SNOHOMISH — Max Bridges shot out like a cannon.

By the time the ball reached the Snohomish punter’s hands, so did the Glacier Peak defensive lineman. Bridges got his arms up to block the punt, and senior Reece Rondeau recovered it just 18 yards from the end zone. After forcing a turnover on the previous drive, Glacier Peak had to settle for a field goal. It did not want to waste another opportunity.

Two plays later, quarterback Oliver Setterberg found tight end Zach Albright in the back of the end zone to give Glacier Peak a 10-0 lead just eight minutes into the first quarter. After scoring another touchdown off a takeaway to go up by three possessions, the Grizzlies (1-1) cruised to a 38-21 win against the Panthers (1-1) at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday, remaining undefeated in their crosstown rivalry (15-0) and retaining the Dick Armstrong Cup.

“It’s a big thing,” Bridges said. “I mean, Snohomish will always be the little brother.”

Bridges certainly tormented the Panthers like an older sibling, making plays all over the field. In addition to the punt block, the star senior registered a sack, multiple tackles for loss and created even more disruption that wouldn’t show on the stat sheet. On offense, he gained 49 scrimmage yards and scored two touchdowns — one on the ground and the other through the air.

“Anytime a guy can play defensive tackle and wide receiver in the same game, it’s unbelievable — and running back,” Glacier Peak coach Shane Keck said, nearly forgetting all the utilities his human Swiss Army Knife affords him. “He’s a stud, and even a better kid. And some college is going to get super lucky when they finally pull the trigger on him.”

Aside from Bridges, senior Matthew Kowalski racked up 179 receiving yards and a touchdown on eight receptions, and Setterberg went 14-for-21 with 254 passing yards and three scores. The two had trouble connecting in the early going, with a third-down shot to the end zone falling out of Kowalski’s hands on the opening drive. However, the two quickly got in sync to total three completions over 25 yards, with plenty coming from Kowalski after the catch.

“I think just talking on the sideline about what we see,” Kowalski said about overcoming the early incompletions. “And like knowing that maybe the deep shot isn’t going to be there all the time, but taking the short stuff and getting yards after that is bigger.”

For Snohomish, junior Bryson Acosta ran rampant behind a strong offensive line, totaling 123 yards on 19 carries, but after their first three possessions ended with two interceptions, a blocked punt and a 17-0 deficit, it proved too much for the Panthers to overcome.

“It makes it really hard,” Snohomish coach Eric Solbakken said. “There’s part of the whole thing where I just feel like I could have done a better job myself. It’s hard to say out loud, but I think it’s a thing. But got to give a lot of credit to Glacier Peak, too, and yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of things we could have done better, but I think they had a good plan. It’s going to get us better for the coming games.”

Solbakken could not quite put his finger on what he felt he could do better — something he’ll ultimately determine after going through film — but one thing he won’t have to worry much about is the run game.

The Panthers started off strong with Acosta ripping off three runs between 9-13 yards, but a pass to senior Blake Kendall popped off his hands and into Glacier Peak junior Kingston Carrara’s to stall their momentum. The Snohomish defense held the Grizzlies to a field goal, but after the Bridges punt block on the ensuing drive, it fell behind 10-0 with the Albright touchdown, an eight-yard reception.

Acosta revived the Panthers offense with efficient running behind great blocking, but another interception — this time from junior Jette Brooks — halted momentum yet again. Snohomish held Glacier Peak to what would have been a three-and-out, but a late hit on Setterberg’s third-down scramble gave the Grizzlies new life, and they ended the drive with a 17-yard touchdown to Kowalski, who spun around a defender before rolling down the left sideline to make it 17-0 with 9:59 left in the half.

Leaning on Acosta once again, the Panthers finally held onto the football, and sophomore quarterback Nate Kendall (247 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions) hit sophomore Cody Atkins after faking the hand-off to Acosta and rolling out for a 17-yard pass to the corner of the end zone with 3:54 left in the half.

Glacier Peak responded with a seven-play touchdown drive in just 2:44. Kowalski hauled in a 36-yard reception to get the Grizzlies inside the 10, and Bridges needed two rushes to get to the end zone for a 24-7 lead. Bridges recorded an 11-yard sack on the next Snohomish possession, which led to a punt to end the half.

“It was a team effort,” Bridges said. “I couldn’t have done it without the team, so I mean, that’s the big thing.”

Receiving the second-half kickoff, the Grizzlies put the game out of reach when junior Alan Van Wyk found an opening down the left sideline and scampered for a 30-yard rushing touchdown.

“That was a big-time run, man,” Keck said. “When that thing popped open, we felt like, ‘Okay, we got them. They’re on their heels a little bit,’ and so we thought that was pretty cool.”

Glacier Peak extended the lead to 38-7 early in the fourth quarter when a 15-yard scramble from Setterberg set up a 24-yard touchdown pass to Bridges. From there, the second-unit entered the game, but Snohomish refused to relent.

Eager to close the massive deficit, Kendall aired out the ball with a 63-yard touchdown pass to junior Dakota Booth, who hauled in a 54-yard reception on the next drive right before Kendall hit Atkins for a 28-yard score. After converting the two-point conversion, the Panthers cut it to 38-21.

“What you’ll learn about us is that we’re definitely not going to go down without throwing our punches,” Solbakken said. “It’s hard when you can’t mix a fair amount of runs in, and we got to take our shots, and when they’re playing split-safety and playing 20 big yards back, still gaining chunk yards is huge. So really proud of our guys for keep throwing the punches back when we were knocked down a couple times.”

After recovering two onside kick attempts in the fourth quarter, Glacier Peak was able to run out the clock for a game that lasted over three hours. The Panthers honored their 1976 and ’78 state championship teams during halftime, but it was the Grizzlies that established their dominance between the two programs.

“This game is super personal to us,” Kowalski said. “Obviously we have a bunch of kids from Snohomish. The game’s even more personal for them. So just playing for everyone, playing for our brothers, keeping the legacy alive and just winning when we need to win.”