Puyallup QB Nathaniel Holcomb breaks 11-man football record with 10 TD passes in 77-60 win over South Kitsap

Puyallup High School quarterback Nathaniel Holcomb etched his place in state football history.

The senior threw 10 touchdown passes —an 11-man state high school football record — in Puyallup’s shootout of a victory, defeating South Kitsap, 77-60, on Friday at Kitsap Bank Stadium at South Kitsap High School.

The previous record was nine touchdowns. DeSales quarterback Brian Lindgren (1998) and Lincoln quarterback Jordan Kitna (2014) had both accomplished that. Holcomb tied the overall state record as three players — Lummi’s Andrew Jefferson (2005), Tri-Cities Prep’s Will Hoppes (2009) and Lacrosse-Washtucna’s Jake Aune (2011) — all had 10 touchdowns in eight-man games

Holcomb completed 33 of 53 passes for 451 yards. He now has 25 touchdown passes this season in four games and has 1,581 passing yards.

Puyallup receiver Tallon Yerbury caught five TD receptions — that was one shy of tying state 11-man record held by Peninsula’s Tom Owens (1986) and Rogers’ Kyler Ooley (2014).

South Kitsap’s defense entered allowing 60 points per game.

It got worse Friday.

Both teams got out of the gate fast as the Vikings (3-1, 3-1 SPSL 4A) struck first with Holcomb finding sophomore wide receiver Darius Morrison for an 18-yard score, then senior wideout Tallon Yerbury for a 36-yard strike.

But South Kitsap (0-4, 0-3 league) countered with two big plays, as junior quarterback Garrison Glisson took advantage of a mismatch in the secondary to find senior wideout Izaijah Byrd wide open for scores of 72 and 75 yards.

Glisson threw six touchdown passes.

The Wolves changed their coverage in the second quarter and it paid off with Jimmy Olmstead, Conner Seaton and Torre DiGiovanni, picking off three different Holcomb passes to end Viking drives. But the Wolves missed out on some opportunities when they couldn't convert on two different fourth downs with South inside Puyallup territory. South Kitsap also had trouble converting two different two-point conversion plays and turned the ball over on downs at the one-yard line.

Even when Puyallup gave South Kitsap an untimed down at the end of the half with a defensive holding penalty, Glisson couldn't handle a bad snap.

The points left on the field in the first half proved costly over the final two quarters in a game that lasted 3 hours and 15 minutes.

In the third quarter, Puyallup got some pressure on Glisson to sack him and end the Wolves' first two drives. The Vikings also took advantage of two bad South Kitsap punts to start drives deep in Wolves territory. Holcomb took care of the rest with passes to Yerbury for scores of 5 and 39 yards. After another bad punt by the Wolves, Puyallup junior running back Nolan Martinez ran it in from two yards out to give the Vikings a 20-point lead they would not relinquish

"We turned over three short fields to our defense there in the third quarter to deal with," South Kitsap coach Gavin Kralik said. "We're not consistent. Those three-and-outs to start the third quarter (hurt us). We made different mistakes on offense with missed assignments and execution and you can't do that."

Glisson finished with 341 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown. Byrd had 185 receiving yards while Dajshon Keel had 108 yards.

This story was originally published September 24, 2016 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Puyallup QB Nathaniel Holcomb breaks 11-man football record with 10 TD passes in 77-60 win over South Kitsap."