Football roundup: New season, new start – and Stadium making September statement in 3A PCL
It might be time to start taking the Stadium High School Tigers a little more seriously in 2016.
Jamon Chambers rushed for 237 yards and four touchdowns, and the Tigers crunched Mount Tahoma, 59-8, at Stadium Bowl on Friday night.
And look, it’s the end of September — and Stadium has a share of the 3A PCL lead with Lincoln and Bonney Lake.
And the Tigers keep piling up points, averaging 54.0 points in their three victories.
“I think the performances so far have spoken for themselves,” Stadium coach Thomas Ford said. “We are a team that wants to make a statement. We have a program that is building.”
Mount Tahoma’s Ira Branch took the opening kickoff of the game back 94 yards for the game’s first touchdown.
But the Thunderbirds also had three first-quarter turnovers, in which Stadium capitalized on each one with a touchdown.
And Chambers’ 5-yard scoring scamper on the first play of the second quarter gave Stadium a 28-6 lead with 11:56 remaining before halftime.
Stadium’s Hunter Wendling also tossed three TD passes, including two in the final eight minutes of the first half.
The first one was a 13-yard strike to Xavier Mason, and the final one was a 6-yard touchdown to Tyler Oliver with 1:50 to go before halftime.
The Tigers have already matched their win total from last season. The last time the team won four games in a season was 2010 when it went 4-6. Stadium plays at Bonney Lake next week.
“We cannot compete with the past … and we are not looking at history, we are looking at 2016,” Ford said. “(Contending for a 3A PCL title) would be extremely exciting. That is what we’ve wanted to do when we got this sophomore class two years ago.”
4A SPSL
Puyallup 77, at South Kitsap 60: It was a record-setting night for Nathaniel Holcomb and the Vikings, who survived in Port Orchard.
Puyallup scored 11 touchdowns in the game. Ten came from Holcomb, who set the state 11-man single-game record for touchdown passes, breaking the old mark of nine, shared by DeSales’ Brian Lindgren (1991) and Lincoln’s Jordan Kitna (2014).
Tallon Yerbury caught the record-breaking score in the fourth quarter for the Vikings.
Holcomb finished 33-for-53 for 451 yards.
No. 10 Olympia 42, at Curtis 23: Scott Gunther had another big game — 30 carries, 219 yards and four touchdowns, but it was a few other contributors who brought the Bears back at Viking Stadium in University Place.
Trailing 17-7, Olympia got a 55-yard touchdown scamper from Owen Shea midway through the second quarter.
And with 34 seconds to go, the Bears took a 21-17 lead on Ketner Young’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Corbin Hartsock.
Gunther closed the deal with a pair of fourth-quarter scoring runs of 20 and 35 yards.
4A NPSL
Auburn Mountainview 34, Auburn Riverside 20: Britner Wilson scored three touchdowns to lead the Lions (3-0, 3-2) to victory.
Britner Wilson scored a 13-yard run early in the first quarter. Michel Kramer scooped and scored a 50-yard fumble recover for a touchdown. The Lions led 14-3.
The Ravens (1-2, 2-3) answered with a pair of touchdowns Tiano Mallietufa was responsible for. Mallietufa connected with Isiah Prescott on a 10 yard pass. Later, the quarterback took it himself and scored a 4-yard rushing touchdown.
Wilson took over for the Ravens, scoring a 6-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Wilson scored again, this time a 26-yard run in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
3A SSC
No. 7 Peninsula 42, at Shelton 0: Kenny Easton reeled off touchdown runs of 80 and 87 yards in the first half and finished with 270 rushing yards as the Seahawks remained undefeated by knocking off the Highclimbers.
Easton, a senior running back, finished with 270 rushing yards on 17 carries for Peninsula (4-0, 2-0 SSC).
At Gig Harbor 37, Yelm 29: Martin Brazier rushed for a career-high 194 yards, and Ben Hollenbeck chipped in with another 140 as the Tides held off the Tornados at Roy Anderson Field in Purdy.
Brazier’s 56-yard touchdown gallop in the third quarter gave Gig Harbor a 30-7 lead before Brandon Thompson (137 rushing yards, two TDs) and Yelm rallied.
2A SPSL
No. 9 Franklin Pierce 37, at White River 12: Willie Patterson threw three touchdown passes, including two to Mason Starling, and the Cardinals rolled in a Mountain Division game in Buckley.
Fife 46, at Lindbergh 20: Wes Nixon had a big night — 115 receiving yards and 105 rushing yards — and the Trojans broke out to a 19-0 lead and never looked back in a Mountain Division victory at Renton Stadium.
At Orting 48, Highline 16: The Cardinals amassed 307 rushing yards and cruised to a South Division victory at Orting Stadium.
The Orting defense limited the Pirates to minus-8 rushing yards.
NONLEAGUE
At Charles Wright Academy 23, Coupeville 20: Henry Lenaburg threw two third-quarter touchdown passes to erase a halftime deficit, and the Tarriers gave new coach Brian Burdick his first home victory in University Place.
Interlake 42, at Clover Park 19: Naoki Harmer picked off a Derrick McWilliams’ pass and returned it 63 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 45 seconds to go in the first half, and the Saints won at Harry E. Lang Stadium.
At Chief Leschi 40, Winlock 35: Hea Baker fired the game-winning 19-yard touchdown pass to Chris Whitford with 2.5 seconds remaining, and the Warriors snapped a 14-game losing streak.
This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 11:57 PM with the headline "Football roundup: New season, new start – and Stadium making September statement in 3A PCL."