SNOHOMISH — Matt Kowalski figured the offense would just pack it in for halftime.

Pinned back to their own 10 with just over a minute left in the first half, Glacier Peak football held a 14-6 lead over Woodinville in a 4A State Round of 32 matchup at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday. Glacier Peak easily could have played it safe and went into the locker room satisfied with the lead.

Coach Shane Keck had other plans.

“I think all of us were kind of thinking we were just going to go into half and just let the game go out,” Kowalski said. “Keck said no. He said he wanted to take a shot. … He just told me, ‘Make a play,’ and I made a play.”

On 2nd-and-20, Kowalski went on a straight shot up the field, attracting two defenders deep. It wasn’t enough to dissuade quarterback Oliver Setterberg from uncorking a bomb over the middle. He placed it perfectly to a streaking Kowalski, who outkicked the two defenders and caused them collide behind him, leaving him plenty of room to stroll to the end zone for a 90-yard touchdown with 53 seconds left before the break.

To open the third quarter, senior Zach Albright rumbled for a 65-yard catch, setting up a short Max Bridges touchdown, and junior Kingston Carrara returned an interception for a touchdown on the ensuing Woodinville drive.

In less than five minutes of game time, the Grizzlies (7-3) turned an eight-point game into a 35-6 lead, which they carried to a 49-6 win against the Falcons (7-3). After starting the season 3-3, Glacier Peak rolls on to the 4A State Round of 16.

“We were really young on defense to start the year,” Keck said. “And we had some guys who are literally first-year players… that were going to take a while to figure out how to play varsity football at this level, and I couldn’t be more proud of our kids, man. They played physical, they played clean. I mean, I’m just so happy to be a part of this group right now.”

Kowalski finished the night with nine receptions, 242 yards and three touchdowns, and Albright hauled in four catches for 89 yards and a score of his own. On top of his pick-six, Carrara added 45 rushing yards and a score. Setterberg commanded the offense going 13-for-18 with 334 yards and four touchdowns. Defensively, Bridges had a sack and multiple tackles for loss, and players like junior Rozell Townsend and senior Ridley Frederickson-Brunson made disruptive plays throughout.

“I’ve seen brotherhood, like all of us coming together, growing off each other,” Carrara said. “Iron sharpens iron, and every practice is we’re getting better. We’re getting better, and we don’t want to feel those losses (from earlier this season) again. We kind of just build on that and only want wins from here on out.”

At first, it looked like it would be a shootout as Woodinville moved down the field with ease on its opening drive. With four plays of 10-plus yards, the Falcons ultimately punched it in with a five-yard score from senior Santiago Hernandez.

Junior Luke Jennings blocked the extra point to keep it 6-0, and the Grizzlies would not allow another point the rest of the night, clamping down on screen passes Woodinville previously had success with and not allowing big plays on the ground. Keck credited defensive coordinator Jason Rimkus for being patient and adapting to what the Falcons threw at them.

Glacier Peak pushed back with a kick return to midfield, and rushes from junior Alan Van Wyk and Carrara set up an 18-yard touchdown pass to Albright, who trucked a defender at the goal line, to make it 7-6 with 7:03 left in the first.

“I think it really started with Luke Jennings blocking that (extra point),” Albright said. “I thought that was the momentum shift, and that’s when we put it down the hole. We drove back, put seven on the board, and then put 49 up unanswered.”

A Bridges sack and Townsend pass break-up contributed to the Falcons turning the ball over on downs, and the Grizzlies closed the quarter with the first of Kowalski’s three touchdowns, a 22-yard catch-and-run that saw the 6-foot-2 receiver juke around a defender and run into the end zone.

“It’s awesome to have him,” Setterberg said of Kowalski. “A lot of the stuff he does goes unnoticed, like the blocks, the route running. That post route was an awesome route, but it’s what we expect from him, and he’s been doing it for a long time.”

The game slowed down in the second quarter as each defense managed to limit big plays, but then Setterberg and Kowalski popped the top off the Woodinville defense with their 90-yard connection to extend the lead to 21-6. After Albright’s catch-and-run and Carrara’s pick-six opened the third quarter, it was essentially game over.

“Coach gave me an opportunity to put me in the right spot, and I made my drop, read the quarterback, and the rest happened,” Carrara said of his interception. “My guys, they came and blocked for me, and I just ran.”

After the defense forced a Falcons turnover on downs, Setterberg hit Kowalski for another big score over the middle — this time for 74 yards — to make it 42-6 with 1:02 left in the third quarter.

“I wasn’t even out of my break or my land point before Oliver threw the ball,” Kowalski said. “I think that shows a lot in the trust (we have with each other).”

Carrara padded the lead with a 10-yard score midway through the fourth, starting the running clock to make it a quick finish. In a game that felt close until it wasn’t, Glacier Peak made a statement. Now the Grizzlies await their fate ahead of the Round of 16 seed selection.

“We say we’re the best in November,” Albright said. “We’re the standard of football. We’re the standard at GP, and I think as the seasons progress, right now it’s a season at a time. You’re not going to get to next week until you win the first week, so I think we’re just going to get better every week.”