No. 7 Lincoln adjusts at halftime, capitalizes on turnovers to down Bethel

Nate Hughes’ return from a shoulder injury after five weeks brought a lot of hope to the Bethel High School football team entering its Class 3A Pierce County League finale against visiting Lincoln.

Hughes shook off the rust to pass for 261 yards and a touchdown, completing exactly half of his 36 passes. But, he also threw three interceptions and was sacked four times.

In the end, the seventh-ranked Abes (7-2) proved more versatile on offense, and took advantage of four Braves turnovers to secure a 36-16 win, and the No. 2 seed out of the 3A PCL on Friday night at Art Crate Field in Spanaway. Bethel (6-3) is the No. 3 seed.

The game lasted more than three hours due to frequent penalties, injuries and incomplete passes, combined with a long halftime.

The injuries were of the greatest concern to Abes’ coach Masaki Matsumoto, who was missing two starters against Bethel and saw two-way stadnout Mykel Campbell carted off after a big third quarter defensive hit.

“We’ve got to get healthy, that will be our focus going into the playoffs, taking care of our bodies” Matsumoto said.

Lincoln will host Prairie next week in the district playoffs, while Bethel will travel to Arlington.

“I’m feeling very bad for the teams that have to play us,” said Abes’ junior quarterback Caden Filer, who completed 19 of 32 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns.

“I guess we’re viewed as an underdog, which we love. ... We want people to keep doubting us and then do what we did here.”

What Lincoln did on Friday was survive a halftime deficit and four lead changes to pull away in the end.

Bethel scored the only points of the first quarter on a 27-yard field goal by Cameron Schweyen. That drive was kept alive on third-and-8 from the Braves’ 47-yard line when Puka Sokimi leaped to grab a Hughes pass between defenders for a 28-yard gain.

But, Lincoln took a 7-3 lead a minute into the second quarter when Filer found Romere Williams in the left corner of the end zone. The Abes had moved 58 yards on eight plays, fueled by a 16-yard gain on the first play when Division I prospect Julien Simon, filling it at running back, moved the pile of at least three tacklers forward from the line of scrimmage on.

When Sokimi left the Abes’ defense behind him just three minutes later, Hughes found him for a 32-yard score to give Bethel a 10-7 lead that held up into the third quarter.

“In the first half, they were doing some weird stuff,” Filer said. “Instead of having four down linemen, they were all standing and they’d stunt a lot. They were kind of freestyling so we needed to figure out how to attack it.”

The Abes attack picked up so well in the second half that 282 of their total 355 yards of offense came after intermission.

“We just weren’t blocking very well,” Matsumoto said.

Jayden Simon, a two-way starting lineman for the Abes, was not suited Friday night up after suffering a head injury last week against Lakes.

“We had a good idea what they were trying to do but we weren’t staying with blocks,” Matsumoto continued. “Credit to them for being aggressive, but we figured it out at halftime and made some adjustments.”

Lincoln gave Bethel a gift in the opening moments of the second half when a handoff from Filer to Simon went awry, and Bethel recovered the resulting fumble at the Abes’ 30-yard line.

But, Lincoln snatched the ball back on the very next play, when Jeddiah Hayes intercepted a Hughes pass.

The Abes pieced together a 12-play, 66-yard drive that culminated with a 13-yard pass over the middle from Filer to Campbell that put Lincoln in front for good.

“They gave us one-on-ones and with the guys I have around me, one-on-ones go our way,” Filer said.

Simon left out with an injury after that, though he later returned, opening the door for senior running back Jaydion Laster to take over the Abes’ ground game.

Laster finished with a team-high 79 rushing yards on nine carries and scored two second-half touchdowns.

Tuatao Faalevao swapped out his linebacker’s jersey (No. 50) for an eligible-ball-carrier’s (No. 42) and scored a rushing touchdown as Lincoln pulled away.

B – Cameron Schweyen 27 field goal

L – Romere Williams 8 pass from Caden Filer (Gabriel Foster kick)

B – Puka Sokimi 32 pass from Nate Hughes (Schweyen kick)

L – Mykel Williams 13 pass from Filer (Foster kick)

L – Jaydion Laster 7 run (Foster kick)

B – Josh Walker 6 run (run failed)

L – Tuatau Faalevao 2 run (Foster kick)

L – Laster 15 run (Jaylen Clark pass from Filer)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Passing: L – Filer 19-32-0-189. B – Hughes 18-36-3-261; Sokimi 0-1-0-0.

Rushing: L – Julien Simon 11-58; Jeddiah Hayes 4-24; Filer 9-(-10); Faalevao 3-15; Laster 9-79. B – Walker 13-33; Will Latu 4-24; Sokimi 1-2; Hughes 6-(-23); Peter Latu 2-5.

Receiving: L – Williams 6-80; Simon 1-3; Jasiah Snow-Marshall 3-12; Campbell 4-45; Irae Savainaea 4-29; Clark 1-28. B – Sokimi 3-72; Will Latu 8-75; Peter Latu 4-87; Cameron Parker 3-27.