5 takeaways from Peninsula’s 36-12 Fish Bowl win over Gig Harbor
Peninsula beat Gig Harbor in the annual Fish Bowl crosstown rivalry game between the schools, 36-12 on Friday night at Roy Anderson Field. It was Peninsula’s fifth consecutive win in the series. Here are five takeaways from the Seahawks’ win in the season opener.
IT WAS QUIET
The Fish Bowl normally packs thousands of fans into Roy Anderson Field, lined all the way around the track of the field. Fans arrive hours before kickoff to pregame in parking lots. The past few years have even drawn multiple food trucks. But like everything this year, it looked a lot different because of the coronavirus pandemic. No fans sat in the stands. The silence total was strange.
“Fish Bowl, it’s such a big tradition in this town,” said senior running back Landon Sims. “Rival versus rival. The noise, it’s definitely weird. Usually, we have fans storming the field. Our senior class, it sucks that they can’t be there. I think we stepped up to the challenge.”
Longtime Peninsula coach Ross Filkins has coached plenty of Fish Bowls. He’ll never forget this one.
“It was so strange,” Filkins said. “We’re used to five or six thousand people here. We’re used to communication issues and practicing with hand signals. It was just so strange. We had momentum going but it doesn’t quite feel like it because it’s just kind of like we’re in a vacuum. But I think we adapted and the players did a good job making their own momentum.”
PENINSULA’S RUNNING BACK DUO IS TOUGH
Eastern Washington signee Sean Skladany and senior Landon Sims form one of the area’s best running back tandems this year. They’re both fast, physical and run hard. To have two players of that caliber is a luxury for Filkins.
“To have two 6-foot-3 running backs is definitely uncommon, especially in high school football,” Sims said. “But I love to have him there on my right side. I’m thankful to have him and I know he’s thankful to have me. We work in unison.”
Sims rushed for 88 yards and three touchdowns in the win, while Skladany rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown.
“They’re tough,” Filkins said. “Running downhill, strong, physical. And both of them can run by you, too, if you give them a crease. So we’re really blessed to have two backs like that right now.”
SEAHAWKS DEFENSE IS AS STRONG AS THEIR OFFENSE
For most of the game, Peninsula completely shut down anything Gig Harbor tried to do. Peninsula held Gig Harbor under 100 yards passing and under 50 yards rushing for the contest.
“When they tried to pass it, they didn’t really have anything there,” said corner Bryce Cleave, who also ran back a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half. “Our defensive backs just kept everything locked down. Then in the trenches, we’re going to win in the trenches. We’re going to win every game in the trenches and our big guys just did that.”
Filkins said he was pleased with the defensive effort.
“I thought we played very good defense throughout,” Filkins said. “We had a couple breakdowns. I feel really good about the goal line stands and big plays.”
5 IN A ROW
That’s five consecutive Fish Bowl wins for the Seahawks, who have dominated the rivalry of late.
“It’s a mouthful: Back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back,” Sims said. “It’s definitely good to hold that trophy another time, close out a perfect four-year win streak, freshman to senior year. It feels great just beating those guys over and over again.”
Cleave said the Seahawks take a lot of pride in winning the rivalry game.
“I wouldn’t know what it’d be like to lose,” he said. “It feels great.”
WORK TO DO FOR GIG HARBOR
It wasn’t Gig Harbor’s best showing, with Peninsula stifling the Gig Harbor offense and running for chunks of yardage on the Gig Harbor defense. But Peninsula is one of the league’s top teams, and this Gig Harbor team still figures to have a solid season.
New quarterback Payton Knowles showed some promise, flashing an elusiveness that should lead to some big plays this season for the Tides. If he connected with receivers on a couple deep passes, it could have been a bigger night for Gig Harbor. The Tides will need to win the battle up front to have more success against other opponents in the Class 4A SPSL.
This story was originally published February 19, 2021 at 11:12 PM with the headline "5 takeaways from Peninsula’s 36-12 Fish Bowl win over Gig Harbor."
