Invoking their literary forebearers David, the Marysville-Pilchuck girls soccer team slayed a giant of the Western Conference, defeating last year’s co-league champions Lake Stevens 3-2 in overtime Tuesday night.

Two girls who got their first varsity nod this year led the charge, with sophomore midfielder Lauren Noltes scoring the Tomahawks’ first goal in the second half, cutting into a 2-0 Lake Stevens lead. Junior forward Shannon Monson forced overtime with a tying goal with less than six minutes remaining in the game. In overtime, it was Noltes with another goal, giving the Tommies a clutch win and the favored Vikings an early loss.

Another nice win went to Lakewood, who defeated always-strong Burlington-Edison 2-1 the same night. Congrats, girls!

I guess Marysville-Pilchuck coach Jaci Legore Hodgins wasn’t kidding around when she said she expected to change the high school record board a lot this year.

The girls hosted a Wesco jamboree Sept. 8 — a meet in which no scores are kept and teams compete in unconventional relays that won’t be a part of any league meet. Nonetheless, two Marysville girls managed to have state-qualifying times at the very earliest opportunity.

“Both of the swims were leadoff legs under direction of a starter, so they do count for state,” said Randy LeValley, statistical guru and dad of two Marysville swimmers (son Trevor graduated last year) who often helps coordinate meets and tracks times.

His daughter, junior Jewel LeValley, swam a state-qualifying time for the 200 freestyle, an event she wild-carded into last year. She swam a 1:59.36 first leg of the 800 freestyle relay.

Taking down a record and also qualifying for state was freshman Hannah Taylor in the 100 freestyle, swimming the first part of the 300 freestyle relay. She broke a record set 11 years ago by Emily Hutson, who came to Marysville-Pilchuck in similar record-setting fashion as a freshman phenom.

Although the girls host Sehome tonight in their first home dual meet of the season, Legore Hodgins is cautioning against expecting pyrotechnics. The team is still planning to build up to a strong finish rather than burning out early.

“Everything is way cool. We start with a bang,” she said.

For the second week in a row, Marysville-Pilchuck is one half of a potential game of the week. Q13 has the Tomahawks vs. Snohomish as one of six extremely promising sounding options:

• Auburn vs. Kentwood
• Marysville-Pilchuck vs. Snohomish
• Archbishop Murphy vs. Eastside Catholic
• Issaquah vs. Mount Si
• Ferndale vs. Shorecrest
• Liberty vs. Woodinville

Click on Marysville’s game for a link to the Q13 poll (on the lower right side of the page). Vote early, vote often!

I heard a lot of talk in advance, but without repeating some of it myself I can take no credit.

1. Marysville-Pilchuck has another great offensive line.
I haven’t seen it with my own eyes yet, but the numbers from last night’s game speak for themselves. The Tomahawks produced 386 yards rushing against Shorecrest, with senior running back Austin Denton responsible for 236 of those. “He had some good blocking up front and made a couple of plays on his own,” said coach Brandon Carson.

2. Lakewood wide receiver Brandon Stott would be a playmaker this fall.
Just a week into his career at Lakewood High School, football fans are finding out about Stott. At practice, an assistant coach said the receiver had good hands and was a smart football player. Against Lakeside, the previously unknown Stott caught three touchdown passes from quarterback Justin Lane and totaled 125 yards.

3. Glacier Peak would defeat Arlington by one point in overtime.
Credit where it’s due, Herald prep reporter Mike Cane predicted the Grizzlies would be the one-point victor in overtime. To do so, Arlington would need to miss an extra point on a touchdown. Sure enough, Glacier Peak blocked Brandon Pierce’s point after attempt and the home team found the end zone, covering their own extra point for the win. Final: 52-51.

Marysville-Pilchuck will visit Snohomish this Friday, kicking off their league calendar. Arlington will play the second of three non-conference games when they host Lynnwood. Lakewood opens their home schedule as they host non-conference opponent Lynden Christian.

With classes starting all over the area, I thought I might have missed the departure of Globe and Times sports intern Akaash Saini, who is packing his bags for New York City, where he’ll be participating in a one-year, hands-on digital broadcasting curriculum offered in conjunction with NBC.

Luckily, he doesn’t leave until next week and stopped by to visit.

Akaash worked at the Globe and Times for a year, starting last summer before his senior year, using the experience for the senior project required of students at Lakewood High. He graduated this spring, apparently undaunted in his journalistic aspirations by the experience of writing sports stories on a weekly basis.

A few of his stories that are my favorites:
Grace Academy track team packs a punch at state
Lakewood golfer putts her way to place at state tournament

… and a favorite photo for sure:
Lakewood prevails against conference leader King’s

Thanks for your hard work and good luck in New York!

Your season opening games are both under consideration by Seattle media for their games of the week.

KIRO 7 has an open poll for fans to pick their game of the week from the following:

• Meadowdale vs. Edmonds-Woodway
• Mount Si vs. Eastlake
• Marysville-Pilchuck vs. Shorecrest

Q13 has a few more games to pick from, with the highest vote-earner getting covered:

• Gig Harbor at Olympia
• Bethel at Rogers
• River Ridge at Cedarcrest
• Mount Si at Eastlake
• Arlington at Glacier Peak
• Mariner at Lake Stevens

Click on the Arlington or Marysville-Pilchuck game for a link to the poll. Vote early and often!

Arlington defender Tre Pruitt picks up a fumble during practice Thursday, returning it for the touchdown signaled by defensive coordinator Judd Hunter.

Sophomore quarterback Blake McPherson hands the ball off to a teammate in practice.

Lining up at safety on defense, senior Jake Parduhn cuts off the sideline to assistant coach Davy Hudson, who fakes different plays for the defense to answer.

Marysville-Pilchuck wideouts grab passes as an assistant coach calls out routes.

Look for previews of the upcoming football season at The Marysville Globe and The Arlington Times. I’ll be heading back to Marysville’s practice this afternoon to talk with coach Brandon Carson.

Wide receiver Sam Johnston demonstrates an elbow jam during a warm-up drill on Lakewood football's first day of practice.

As the roughly 80 Lakewood football players lined up on the edge of the practice field for their first afternoon of fall football practice, I couldn’t help noticing how short many of the players were.

The reason? A huge turnout from the incoming freshman class.

Since head coach Dan Teeter took over the program four years ago, he has worked on building the Lakewood football program at the youth football level, getting himself and his team personally involved in teaching elements of the high school plan to local kids as young as 7.

The oldest kids from those teams are finally hitting high school age, and showing up in numbers. By my guess, about 2/3 of the team is either 14 or 15 years old. And at a smaller school like Lakewood, young talent can make an impact early in a player’s high school career. The team’s current starting quarterback took over the offense in his freshman year and several more players have the potential to share a little of the varsity spotlight this fall.

Check out my preview online or in the Aug. 26 edition of The Marysville Globe and The Arlington Times.

Tonight I’m heading out to Arlington and Highland Christian team practices.

While Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has stolen the show with his world-record performance in the 100-meter dash earlier this week at the IAAF World Championships, at least one American athlete in Berlin has ties to Marysville.

Former Tomahawk and Boise State discus thrower Jarred Rome qualified for the event finals Aug. 18, throwing 65.51 meters, or 214-9, for the second-best performance in his qualifying group and fourth overall.

Finals are in progress now, with live updates available at the IAAF Web site.

Former Marysville-Pilchuck and UW pitcher Nick Haughian is on a winning streak for his short season class A Aberdeen IronBirds.

Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the ninth round of the 2008 draft, the left-handed pitcher has won in his last five appearances (including four starts) for the Aberdeen, Md., team in the NY-Penn League, most recently a save for the team’s 9-3 win over Marlins-affiliated Jamestown Aug. 16.

Haughian started against the State College Spikes Aug. 5, pitching a no-hitter into the seventh inning, striking out four and allowing the one hit to pick up his fourth win of the season. In his fifth win Aug. 11 against Williamsport, he went 6 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and four unearned runs, striking out three.

In eight games, Haughian has pitched 61 1/3 innings, striking out 49 and allowing 52 hits and 21 runs.

The IronBirds are 25-31 in the NYP McNamara league and in the hunt for a wild card into the postseason. The team is a game and a half back from Hudson Valley.

Information about the Aberdeen IronBirds is available at their Web site. A breakdown of Haughian’s statistics is available through the Minor League Baseball Web site.