SNOHOMISH — The frustration could be heard loud and clear from the Lake Stevens sideline.

Despite leading Glacier Peak 21-7 early in the second quarter at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday, Lake Stevens provided an opening when a would-be 4th-and-long turned into 4th-and-1 on the 38 after a late push by a defender spotted the home side 15 yards. Glacier Peak converted with a 14-yard sweep from senior Maxwell Bridges, and suddenly the offense had life again.

Ending the drive in a score would keep Glacier Peak in striking distance. At the very least, Glacier Peak seized the opportunity to do so.

Then Will Lynch seized it back. Literally.

After safety Nolan Nettles stood up the Glacier Peak ball-carrier during the first play following the fourth-down conversion, Lynch did not hear a whistle.

“I was like, ‘Alright,’ so I snatched the ball out of his hands,” Lynch said. “I just thought there was going to be a whistle, so I didn’t know, so I was walking, and I didn’t hear whistles so I just took off.”

The senior emerged from the pile slowly, and as soon as he realized the play was still live, he picked up the pace all the way to the end zone. The ‘snatch’-and-score gave the Vikings (4-1 overall, 2-0 league) a three-possession lead before rolling to a 55-7 win over the Grizzlies (3-3, 1-1).

“Momentum change, for sure,” Lake Stevens coach Tom Tri said of the fumble return. “They just got a first down, and started to feel like maybe they could march down the field and try to make it a close game again. Next thing you know, it’s 28-7 and you can see the air kind of just fell out of them at that point. I felt like at that point, we had the upper hand, and we just kept playing hard, taking care of the ball, good things would happen for us.”

The Vikings dominated in all facets. Senior running back Jayvian Ferrell led the offense with 241 yards and four touchdowns on just nine carries. The defense created two takeaways, and even special teams caused Glacier Peak fits with senior Ryan McKenna’s squib kickoffs leading to a muffed kick recovery. Junior Xander Garcia reeled in an interception and a fumble recovery on a botched Grizzlies punt.

Senior quarterback Blake Moser played efficiently, going 9-for-10 with 171 yards and three touchdowns, and senior Seth Price caught two of those scores, but Ferrell stole the show with his outrageous performance on the ground. He started the evening by breaking tackles on a 33-yard run, and ended his night with a 67-yard rushing touchdown midway through the third quarter.

“I’ve always known he’s this good, but I think compared to last year, he’s two times faster, two times stronger, smarter,” Moser said. “He just like, overall, just improved in every aspect of his game. So he’s a dog. FBS needs to start reaching out to him because he’s an FBS type of player, for sure.”

Tri touted Ferrell’s fitness, which allows him to physically overpower the majority of defenders, but his improved vision, pass-catching and elusiveness also elevated the entire offense to a new level. It was all on display immediately, as Ferrell capped the seven-play, 80-yard opening drive with an eight-yard rushing touchdown to put Lake Stevens ahead 7-0 just 1:30 into the game.

Glacier Peak responded with a touchdown drive of its own, marching down the field as quarterback Oliver Setterberg went 5-for-5 on pass attempts. The last came following a fake handoff, with the junior rolling to his right before finding senior tight end Zach Albright in the back corner of the end zone for a 13-yard score.

While it appeared the game would turn into a shootout, the Grizzlies quickly ran out of ammo. After making an adjustment to their man coverage, the Vikings defense allowed only two more completions the rest of the game. Glacier Peak totaled just 59 yards through the air and about 100 on the ground.

“The goal was D-line get in the backfield, and I think after we pressured him a few times, he got a little nervous,” Lynch said. “And then the secondary really stood up and they just kept manning up, man, and it was great.”

While the Grizzlies offense slowed down, Lake Stevens kept moving the ball with ease. Moser hit senior Logan Campbell and Ferrell for completions of 29- and 33-yards, respectively, before finding Price over the middle for a two-yard touchdown pass with 4:09 left in the first quarter.

After the defense forced the first punt of the night, Moser barely avoided a sack — finding junior Deuce Wilson for seven-yard gain with Bridges bearing down on him — before throwing a screen to Price for a 29-yard touchdown that increased the lead to 21-7.

“I noticed that he kind of had a free release upfield, so I was like, ‘Alright, I got to hit Deuce quick,’” Moser said. “So then I knew I was going to take the hit.”

Lynch scored on the fumble recovery during the next drive, and from there the Vikings pulled away. Ferrell pushed it to 35-7 with a 51-yard rushing touchdown up the middle, making up for a drop on a trick play that likely would have gone for six right before. He scored again from 39 yards out two possessions later, slowing down at the 10 to step around one defender before hitting a spin move at the five to get into the end zone.

Ferrell was simply untouchable.

“There is no better feeling than pancaking a dude and looking up and seeing him going to the end zone, man,” Lynch said. “It is great. I just love our running back. Since freshman year, he’s been a guy, and I just loved growing up with him.”

Another Glacier Peak turnover on a botched punt quickly led to yet another Lake Stevens touchdown, as Moser dropped a ball right into the bucket for Wilson to stroll in for a 49-yard score. Even after the missed extra point attempt, the Vikings led 48-7 with 1:19 left in the half. The second half came and went quickly with a running clock, but Ferrell had enough time to squeeze in his 67-yard touchdown run to close things out.

Officials called both coaches and team captains to midfield multiple times throughout the game as the Wesco 4A rivalry matchup remained heated from start to finish, despite the lopsided result.

“I understand that guys on both sides were saying derogatory remarks, and it needed to stop,” Tri said. “Neither side could say who it was, so I didn’t really know what that was all about, even though I was there.”

With their most challenging regular-season opponents now behind them, the Vikings will look to take care of business before the postseason rolls around.

“They don’t let us slack off at all,” Moser said of the coaching staff. “As soon as we’re slacking off, we’re running. We’ve had a few practices, like Jackson week and whatnot, where we’re slacking off and coaches weren’t having it. They’re making us run gassers left and right, but I think lately we’ve been really locked in and just worrying about ourselves.

“We’re not worried about these opponents we’re playing because we understand that we’re higher than them. We’re just ready for playoffs. Our minds are on Puyallup because we’re not going to forget what they did on our logo (storming the field and celebrating after their 43-42 overtime win over Lake Stevens on Sept. 18.)”