Puyallup holds off Eastlake, 40-34, as time expires to move on in 4A state tournament
The halftime stats told the story: shootout in progress. One punt. One tackle for loss. One turnover on downs, and seven lead changes. The 28-27 scoreline looked and felt like a track meet – and then Puyallup High School came out of the locker room and turned Friday night’s football game into a slog.
The No. 7 Vikings held off No. 10 Eastlake, 40-34, in a bruising back-and-forth battle between the two offensive juggernauts in the first round of the 4A state tournament at Sparks Stadium, keying off a second-half effort by a revitalized defense that held the Eagles to just seven points over the final two quarters.
“Our kids finished,” said head coach Gary Jeffers. “We talked about it all week, this was going to be a battle … there were going to be good things and bad things, and we had to grab the energy either way and funnel that into the task that needed to be accomplished.”
That task included a nail-biting stand in their own territory as a desperate Eastlake drove down the field with time running out. With seven seconds remaining, Eagles dual-threat QB Grady Robison tossed a pass to standout receiver Cooper Williams on the right sideline, who ran the ball out at the Puyallup 35-yard line to freeze the dwindling clock.
On the next and final play, Robison fired into the end zone as the stadium held its breath. The ball deflected off a forest of hands and bounced to the turf as the scoreboard showed 00:00. Absolute scenes ensued.
“We talked about iron sharpening iron, and we felt like we got that today,” Jeffers said. “They sharpened us, and I think we’ll be better next week because we played them.”
The Vikings offense, slowed but not stalled after the halftime break dampened a dominant start to the game, got a signature moment of its own on the previous drive. Trailing 34-33 after Robison broke into the end zone on a 3-yard keeper with 5:29 remaining, the Vikings launched a clock-eating, soul-destroying drive that chewed up 70 yards and culminated in a 6-yard scoring plunge from tailback Ziere Ford.
“It was time to step up,” said Puyallup QB Luke Holcomb. “There is only so much the defense can do against a guy like (Robison), so it was time for us to step up as an offense ... and we did.”
Holcomb did his part, going 4-of-5 for 42 yards on the final drive to get the Vikings into the red zone. From there, the ground game took over as Puyallup bled clock. Ford and Danny Uluilakepa steadily ran into the line before Ford put them in front for good with 1:19 left. The defense took over from there.
“I think our message throughout is, every week is about earning the right to stay together,” Jeffers said. “This team is nothing like last year’s team, and next year’s team will be nothing like this team, so the time you have together as a family and this experience for the 2019 season – we’re fighting to keep that alive. We want to make more memories.”
Holcomb finished 16-of-24 for 257 yards and a pair of touchdowns for Puyallup, with Ford (79 yards rushing, 1 TD) and Isaiah Dickerson (72 yards rushing, 1 TD) leading the charge on the ground. Both Holcomb’s passing scores went to Isaac Clark, who finished with 112 yards receiving.
Eastlake’s Robison ended the night 23-of-40 and 279 passing yards, with two rushing touchdowns and an interception. He also chipped in 152 yards on 20 carries, with RB Leroy Jackson adding 42 yards on the ground and a pair of TDs of his own.
Puyallup advances to play the winner of No. 15 Eastmont-No. 2 Camas, with a berth in the semifinals – and more memories to make – hanging in the balance.
“We’re a bunch of dogs and we’re hungry,” Holcomb said. “We got a chip on our shoulder for sure.”
It showed on Friday night.