Peninsula pounds out 42-3 Fish Bowl win over Gig Harbor, claims second straight 3A SSC title
There have been more compelling Fish Bowl victories, but on Friday night Peninsula High School ensured that there have seldom been more emphatic ones.
Punishing, pounding defense ruled the day for the Seahawks (6-2, 6-0 SSC), who forced five turnovers in a 42-3 demolition of the Gig Harbor Tides (6-2, 4-2) at Roy Anderson Field. Peninsula’s win in the 41st rendition of the cross-town rivalry made it four consecutive Fish Bowl victories for the Seahawks – and clinched the team’s second straight 3A SSC title.
“That was a fun one tonight,” said head coach Ross Filkins. “Rivalry aside, great football game … we get a league championship out of it, can’t be prouder of our coaches and our kids and our community.”
Peninsula suffocated Gig Harbor, giving up just 190 yards of offense and consistently generating takeaways at timely junctures – two interception, three fumbles and one fourth-down stand. The Seahawks attack took some time to reciprocate, but the offense made its presence felt in the second half as the Tides began to wane.
It was actually Gig Harbor who got on the scoreboard first, capitalizing on Peninsula’s only turnover of the night by kicking a field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 4:22 left in the first quarter. But it was all Seahawks from there on out, first through the air and then on the ground.
“We wanted to establish the run against these guys, and they had a really good run defense,” Filkins said. “But we wanted to test ourselves. We were able to find a couple weaknesses in their coverage that Peyton Bice, our quarterback, was able to exploit – and then once we got a cushion, we wanted to really run downhill on them and assert our will.”
Two of those holes in the Gig Harbor coverage were taken advantage of by Peninsula wide receiver Chris Akulschin. The junior struck first with a 77-yard touchdown reception down the right sideline for the Seahawks’ opening points of the evening with 2:58 left in the first. Then, after Tides QB Cade Dessert tossed an interception with just 1:08 before the half, Akulschin highlighted a lightning-quick four-play drive by clawing in a tough 34-yard catch down at the Tides’ 1-yard line with 11.6 seconds left. On the ensuring snap, standout tailback Sean Skladany punched in the score to give Peninsula a 14-3 halftime lead.
“We just wanted to make a statement,” Skladany said. “Just show them that we’re the best running team in our conference.”
The points started coming in bunches for the Seahawks in the third quarter. Peninsula poached another fumble on Gig Harbor’s first drive out of halftime, then ground down to inside the Tides’ 5-yard line before the big H-back, Chase Wittmers, snagged a quick pass and bulldozed into the end zone to make it 21-3 Seahawks with 8:40 left in the third.
“We came into this game just really wanting to put together our best game of the year,” Filkins said. “We haven’t had all three phases of the game really working together -- we did it tonight.”
The breaking point in a contest that was already pretty much out of reach came on the very next Gig Harbor drive. Facing 4th and 10, Dessert kept it and was wrapped up at the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs. On the very next play, Peninsula’s Bice completed a short pass to his tight end, Slater Stevens – who rumbled his way 51 yards to paydirt. With the Seahawk lead ballooning to 28-3 and the onslaught showing no signs of slowing, the air drained out of the Tides and their home crowd.
Peninsula’s Bice finished with 321 yards through the air, Skladany led a well-balanced backfield trio with 10 carries for 42 yards on the ground, and Landon Sims and Sean Leonard finished out the scoring with short touchdown runs of their own. For Gig Harbor, Dessert passed for 97 yards with two interceptions and Griffin Sparrow paced the ground game with 59 yards rushing on eight carries.
Another Fish Bowl victory and a conference title sure tastes sweet for the Seahawks, who celebrated on the field long after the game’s final whistle. But the night’s success won’t stop Peninsula from keeping even-keeled and taking it all one step at a time as the postseason looms.
“We’ll enjoy this one like heck tonight,” Filkins said. “Then we’ll wake up tomorrow, we’re going to be 0-0 and we’ll just try to put one more game together next week and keep stacking ‘em up.”