The Washington Patriots’ bus didn’t get to Pierce-Franklin Stadium until 55 minutes before the game.
The Patriots’ run defense never got off the bus.
Lokahi Kamau ran for three touchdowns, and the Sumner Spartans (5-1, 6-1 SPSL 2A) controlled the line of scrimmage from play one in a 31-12 victory over Washington (3-2, 4-3) to remain in first place in league.
“We wanted to limit the amount of snaps they had,” Spartans coach Keith Ross said. “They have a lot of explosive athletes on the offensive side of the ball, and we knew if we could limit the amount of chances we had that we had a great chance of winning the game.”
Sumner had no trouble finding the end zone on its first possession, highlighted by a 26-yard screen pass to DeJon Lynch and a 36-yard score from Kamau, who finished with 204 yards on the day. Two series later, Spartan quarterback Chase Torgison found a wide open Austin Gregg on a 29-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 with 10:08 left in the second quarter.
After the second of Kamau’s three scores, the Patriots did find the end zone on an impressive drive to end the half. Jordan Mezias capped the drive with touchdown pass to Justice Waite to make it 21-6 at halftime.
Washington opened the second half by marching to midfield. On the next play, a missed handoff by Mezias ended up in the hands of a Spartans defender. A 29-yard Jacob Richardson run made it 24-6.
A 3-yard Ramsey Davis run cut the lead to 12, but the Spartans’ run game proved too much. Sumner controlled the ball for 10 of the final quarter’s 12 minutes, and Kamau added his third touchdown from 14 yards out.
“There’s a reason that they’re the best team in the league,” Patriots coach Mike Von Rueden said. “We need to do a better job streamlining the play-calling, and we will learn from this loss and get better.”


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