Takeaways from high school football state semifinals in South Sound
Three local high school football teams entered the state tournament semifinal round on Saturday, with Lincoln, Tumwater and Steilacoom representing the South Sound in Class 3A and 2A. Tumwater and Steilacoom advanced, and will face each other in the Class 2A state championship game. Here’s what we learned from the semifinal round.
LINCOLN’S HISTORIC RUN COMES TO AN END
This year’s group was the first Lincoln team in school history to reach the state semifinal round. But the dream of playing for the state championship game was halted with Saturday’s 34-21 loss to a loaded Eastside Catholic team, the tournament’s No. 2 seed.
“It was a very physical game,” said Lincoln coach Masaki Matsumoto. “They’re a great team and have a lot of great players. Our kids stepped up and matched their physicality and matched them overall and I was proud of them.”
Eastside Catholic entered the season as the overwhelming favorite to repeat as Class 3A state champions. But a 28-6 loss to O’Dea in Week 6 dashed any hopes of the Crusaders running the table.
Still, it’s a team that many still consider the favorite to win the title in a rematch with O’Dea. The Crusaders feature four of the top 10 recruits in the state in the 2020 class, per 247sports.com, led by receiver/corner and Ohio State commit Gee Scott Jr., who picked off Lincoln quarterback Caden Filer twice on Saturday.
“They have some good cover guys,” Matsumoto said. “They took away some things by double-teaming some of our guys. They just did a great job.”
Lincoln fought back with two scores in the fourth; a Filer 1-yard run on a read-option keeper and a 5-yard pass from Filer to Jaylen Clark in the left corner of the end zone.
“I’m so proud of them,” Matsumoto said. “They fought. A few guys played through some illnesses and injuries. They put it all out there today. Couldn’t be prouder of the group.”
Despite the loss, it was nonetheless a banner year for Lincoln, which became the first Tacoma Public School since Marcus Trufant led-Wilson in 1998 to reach the state semifinals.
“The culture here is just so great,” Clark said. “I’m happy to be an Abe. I’m forever an Abe and Tacoma is my home.”
STEILACOOM FLIPS THE SCRIPT ON LYNDEN
In the Week 3 matchup between Steilacoom and Lynden, Lynden piled up 455 rushing yards in a 56-47 win against the Sentinels.
This time? Steilacoom limited Lynden to 91 rushing yards in the Class 2A state semifinals, pitching a shutout and winning decisively, 42-0.
The win sends Steilacoom to the state championship game for the first time.
“With such a high-scoring game, and with them getting nothing on us, I think that’s incredible,” said sophomore defensive lineman Judah Jackson, the reigning 2A SPSL Mountain defensive player of the year. “I think that’s a really good performance by us. We worked so hard in those weeks after that defeat. … We knew what they were going to do. We knew what we were expecting. And then we just punched them in the mouth.”
Lynden entered the week averaging 31.5 points per game, hadn’t been shut out since early in the 2015 season and hadn’t been shut out in the state playoffs since 1979.
“Everything is mentality,” Steilacoom defensive lineman Robert Lingenfelter said. “We’re coming out strong … and we just have to put pressure on them every play. We did that.”
Five-star recruit Emeka Egbuka rushed for two scores out of the Wildcat formation for 3 and 5 yards and caught a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Chance McDonald.
“It’s so big,” Egbuka said. “It’s a great statement for us. Little Steilacoom making it to the state championship. It was more about proving to ourselves we could beat this team, and we not only did that, but we kind of dominated this game. I’m really happy to have the victory.”
ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER TUMWATER BLOWOUT
It’s hard to believe it’s the state tournament, because judging by Tumwater’s final scores, it looks like the T-Birds are in the thick of a weak part of regular-season schedule.
In the first round: A 56-7 win over Franklin Pierce.
In the quarterfinals: A 48-0 win over Archbishop Murphy.
In this weekend’s semifinals: A 55-7 win over defending state champion Hockinson.
Defensive lineman/tight end Austin Terry had a solo sack to set up a touchdown, recovered a fumble to set up another, caught a touchdown pass, and scooped-and-scored another fumble — all in the first half.
“Early in the season, I was just trying to fit in,” said Terry. “I found where I could help the team, and I just ran with it.”
With the win, the top-ranked and top-seeded T-Birds (11-0) earned the right to play for the Class 2A state championship for the fifth time in eight years.
BRING ON THE ALL-SOUTH SOUND 2A CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
It’ll be No. 1 Tumwater vs. No. 2 Steilacoom in the Class 2A state championship game at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.
It’ll be the sixth all-South Sound state championship game in state history, and first since Kentwood topped Capital in the Class 4A title game in 2002.
The tournament’s top two seeds have been on a collision course to meet in the championship game since the tournament began, with neither Tumwater or Steilacoom playing in a closely contested game yet in the state tournament.
It will be a matchup of contrasting styles: Steilacoom featuring a wide-open, air-raid attack and Tumwater with its classic Wing-T offense. Both offenses will face their toughest challenge yet, with neither defense conceding much of anything in the state tournament.
“We know they’re a very talented team,” said Tumwater coach Bill Beattie. “There’s only two of us left, so it’s gonna be that way.”
Reporter Bart Potter contributed to this story.
This story was originally published December 1, 2019 at 10:42 AM.
