SNOHOMISH — Dakota Booth heard William Soren, one of the Snohomish football assistant coaches, tell him to step up closer toward his receiver.

Seattle Prep trailed by 10 late in the fourth quarter, but a conversion on 4th-and-4 from its own 42 would keep its hopes alive with a trip to the 3A State Round of 16 on the line at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday.

Lined up at defensive back, Booth kept his vision on Seattle Prep quarterback Leo Harnetiaux as he took the snap. Wanting to make a quick strike to convert, Harnetiaux found his intended target and zipped the ball toward the right sideline. His receiver stood waiting, but Booth got there first.

Jumping the route, Booth secured the interception and ran free down the sideline all the way to the end zone, diving to the pylon at the last second before any tacklers could reach him. The Snohomish sideline exploded. The ensuing extra point made it a three-possession lead with 4:22 left.

In a shootout where the teams stayed within 10 points of each other throughout, Dakota may as well have been John Wilkes. Curtains.

“I always just read hips,” Booth said. “And my coach (Soren) told me to step up because he knew what was happening, so I kind of got a hint at it. Right when he stepped, I looked and the ball was right there.”

Seattle Prep tacked on a touchdown as time expired, but it was too late. The Snohomish Panthers (8-2) emerged with a 55-44 win over the Seattle Prep Panthers (6-4), reaching the State Round of 16 for the first time since 2018.

One year ago, Snohomish squeaked into its Week 10 game by winning three straight after an 0-6 start, only to get boat-raced 56-14 by the eventual 3A State Champion O’Dea. Plenty has changed since then. After winning the newly formed Wesco 3A Central with an undefeated league record (4-0), the Panthers are state playoff bound.

“I’m a little speechless,” Snohomish coach Eric Solbakken said, his sweatshirt soaked after his players doused him with water. “I just want it for the kids so bad. So that’s kind of my first thought there, and I’m just happy for them. … I’m so happy for the community, the players, fans, just everybody that’s here supporting. It’s not about me. It’s not about any one person. It really is about all these guys and these people.”

Junior Bryson Acosta led the offense with 194 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and sophomore Nate Kendall went 10-for-19 for 147 yards and two touchdowns through the air. Defensively, senior Odin Schwabenbauer forced a fumble, which led to a Bolder Wight scoop-and-score on Seattle Prep’s opening drive. Wight also registered a sack, and Booth sealed the game with his pick-six.

The Seattle Prep offense started out in a good rhythm, picking up three first downs to cross midfield. Then came the wrath of Odin.

The senior lineman shot into the pocket and blasted Harnetiaux, knocking the ball loose for Wight to scoop up for a fumble recovery touchdown, immediately bringing juice to the home sideline.

“Odin came up big with that big hit,” Kendall said. “I think that really (started) us off on the right foot. I think that’s half the reason we won the game.”

Seattle Prep responded with a long kick return to start the offense on Snohomish’s 26, and it needed just six plays to tie it 7-7 midway through the first quarter. Snohomish regained the lead with a long touchdown drive, with sophomore Tripper Perkl bringing a 20-yard rush down to the two for Acosta to punch in. After taking nearly six minutes off the clock, Snohomish forced a Seattle Prep three-and-out to gain possession back entering the second quarter.

Snohomish grabbed a two-possession lead on a pivotal play to the end zone. Kendall hit senior Jack Rotondo for a 29-yard pass to the back right corner on third down, but Seattle Prep senior Sean McDowall emerged with the football after he wrestled Rotondo to the turf. After a long deliberation between the officials, the play was confirmed a touchdown. Seattle Prep blocked the ensuing extra point attempt to keep it 20-7, but Snohomish narrowly avoided an end-zone interception that would have kept the game tied.

The Snohomish defense nearly forced another fourth-down situation as the defensive front sent pressure on 3rd-and-13, but Harnetiaux found senior Ben Cunningham for a dump-off over the middle, and the receiver managed to slip through down the right sideline for a 66-yard touchdown that cut it to 20-14 with 8:57 left in the half.

The home offense kept rolling with an 11-play touchdown drive, ending with Perkl going in motion from right to left before Kendall hit him in the flat for a 10-yard touchdown. Seattle Prep converted another big third-down play on the next possession, with Harnetiaux hitting senior JD Rudolph for a 21-yard reception through contact to set its offense up in the red zone.

However, Wight came up big again as the junior and sophomore Henry Lane dropped Harnetiaux back for a 14-yard sack to make it 4th-and-goal from the 20, forcing Seattle Prep to settle for a field goal to make it 27-17 heading into halftime.

Snohomish coughed up its lead in the second half, going three-and-out on its first two drives, and Seattle Prep capitalized with touchdowns after each. The second punt was returned all the way to Snohomish’s 14, and senior Reilly Cahill scored on the next play to put the visitors ahead 31-27 with 6:57 left in the third.

Snohomish nearly faced another long fourth-down on its next drive, but Kendall found senior Luke Sage for a short completion before a rusher collapsed on him, and Sage rumbled for a 32-yard gain to bring the ball to the three. Sage rushed it in on the next play, and Snohomish pulled back ahead 34-31.

“Whenever something happens or it’s not right, we always say, ‘Get the next play, get the next one,’” Sage said. “And I mean, I think that showed a lot in just how we play and stuff. Yeah, they popped a couple on us, but we kept coming back and shut them down, and it’s just Panther football.”

The defense strapped down to force a Seattle Prep punt, aided by a massive open-space tackle from senior Kason Bringedahl, and Kendall found Rotondo for another score, this time a 13-yard completion to extend the lead to 41-31 with 10:12 left in the game.

Once again, Seattle Prep cut it to a three-point deficit with a 20-yard catch-and-run from Cunningham, but Acosta torched the defense for back-to-back runs of 49 and 29 yards, respectively, with the latter taking him to the end zone to make it 48-38.

“The cutback lanes were open. Our line does an amazing job opening holes,” Acosta said. “I couldn’t ask for anything better. Whole team, everything contributes. The pass game opens the run game, the run game opens pass game. We just continue moving the ball.”

Booth ran back his pick-six on the following drive, and Seattle Prep did not score again until the clock hit 0:00, putting the final score at 55-44. While the two teams combined for just shy of 100 points, it was Snohomish’s big defensive plays that ultimately made the difference.

A difference that makes the Snohomish teams of recent years feel like a distant memory.

“We talk about not putting emotion into a lot of things, and staying steadfast, and just kind of trusting our execution,” Solbakken said. “… It becomes normal for us to be able to respond in those types of ways. (Seattle Prep) is a good team. They got good players. They got good coaches, and we always have to remember that. We stay humble in that, but we also have to remember we’re a good team, too.”