Vashon’s football Pirates were defeated 38-14 by a much larger school, the 3A Bainbridge Spartans, last Friday in the second of three pre-season non-conference matches.VHS gridders in tough preparation for the season But the Pirates, despite what the score suggests, did not make it easy for the Spartans. Bainbridge took the first kickoff at the 25 where it rolled out of bounds, and Vashon held them pretty well for eight downs and eight minutes with fine defensive plays and gang tackling. But the Spartans broke loose on a second and 11 from the 32 for a running touchdown. With a successful PAT, the Spartans took the lead at 7-0. Both teams’ defenses did well until near the end of the first period, when the Spartans came up with another successful run to bring the score to 14-0. Before the touchdown, Michael Stoffer had a big quarterback sack, and Kyle Martin stopped a Bainbridge run on fourth and 17 from the 48. After Vashon started the second quarter with a four and out, the Spartans took off after the Vashon punt with a mix of running and accurate passing to get into the end zone again, making the score 21-0. Vashon took over on the kickoff, with quarterback Quinn Holert completing a third and 27 pass to Jeff Rauma for a first down. Alex Sohl followed with a couple of good runs, and Stoffer got off a great punt, which was downed on the Spartan 1-yard line. In the third quarter, the Pirates took over at their 47. Stoffer and Nathan Betz running brought the home team to the 24, followed by a first and 10 at the Spartan 10. Holert then threw to Stoffer for the Pirates’ first score. The PAT was good, and the score was Bainbridge 21, Vashon 7, with 6:47 on the clock. Vashon followed with a failed onside kick, so the Spartans started out at their own 38, with the Pirates keeping them out of the end zone with excellent defense, including a fine tackle by Jake Theno. Bainbridge did succeed on a field goal, making the score 24-7, followed later in the period by a second Bainbridge field goal.The final score was 31-7. The game ended with a Bainbridge interception that led to their final touchdown; Vashon finished with an exciting drive featuring Betz’s run into the end zone. Coach Clay Eastly was upbeat about the game despite the disparity in the score. He has chosen, he said, three pre-Nisqually League season games with high-level teams, including next week’s against Lakeside. Eastly added that Vashon has one of the toughest pre-season schedules in the state: the goal is to prepare the team for reaching its ultimate aim: to be the first Vashon team to get into the playoffs, which Eastly says can happen this year. Of Bainbridge, Eastly said, “We gave them a run for their money. I think that if we hadn’t had two injured starters, Andy Didrickson and Kyle York, we could have stayed with them.” Eastly explained that missing those two players had a domino effect, with other players having to fill in at unfamiliar positions such as linebacker, which was filled by a player who had never played the position before. But as the Vashon Pirate Youth Football league feeds more players into the high school system, the Pirates may actually be able to have more depth at all positions, which would allow the team to compete more successfully at the highest level, Eastly said.