Eighth-ranked Peninsula made the last big play, getting an interception from Alex Weymiller as time expired to defeat Bonney Lake 48–45 in a wild South Puget Sound League 3A game at Sumner's Sunset Chev Stadium.
The Seahawks (5–1 overall, 1–1 SPSL) seemed to have the game in hand after defensive lineman Robert Gallucci returned a botched backwards pass for a touchdown with a little over a minute to play.
But Bonney Lake (4–2, 0–2) came right back down the field and scored on Chris Brown's fifth touchdown pass of the night, an 11-yarder to Kaleb Zahnow.
The Panthers recovered the ensuing onside kick and had the ball in Seahawks territory with 29 seconds left. Peninsula then forced two incompletions before Weymiller's timely interception near the goal line.
Peninsula's Danny Welstad ran for 300 yards and four scores on 33 carries. Austin Filkins hit Weymiller on a 10-yard pass that gave Peninsula a 41–37 lead in the fourth.
Brown completed 36 of 62 passes for 436 yards. Bonney Lake's Zach Zaragoza caught 13 passes for 222 yards, and Zahnow had 17 catches for 170 yards.
Peninsula blew a 21–0 lead but fought back from a 31–21 deficit in the third quarter.
"We found that heart on every Tuesday of the last nine months, " Seahawks coach Ross Filkins said of his team's perseverance. "It's called 'Mentally Tough Tuesday, ' and we certainly needed all that gas in the tank tonight."
SPSL SOUTH
Federal Way 45, at Beamer 0: No D.J. May, no problem at all for the No. 8 Eagles, who road their defense two a pair of touchdowns and two safeties in a victory at Memorial Stadium.
D'Londo Tucker got it going for Federal Way with his 35-yard interception return in the first quarter.
The Titans were held to minus-20 yards rushing.
NARROWS 4A
Bellarmine Prep 38, at South Kitsap 21: For all the offense created – the teams combined for 711 total yards – it was Lou Millie's 27-yard interception return midway through the fourth quarter that sewed up the third-ranked Lions' victory in Port Orchard.
The Wolves cut it to 24–21 on Eddie Meisner's 41-yard touchdown strike to Devon Newquist before the Lions scored twice to end the game.
Olympia 55, at Stadium 10: The No. 6 Bears are rolling into October – a good time to get ready for its showdown in two weeks at Bellarmine Prep.
Nate Slosson scored three touchdowns – two catching and another one rushing – and the first-string defense did not allow a Tigers touchdown at Stadium Bowl.
At Mount Tahoma 47, Shelton 13: The Thunderbirds' speed was too much to handle as they had four scoring plays of 40 yards or longer in a victory at Mount Tahoma Stadium.
Rondie Pate rushed for a career-high 298 yards, and had first-quarter touchdown runs of 24 and 70 yards.
SPSL 2A
At White River 27, Fife 6: The defense carried the Hornets again, as they remained atop the league standings with a homecoming victory in Buckley.
Josh Miller converted on two short touchdown runs, but Eli Bickel had an interception, and Jesse Allen had a sack for White River.
At Clover Park 20, Eatonville 14 (OT): DeShaun Green rushed for 123 yards, including the game-winning 19-yard scoring scamper in overtime as the Warriors won their first game of the season.
The Warriors held on fourth-and-one on Eatonville's first drive of the extra session. The Cruisers also missed a 24-yard field goal in the final 70 seconds of regulation that would have won it.
NISQUALLY
At Cedar Park Christian 20, Cascade Christian 14: The Eagles stunned the four-time Nisqually League champion and third-ranked Cougars and handed them their first league loss since 2006.
NON LEAGUE
Curtis 20, at Auburn 17: The Trojans traveled from their own 10-yard line to the Curtis 35 with 90 seconds to go, but could not cash in for a come-from-behind victory at Memorial Stadium.
Darnall Hagans' 41-yard touchdown gallop cut the Vikings' lead to 20–17 with 6:41 remaining.
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Staff writers contributed to this report.
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