LAKE STEVENS — Entering his first game as the starting quarterback for Lake Stevens, Blake Moser was riddled with nerves.

Why wouldn’t he be? Filling the shoes of Kolton Matson, Washington’s 2023 Gatorade Football Player of the Year and a two-time state champion with the Vikings, while making his first start against reigning 4A state champion Sumner on Sept. 5, the junior signal-caller didn’t need a barometer to understand the pressure he faced.

“Those first couple of drives, it was a different feeling,” Moser told The Herald at practice on Wednesday. “The moment was definitely eating me up.”

As much as coach Tom Tri wanted to ease him into the role, that really wasn’t an option. Tri knew Moser — who can throw a baseball in the mid-90s as a pitcher — had the athletic chops, but he could

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