (four passing, two rushing) in the win. Whitley connected with Parker Lester on two touchdown tosses (3 yards, 29 yards), Cole Nason (19 yards) and Chandler Toliver (16 yards). Carter Browning and Ben Howard scored on touchdown runs to round out the scoring parade in front of the hometown fans on Homecoming night.

Eastlake head coach Don Bartel praised Whitley for not only his performance, but also for the way he carries himself as a leader on and off the field.

“He is not all over the blogs, not all over the Internet. He is just putting in work with yards, scoring and leading this team. He is a servant leader,” Bartel said.

Bartel used the word “phenomenal” to describe the signal caller.

“That last touchdown pass he threw to Parker (29-yarder), he changed his read three times before he threw the ball. He stood in the pocket tonight and he dealt,” Bartel said. “I love that kid. He is just a freaking competitor. He is so fun to watch.”

The Wolves will face the Mount Si Wildcats at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 in Snoqualimie.

“Mount Si has got talent. They always do. They got great size and their coaching staff does a great job,” Bartel said.

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@issaquahreporter.com