Week 8: Takeaways from high school football in the South Sound
Thursday and Friday night’s week eight high school football games are in the books, with several league titles being claimed in the process. Here are five takeaways from this week’s action.
Additional coverage of Saturday night’s games between Kentwood and Kennedy Catholic for the 4A NPSL title and Cascade Christian’s matchup with Charles Wright for the 1A Nisqually title can be found Saturday night at thenewstribune.com.
NO. 3 LINCOLN GETS ITS REVENGE OVER NO. 6 LAKES
It was Lakes who came out on top in last year’s matchup, winning the 3A PCL title with a 42-24 over the Abes. But Lincoln was having none of that this year, cruising to a 42-21 win over the Lancers on Friday night at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood.
From a look at the stat sheet, it’d be hard to guess it was the Lincoln Abes who took the field on Friday night. Quarterback Caden Filer threw the ball just four times in the game, completing three of those passes for 69 yards and a touchdown. For a team that generally attacks defenses with the spread and passes 30-plus times a game, seeing the Abes line up in a heavy, multiple back formation for much of the first half was a bit of a shock.
In the first half alone, Lincoln threw the ball just two times, but rushed 32 times for 207 yards and four touchdowns.
Lincoln coach Masaki Matsumoto said he learned his lesson after last year’s loss to Lakes in the 3A PCL title game, in which Lakes often dropped eight defenders into coverage, neutralizing Lincoln’s air game.
“It doesn’t matter how good of a team or players we have — it’s tough to throw it against eight,” Matsumoto said. “We thought we had the O-line, the running backs and the receivers who were going to be unselfish and block this year. That’s what we did. The kids played unselfishly.”
It’s a formation that Lincoln has used at times this season, but not as exclusively as on Friday night.
“We knew at some point, we were going to pull it out,” Matsumoto said. “We’ve been practicing it since the beginning of the season.”
Senior running back Abner Sio-Fetaui led the Abes with 106 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Lakes coach Dave Miller said the heavy dose of the run game caught the team somewhat off guard.
“We had planned for that formation, but we didn’t think they were going to run it exclusively like they did,” Miller said. “They did a good job. We had to make some adjustments and I think we did. We slowed it down in the second half. Give credit to them, they have some great backs back there.”
While Sio-Fetaui was the workhorse back for the Abes, four-star recruit Julien Simon continued to impress out of the Wildcat formation, another look Lincoln has added this season, mostly utilized in short-yardage and goal-line situations.
Simon rushed 12 times for 41 yards and three touchdowns — all three of which came out of the Wildcat formation.
“Just doing my job, trusting my guys to make the blocks,” Simon said. “Trusting myself, making the right reads and just doing whatever I can for the team.”
As a youth football player, Simon played running back almost exclusively. That gives him a patience and vision that’s dangerous combined with his raw athleticism and power.
“He has that patience,” Matsumoto said. “He’s very intelligent. In terms of football, he’s just very savvy, very wise. He knows what to do with the football.”
Lincoln will face Bethel (6-2 overall, 6-0 PCL 3A) next week at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1 at Lincoln Bowl for the league title.
LINCOLN IS LOADED AT CORNER
There might not be a more talented corner tandem in the state than the one currently at Lincoln High, with 6-foot-3 Boise State commit Donovan Clark on one side of the field and 6-foot-2 three-star recruit Jaylen Clark (no relation) on the other.
“I can’t imagine how it is for quarterbacks looking over and seeing two tall, lengthy corners out there,” Donovan Clark said.
Most high school coaches would probably be thrilled to have one lockdown corner and have him shadow the opposing team’s No. 1 receiver all game. But with the Clarks, Matsumoto doesn’t have to move them around — he has both sides of the field covered.
“That’s what special about Donovan and Jaylen,” Matsumoto said. “We don’t have to switch sides or flip. We trust them with whoever.”
The play of the game came late in the third quarter, when Boise State commit Donovan Clark picked off Lakes quarterback Justin Brennan on a 3rd and long play and returned it around 45 yards for a touchdown.
“We were in zone coverage,” Clark said. “Based on our game plan and what we had seen on film, we knew they ran posts and deep routes on third down. I played it perfectly and thanks to our DB coach and Coach Mat. Not a lot of quarterbacks will throw it over the top, especially that deep. So knowing my length and everything, I knew I could make that play underneath.”
STEILACOOM TAKES SPSL 2A MOUNTAIN TITLE BEHIND MCDONALD’S HUGE GAME
Steilacoom’s offensive versatility was on full display in Thursday night’s matchup against River Ridge in Lacey on Thursday night, as the Sentinels racked up 572 yards to win 55-20 at South Sound Stadium.
Junior quarterback Chance McDonald was the star of the show, completing 15-of-19 passes for 443 yards and seven touchdowns to three different receivers.
“We saw we had favorable match-ups on the perimeter,” said Steilacoom coach Colby Davies. “We love throwing the ball, putting it up in the air and letting our athletes makes play. Our quarterback is starting to get into a groove. I think he feels very comfortable back there now. He’s making great decisions.”
Logan Brady was Steilacoom’s top receiver for the second consecutive week, catching eight passes for 168 yards and three touchdowns. Tre Horner caught two passes, both of which went for touchdowns. And national recruit Emeka Egbuka caught four passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns in the win. With so much of the attention going to Egbuka every game, the rest of Steilacoom’s receivers are making the most of their opportunities.
“We knew that their safeties were going to overload Emeka’s side,” said McDonald. “That meant the guys on my back side, Tre and Logan, were going to be open all night. It’s an amazing blessing to come to practice every day and know I’ve got these guys to throw to.”
ORTING CLAIMS 2A SPSL VALLEY CROWN
Orting will have a date with Steilacoom next week for the league championship, after winning a hard-fought game against Franklin Pierce on Friday night, 28-27.
The Cardinals (6-1) installed their punishing ground game in the spring, and it was effective on Friday night. Orting piled up 258 yards on the ground against Franklin Pierce and averaged 5.9 yards per carry. Ethan Hobart churned out a game-high 167 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, Dylan Spader added 77 yards on nine carries and Daniel Hobart had 22 yards on 12 carries.
It’s a running game based on deception for the Cardinals.
“The whole key to that is how well we can ball fake, how well our quarterback is able to hide the ball, and how well our running backs come through and pretend like they’ve got the football,” Orting coach Tom Bannan said.
“So you’ve got three options that could have that football, and you don’t know who’s got it. You’ve got to guess well or make a great read, one way or the other. Those guys have worked super hard trying to … perfect it. That’s been our big goal — deception, deception, deception.”
Four total turnovers — three of which came in the first half — proved costly for Franklin Pierce (6-2) in the loss.
PENINSULA BLOWS OUT GIG HARBOR IN FISH BOWL
On paper, it looked like a compelling matchup in the 41st annual Fish Bowl rivalry game between Peninsula (6-2 overall, 6-0 SSC 3A) and Gig Harbor (6-2, 4-2), with the Tides coming into the game with just one league this season at the hands of Yelm.
But on the field, it turned out to be a one-sided affair, with Peninsula cruising to a 42-3 win over its crosstown rival.
The win clinched Peninsula’s second straight 3A SSC title.
Peninsula suffocated Gig Harbor, conceding just 190 yards of offense and consistently generating takeaways at important times — two interceptions, three fumbles and a fourth-down stand in the win.
Peninsula running back Sean Skladany rushed 10 times for 38 yards and a touchdown; Shawn Leonard rushed seven times for 25 yards and a touchdown and Landon Sims rushed six times for 40 yards and a touchdown.
Quarterback Peyton Bice had the best game of his career, completing 17-of-20 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns. Chase Wittmers caught five of those passes for 63 yards and a touchdown, Chris Akulschin caught two passes for 111 yards and a touchdown and Cole McVay added four catches for 42 yards.
It all added up to a dominant night on both sides of the ball for the Seahawks.
“We wanted to establish the run against these guys, and they had a really good run defense,” said Peninsula coach Ross Filkins. “But we wanted to test ourselves. We were able to find a couple weaknesses in their coverage that Peyton Bice was able to exploit — and then once we got a cushion, we wanted to really run downhill on them and assert our will.”
Staff writer Lauren Smith and contributing writers Dave Weber and Thomas Kyle-Milward contributed to this story.
This story was originally published October 26, 2019 at 9:47 AM.