Peninsula football’s season ends in 3A state tournament opening round against Mount Spokane

Peninsula’s three-year streak of appearing in the state quarterfinals is no more.

After riding eight straight victories to the round of 16 with a 3A SSC league title under their belt, the Seahawks were stifled by the Mount Spokane Wildcats in a 35-10 defeat.

“We just really got out of our rhythm offensively,” said coach Ross Filkins. “We weren’t able to establish our run and our passing game.”

When Peninsula reached the red zone throughout the contest — where the Seahawks had been efficient all year long — the offense stalled, and the team couldn’t capitalize on its drives.

And when Mount Spokane possessed the ball, the Seahawks couldn’t stop Wildcats running back Kannon Katzer on third down, who simply refused to go down. Katzer had a monster outing, rushing 39 times for 303 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

“Over time, that becomes a root canal without novocaine,” Filkins said. “I’ll tell you what — they’ve got a special running back. That kid… you’ve got to tip your hat to him.”

Though Mount Spokane will be the team moving on to face top-ranked O’Dea, Filkins showed immense pride for his team in the face of defeat.

“I’m just so proud of this team and how far they’ve come from week one,” Filkins said. “This year was amazing in that we never took a single day off. Our kids practice hard every time we hit the field and we get better. We grew as a program and had great results.”

There’s a lot to look forward for the Peninsula football program. Half of the team’s starters are returning, and the team will look to reach a game they find themselves more often than not — the state quarterfinals.

“There was absolutely no quit in our kids,” Filkins said. “They came back strong and converted an onside kick and gave themselves a chance to get right back in the game. … We really showed a lot of heart.”

DEFENDING 3A CHAMP GIG HARBOR SOCCER STUNNED IN OPENING ROUND

Across town, the girls soccer team at Gig Harbor failed to reach their respective state quarterfinal match after losing to the Roosevelt Rough Riders in the opening round.

It was a stunning loss for the Tides, who hadn’t lost a match since an out-of-league contest with Union on Sept. 14.

Following that opening loss, Gig Harbor would go on to finish their regular season 17-0-1, allowing just 9 goals during those 18 matches and netting 79.

Gig Harbor ended regulation tied 3-3 with Roosevelt, but lost star Alyssa Gray for the overtime periods and neither team managed to score, sending the game to penalty kicks. Roosevelt edged out Gig Harbor on PK’s to come away with the win.

PENINSULA VOLLEYBALL FINISHES RUNNER-UP AT 3A DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Peninsula’s road to the Yakima SunDome is paved and ready for operation.

The Seahawks volleyball team capped off a 14-4 regular season with a second place finish in the West Central District III tournament, losing to 3A SSC champion Capital in the final but securing the district’s No. 2 seed in the state tournament in Yakima.

Peninsula faces Arlington Friday morning at the Yakima Valley SunDome in the opening round. With a win, the team would head to a state quarterfinal match Friday evening.

A loss would put the Seahawks in the consolation ladder, where teams begin competing for the 7th and 8th place positions.

GIG HARBOR VOLLEYBALL ALSO HEADED TO STATE

Though Peninsula volleyball finished second in the league (and second at the district tournament), Gig Harbor isn’t far behind.

Actually, they’re close enough to be considered tailgating.

After the Tides volleyball team finished third in the 3A SSC, they defeated Central Kitsap in a third-place match at the district tournament to lock up the No. 3 seed in the state tournament at the SunDome.

They’ll play alongside Peninsula under the same roof Friday morning to face Snohomish, where a win would propel Gig Harbor to the state quarterfinals.

This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 6:00 AM.