LAKE STEVENS — For the state runner-up Lake Stevens High School football team, Friday night was the Jayden Limar show.
Going up against the Class 3A defending champion Bellevue Wolverines, Limar rushed for 242 rushing yards on 23 carries and added 55 receiving yards and had three total touchdowns as the four-star Notre Dame commit provided the offensive spark in a 37-28 win.
The Vikings leaned on Limar early and often. He had 97 yards and a touchdown reception before halftime, and added 145 more yards with two rushing touchdowns in the second half.
“Jayden is lightning,” Lake Stevens coach Tom Tri said. “That guy, he is nails. But honestly, it starts up front. I thought our offensive line did a great job opening up our inside run, and our outside run.”
Limar was all smiles after a game where he averaged 11 yards per rushing attempt, and was thrilled with the bounce-back victory for the Vikings, who lost to Garfield last week in Seattle, 26-16.
“Sometimes, I doubt myself, all the hype around my name,” Limar said. “But when I perform like that, I just kind of feel like I do work with what I get. I just know I’m that guy. If I put the work in, I can go wherever.”
The younger Limar, Jayshon, had 52 yards on eight carries while quarterback Kolton Matson was 14 of 20 for 147 yards.
The Vikings got on the board early, as junior defensive back David Brown picked off Bellevue quarterback Lucas Razore in the end zone in the first quarter, setting up an 80-yard scoring drive. Jayshon Limar punched it in for a 5-yard touchdown.
The lead was short lived though, as Bellevue’s Ishaan Daniels took the ball for a game-tying 39-yard touchdown run on the next drive.
The Vikings responded with a 30-yard touchdown reception by Jayden Limar to take a 14-7 lead, but Bellevue answered again with a 34-yard rushing touchdown from Daniels at 10:34 to tie it back up at 14.
On their next drive, the Vikings were stopped at the 25-yard line by an incomplete pass from Matson but scored on a 42-yard field goal from kicker Luis Alvarado.
On their final drive before the half, the Wolverines (0-2) went 73 yards for the score, as Razore completed a pair of passes to Daniels, including a 5-yard slant route into the end zone that gave Bellevue a 21-17 lead.
Limar’s first touchdown run put the Vikings up by two at the 8:50 mark of the third, and the team made it a nine-point game at 30-21 with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Matson to Cole Becker.
A 69-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter by Ryken Moon brought the Wolverines back to within two points at 30-28, but Jayden Limar scored again with 2:24 remaining, and Vikings’ junior Paul Varela sealed it with an interception to end Bellevue’s chances with just over a minute left.
“We had a couple picks,” Tri said. “A huge defensive stop, we had two of them in the fourth quarter that were really difference makers. We made a mistake, went down and turned the ball over, and made our defense do it again. But I was super proud of our defense, our offense and our overall effort.”
Limar may have stolen the show on Friday, but Bellevue’s Ishaan Daniels had a big night too, rushing for 164 yards on 13 carries.
But after a 242 yard night, there was no doubt who the star of the game was.
“Wow,” Tri said. “I figured it was a fair amount, but that is amazing. … I figured it was over 100, but when you’re saying (242), that’s rarefied air, especially against the Bellevue defense.”