Corrected Version

At 8:00 Friday morning, the tired students of Skyline High School were held in shock. Not because of a calculus test, or a biology pop quiz, but rather a defamation of school property: Issaquah had put its flag on top of the Skyline flagpole, exerting their supposed dominance and gaining a mental edge on the Spartans.

Skyline fans pose with the captured Issaquah flag before the game at the community center.

Photo Credit: Chris Helgeson

In their own minds, Issaquah now owned the plateau; Skyline students were going to school under the purple and yellow.

The Issaquah boasting continued an hour before kickoff when four body-painted individuals walked across the field from their student section and showed an acronym that sent Issaquah fans into a craze, and Skyline fans into a rage: “F”, “S”, “U”, and “!” — likely standing for F___ Skyline Up! According to a report by a student on the Issaquah side, the four fans were immediately ejected from the game and are facing suspension.

But just an hour later, Issaquah’s spirit couldn’t have looked more bleak.

Characterized by chants “It’s Too Easy” and “Worse Than Eastlake,” the Skyline student section nearly silenced the opposing crowd that neared 3,000 of 4,200 total tickets sold. But, as expected, these words were near-perfect representations of the happenings on the field — a solemn beat-down by Skyline toward the Eagles.

The tone was set by Grant Engel on the first series of the game — a 10 yard sack on Eagles quarterback Joey Bradley and an apparent celebration toward the fans. After a couple more plays, Issaquah was forced to give the ball to Skyline after a bad punt, and on their first possession, Skyline put the ball into the end zone on an 11-yard Heaps run.

Almost the exact same next series transpired, and when the Spartans took the ball at midfield receiver Jake Knecht hauled in a last-ditch long bomb by Heaps in the corner of the endzone for a two touchdown score.

But the player of the game, without a doubt, was Will Chandler who amassed 150 yards receiving including one 87-yard touchdown strike after Heaps avoided pressure and flung it to the receiver who had tons of room on his defender. Chandler was also the beneficiary of several drive-continuing screen passes and short routes.

After a Brian Schwartz kick to give the Spartans a 24-0 lead going into halftime, Skyline came out throwing to its two most-prominent receivers, Kasen Williams and WSU-commit Gino Simone after the intermission, and in the end, the score was terribly lopsided — 38-0 in favor of the uphill Spartans.

At the end of the game, Jake Heaps threw for 320 yards on a 20/27 record with four touchdowns through the air and one on the ground. The Skyline starting defense is still yet to give up a point, and the point differential between Skyline and its opponents is 296-8.

But the story of the game wasn’t the aerial attack, but how well the Spartan’s controlled Issaquah in the trenches. The defense gave up a little over 50-yards total from Issaquah, and Eagles running back Grant Gellatly, one of the premier runners on the state, had very few solid runs.

Skyline’s biggest question mark after losing junior tackle Jase Butorac was how well they were going to be able to handle an average 300-pound Issaquah offensive line, but they seemed to do so flawlessly. Running back Joey Evans was the chief go-to guy when the team needed a couple of yards on third down, and the offensive line’s solid blocking helped him achieve his aims.

And, after the clock hit triple-zeroes, everybody knew who the dominant high school was in-town. Issaquah fans, walking back to their vehicles, seemed lifeless and sluggish. Skyline fans were the direct opposite, celebrating their win in any way fit.

Sometimes, body language says it all.