Inglemoor defeats Redmond in football ‘dogfight’

Prior to the start of the Inglemoor-Redmond football matchup, one referee grinded his way through some pushups on the side of the field.

He apparently knew an epic battle was about to be unleashed on the crowd at Pop Keeney Stadium on Sept. 26.

After the two 4A KingCo Crown squads blasted into the end zones 11 times, Inglemoor emerged with a 42-34 victory behind a pair of scores by running back Trevor Thurman, including a thrilling 86-yard run to put the Vikings ahead 42-28 with 2:52 remaining in the game.

However, the game was not in the books yet as Redmond’s Colby Fazio snagged his third touchdown pass of the night on a 12-yard strike from quarterback Tyler Fortney with 1:56 left. After the blocked kick, the score stood at 42-34 in favor of Inglemoor. With Redmond’s defense holding tough, Inglemoor converted a third-and-6 pass for a first down and knelt out the rest of the way for the victory.

Inglemoor upped its overall record to 3-1 overall and is 1-0 in the Crown division.

“The main thing about us is just that we play for each other. Today, I play for whoever’s behind me, I play for the guy next to me, that’s the reason we do well. Our line is meant to be as a team together,” said Inglemoor lineman Brayden Costilla, adding that the Vikings possess a tight bond from seniors to freshmen.

Costilla noted that it’s a total team effort, and they’ll have to be more disciplined to make their penalties from the Redmond game evaporate.

“We’re gonna be a great, great team when we get rid of those. That’s how we keep going,” he said.

As for Thurman, he was proud of the way the Vikings kept pounding away and maintained their lead against Redmond.

“They did bring it. It was a dogfight the whole game. I thought (Carson) Bruener had a good game. Their defense was stopping our run the whole first half, and then we finally broke it open a little bit in the second,” he said.

With a smile and a laugh, Thurman said he thought the game was over after he notched his 86-yard score. As the battle wore on, the Vikings thrived with their crowd behind them every step of the way.

“I love those types of games. It keeps me in it and everyone else seemed to be in it, too,” he said. “I think it’s the most enjoyable thing to be a part of. Everyone’s got each other’s back, everyone’s fighting for each other.”

Inglemoor led 21-7 at halftime and 35-14 after quarterback Kolby Solomon connected with Logan Russell for a 33-yard touchdown pass with 11:28 left in the game. Redmond stayed strong by cutting the Vikings’ lead to 35-28, first with a Fortney-to-Fazio 10-yard pass and then a Fortney-to-Carson Bruener 49-yard pass with 4:34 remaining.

Also scoring for Inglemoor were Solomon on a 5-yard run, Nick Samuels with a 20-yard reception from Solomon, Colby Ryden on an 8-yard pass from Solomon and Thurman with a 4-yard run. Lucas Hakamada booted six PATs on the night.

On Redmond’s first touchdown, Carson Bruener received the snap and pitched the ball to Fortney, who passed to Fazio for a 7-yard score. Fortney also connected with Carson Bruener on a 15-yard touchdown pass.