A 28-18 loss at King’s Friday, Nov. 1, denied the South Whidbey High School football team a slice of the North Sound Conference championship, dropping the Falcons to third in the final league standings.

South Whidbey (2-2, 6-3) advances to the district playoffs and faces the state’s fourth-ranked 1A team Mount Baker (8-1) at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, in a loser-out game at Sedro-Woolley High School.

Mount Baker tied Lynden Christian for first in the 1A division of the Northwest Conference.

King’s (3-1, 4-5), which started the season 0-4, rebounded to tie Cedar Park Christian (3-1, 7-2) for first in the North Sound Conference.

The Knights also rebounded in their win over South Whidbey.

The Falcons jumped to a 12-3 lead and led 18-13 at halftime.

King’s tacked on two touchdowns in the second half while blanking the Falcons.

Bodie Hezel put South Whidbey on the board first with a 14-yard run in the first quarter. The PAT kick failed.

After a King’s field goal, Billy Rankin raced 21-yards for another Falcon first-quarter TD. The run for the extra points came up short.

King’s took the lead, 13-12, with a touchdown and field goal in the second quarter, then South Whidbey regained the advantage on a 21-yard TD run by Hezel.

The Knights scored in each of the final two quarters to secure the win.

Hezel piled up 158 yards rushing on 22 carries, and Rankin added 97 on seven runs.