Last Friday, the MIHS Islanders football team faced the Lincoln Lynx for the game of the 2025-26 season. Multiple pressing questions were heading into this game after last season’s end.

How would new head coach Victor Gamboa perform? How will first-time junior starter Dillon Carroll play? The game kicked off, and immediately the Islanders put points as a poor snap on a punt sailed out of the back of the end zone, resulting in an early 2-0 Islander lead. 

Later in the quarter, Carroll found sophomore Riley Anderson on a quick drag route for his first passing touchdown of the year. A 46-yard field goal by senior kicker Roman Hanlon ended the first half with a 12-0 lead for Mercer Island. The Islanders received the first kick of the second half and couldn’t muster up much. This forced Hanlon to punt the ball away to Lynx, pinning them deep in their own territory. Lincoln, who was inside their own 5-yard line, fumbled the snap and recovered it in their own endzone, producing another safety, making it 14-0. 

The fourth quarter came around, and after another Hanlon field goal, Caroll threw a 60-yard ball on a rope to Anderson, his second touchdown of the game, extending Mercer Island’s lead to 24-0. The final nail in the coffin was a rushing score by sophomore Kainoa Brown, sealing the final score of 30-6. It was an amazing game at the start of a new era in the jungle. Carroll looked extremely calm in the pocket and could see glimpses of elusiveness in his game. 

There were also a good number of underclassmen playing very well, with some players getting their first starts, including Anderson, sophomore Eli Stoffer, freshman Axel Avenstam and Brown, who did not receive a lot of playing time last year as a freshman. 

The future for the Islanders is blinding, and we’ll continue to see what this team has to offer on Friday in Tacoma versus Stadium High School at 7 p.m.