Skyline Spartans running back Rashaad Boddie set the tone on the first offensive play of scrimmage against the Issaquah Eagles on Friday night.
Boddie, who caught a quick screen pass from Skyline quarterback Blake Gregory, rumbled down the left sideline for an 81-yard touchdown, giving the Spartans a 7-0 lead just 19 seconds into the game.
“Once the ball was snapped we all knew it was game time. I just told myself to relax,” Boddie said of his mindset before the ball was snapped. “Blake tossed me the ball and when I saw the open hole I just took off.”
Boddie scored three more touchdowns in the first half (58-yard catch, 16-yard run and 2-yard run), helping extend Skyline’s lead to 34-7 after two quarters of play. Logan Wanamaker and Elijah Nichols hauled in touchdown receptions from Gregory in the second half as Skyline (1-0 overall) cruised to a convincing 48-21 victory against Issaquah (0-1 overall) on Sept. 5 at Geary Moore Stadium in Issaquah. It was Skyline’s 10th consecutive victory against Issaquah. Gregory was glad to see his team burst out of the gates clicking on all cylinders.
“From the first play of the game we got in the end-zone and we kept moving on from that. Our coaches always say kill their (opponents) will and I think that’s exactly what we did,” Gregory said. “It was an awesome experience to play against your cross-town rivals. I have been playing against some of those guys since I was in the fourth grade. It is definitely a great competition.”
The Spartans will host the Newport Knights in their home opener at 7 p.m. on Sept. 12 in Sammamish. Newport, which is led by University of Oregon commit Calvin Throckmorton on the offensive line, likes to keep the ball on the ground.
“We haven’t seen film of them yet but if they still run the Wishbone (offensive formation) it poses a big challenge because it gets you out of your base defense,” Skyline head coach Mat Taylor said. “It’s going to be quite the challenge.”
Issaquah head coach Buddy Bland said his team will recover from the miscues they made against Skyline.
“The issue for us right now is the big mistakes we made on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Those are the little things that we need to repair and fix. We have a young team and it’s a work in progress,” Bland said. “We’re going to get better every week. We’ll take what we learned from this game and move forward.”
Issaquah receiver Ashton Sorrento and Luke Watanbe scored on touchdown passes from quarterback Cameron Humphrey and Brice Hughes scored on a 6-yard touchdown run in the loss.
Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com
