Another week of gridiron action Friday became another week of learning some hard lessons for a young Lynnwood Royals team as the Royals continue to look for their first football victory since the 2022 season.

Lynnwood, unable to overcome numerous mistakes nor keep up with the speed of their opponent, fell hard to the Mariner Marauders 43-3 in a game played at Goddard Stadium in Everett.

After an opening drive that ended with a 30-yard field goal by Nedim Husic, the Royals could only muster one more first down the remainder of the night while giving up 43 points to a Marauders team that had entered the game winless this season too.

Mariner was led by the lightning-quick senior Tyree Rivers, who had 209 yards of total offense in the game and scored three touchdowns. Rivers found the end zone with TD runs of 33 and 96 yards and ran back a Lynnwood punt for a 54-yard second quarter score.

Royals’ coach David Harris admitted that the speed of Rivers and others on the Marauder roster was tough for his squad to handle.

“They definitely had some speed guys over there, for sure,” Harris said. “And when you’re playing guys like that you’ve got to make sure – one small mistake and it’s to the house. That’s definitely a good learning moment for our players … cause one small mistake, with speed like that, it can really hurt.”

Touchdown runs by Kenneth More and Anthone Smiles helped the Marauders reach halftime with a 27-3 lead, giving the Royals little hope of getting that first win of the year Friday night.

Smiles would add a touchdown pass to his stats late in the third quarter when he connected with Marauders’ teammate Kyle Lutzvig for a 28-yard scoring strike.

Mariner rounded out the scoring when they blocked a second-half Lynnwood punt and the ball rolled out of the back of the Royals’ end zone, crediting the Marauders with a safety.

Lynnwood miscues weren’t limited to the defense or special teams. The Royals’ offense had two turnovers — including quarterback interceptions and bad snaps from center that resulted from big losses in yardage — and committed penalties that totaled 70 yards 

While disappointed that a win remains elusive, Harris was reflective after Friday’s loss.

“Of course we want to come out here and win these football games,” Harris said, “but we’re also keeping in perspective that we have a lot of young guys learning new positions and learning about the speed of varsity football.”

“We’re playing a lot of sophomores, we’re playing a lot of guys that it’s their first time stepping on the field for football,” Harris added.

Harris, in his second season as head coach of the Royals, explained that building the football program will take some time, work and patience.

“We try to be more focused on the process before the results,” Harris said. “And I feel that the more we can focus on the process, making sure we’re taking care of things we’re doing the field, where we can correct from our mistakes … we feel that once we start compounding some of these little wins, we can start getting to the point of victories on the [score] board.”

The Royals went 0-10 last season and have to look back to the final game of the 2022 season for their most recent victory. But Harris remains optimistic that the next Lynnwood win will come soon, rewarding his squad for the effort he sees them put in each week.

“We’ve got four more games this season and I know our kids are going to get right back to work,” Harris concluded. “And I’m grateful that I get to coach these guys. Every Monday they show back up ready to get back to work. So that makes my job a lot easier.”

Prep Football: Lynnwood at Mariner, Oct. 4

Lynnwood   3   0   0 0 –   3

Mariner   7 20 16 0 – 43

First quarter scoring:

  7:43 – Nedim Husic (Lynnwood) 30-yard field goal

    :35 – Kenneth Moore (Mariner) 26-yard TD run; Luiz Romas PAT kick good

Second quarter scoring:

  9:50 – Anthony Smiles (Mariner) 5-yard TD run; Luiz Romas PAT kick good

  7:10 – Tyree Rivers (Mariner) 54-yard punt return for TD; Luiz Romas PAT kick no good

  2:35 – Tyree Rivers (Mariner) 96-yard TD run; Luiz Romas PAT kick good

Third quarter scoring:

  8:05 – Tyree Rivers (Mariner) 33-yard TD run; Luiz Romas PAT kick good

  6:46 – Mariner blocks Lynnwood punt, ball rolls out of the back of the end zone for a safety

  2:19 – Anthony Smiles (Mariner) 28-yard TD pass to Kyle Lutzvig; Luiz Romas PAT kick good

Records: Lynnwood 0-5 overall (independent schedule); Mariner 0-2 in 4A Wesco League, 1-4 overall

Lynnwood next game: versus Sultan; Friday, Oct. 11; 7 p.m. at Sultan High School

Mariner next game: versus Kamiak; Friday, Oct. 11; 7 p.m. at Goddard Stadium (Mariner High School)

— Story and photos by Doug Petrowski