Juanita rolls past Lindbergh, 46-10

KIRKLAND — Juanita High School is known for its festive fireworks display at halftime of each season's homecoming game. Friday night in a nonleague game against Lindbergh, the fireworks in the sky had nothing on the Rebels' first-half explosion on the field.

What began as a battle of 3-0 squads quickly turned into a one-sided affair, as Juanita outscored Lindbergh 33-0 in the second quarter on its way to an easy 46-10 victory. By halftime, the KingCo 3A Rebels had amassed 310 yards of offense and had more touchdowns (six) than Lindbergh had players touch the ball (five). It was an outcome neither team expected.

"We were very concerned with this game," Juanita coach Shaun Tarantola said of facing the Eagles, who were undefeated to start the season under first-year coach Pat O'Grady and fresh off a big Seamount League win over Renton last week. "I think our guys just played at a level they hadn't played at yet. We played with a lot of energy from the very start."

After falling behind by a field goal early in the first quarter, Juanita (4-0) reached the end zone seven straight times and readied itself for a showdown at No. 3 Liberty next Friday. The Rebels are ranked No. 9 and will aim to stay atop the league standings.

"We've got something special going," Tarantola told his team after the game. "We don't want this to end."

Offensively, Juanita rushed for 302 yards. Jeremiah Laufasa and Alex Minerich combined for 153 yards and two scores in the first half. Andre Casino scored a couple of touchdowns for the Rebels, while Cole Graves and Sean Muong had a score each.

Juanita, a program with just two winning seasons in the last 10 years, has used a string of strong starts to blow out the competition early. The Rebels have waylaid opponents 89-19 in the first half this season, including 61-7 in the second quarter.

Lindbergh (3-1) forced a punt to start the game and grabbed a 3-0 lead on a 23-yard field goal by Derrick Holt. Graves then ignited the Rebels' cause with a 5-yard scoring run, and Derek Kaufman made it 12-3 with a 10-yard pass to Kris Otterholt.

When the smoke cleared on Juanita's first-half display, the real fireworks began.

"We try to make the first impression every game," said Graves, a senior running back. "That's one of our team goals this year — to get off to a fast start — and so far that's exactly what we've done."