Week 1: What we learned from high school football in South Sound
Want to nominate a high school football, girls soccer or volleyball player for The News Tribune’s Athlete of the Week poll? Email preps reporter Jon Manley (jon.manley@thenewstribune.com) with the first and last name of the athlete, their school, year, position and a stat line from games between Sunday, Feb. 14 and Saturday, Feb. 20. Nominations must be submitted by Sunday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m.
Statewide high school football scores, Week 1
It feels odd to say in late February, but Week 1 of the high school football season is largely in the books in the South Sound and in Washington. Several more games across the state will be played Saturday, and some games will even be played early in the week. The coronavirus pandemic will force programs to be flexible with scheduling.
But for local leagues, plenty of schools returned to action on Friday night, kicking off the long-awaited start to the season. Here’s what we learned from Week 1.
PENINSULA CONTINUES DOMINATING RIVALRY GAME
For the fifth consecutive year, Peninsula won the Fish Bowl against crosstown rival Gig Harbor. The Seahawks won 36-12 on Friday night at Roy Anderson Field, thanks to a total team effort. Peninsula’s senior class has no idea what it feels like to lose to Gig Harbor.
““It’s a mouthful: Back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back,” said running back Landon Sims, who scored three rushing touchdowns in the win. “It’s definitely good to hold that trophy another time, close out a perfect four-year win streak, freshman to senior year. It feels great just beating those guys over and over again.”
Peninsula’s line play jumped out. The Seahawks were simply more physical than the Tides up front, stifling Gig Harbor’s rushing attack on defense and on offense, paving the way for two-headed monster Sims and Sean Skladany to rack up yards on the ground.
Speaking of that duo, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better running back tandem in the area, and maybe even in the state. Skladany, last year’s 3A SSC MVP, is an Eastern Washington signee. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound running back is just a bruiser. And Sims is also 6-foot-3. It’s a bit unorthodox to have two 6-foot-3 running backs — and Peninsula coach Ross Filkins sees the rangy, athletic Sims as an outside linebacker at the next level — but it’s working for the Seahawks. Sims tallied 88 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries, while Skladany racked up 87 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
Peninsula wasn’t perfect, but it’s hard to find any glaring holes on this Seahawks team. Junior quarterback Jake Bice was efficient, completing 11-of-15 passes for 126 yards with one interception. Defensively, Peninsula’s corners shut down everything on the outside, holding Gig Harbor to negative net passing yards in the first half and under 100 total passing yards in the game.
“When they tried to pass it, they didn’t really have anything there,” said corner Bryce Cleave, who also ran back a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half. “Our defensive backs just kept everything locked down. Then in the trenches, we’re going to win in the trenches. We’re going to win every game in the trenches and our big guys just did that.”
Filkins said he doesn’t spend much time following Fish Bowl trends and streaks, but there are a few worth noting. Peninsula evened the overall series, which dates back to 1979, with Friday night’s win. Each school now has 21 wins apiece in the rivalry. The Seahawks are also inching toward the longest consecutive win streak in the series. Peninsula won nine in a row from 1984 to 1992. Gig Harbor’s longest win streak in the series is five, from 1997 to 2001.
SPANAWAY LAKE HAS ARRIVED
The Sentinels delivered a stunner on Friday night, beating reigning 3A PCL champion Lincoln at Lincoln Bowl, 34-7.
We wrote before the season that Spanaway Lake was a possible league championship contender. But without any signature wins in 2019, the Sentinels needed to prove it. Consider cit proven, emphatically.
Cameron Robak, who has been Spanaway Lake’s head coach since 2018, but was an assistant in the system for years prior, said this was the “biggest win” he could remember in his time with the program. “It means everything,” he said. “This is what we’ve been dreaming about since August when football was supposed to start.
“I’m tearing up right now because that’s how incredible this is. They did amazing.”
Spanaway Lake took advantage of some Lincoln turnovers and miscues and turned them into points. There’s some serious talent on this Sentinels roster, led by sophomore corner Jasiah Wagoner, who is considered among the top 100 recruits nationally in the 2023 class by 247sports.com.
He was plenty impactful for the Sentinels on offense Friday night, too.
He hauled in four passes for 70 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the second half. His 10-yard grab late in the third quarter gave the Sentinels a three-touchdown cushion, and his 28-yard score midway through the fourth closed the door on the Abes.
“We just wanted to make a statement in this game,” Wagoner said.
Spanaway Lake QB Dempsey James finished 16-of-29 passing for 213 yards and the three touchdowns for Spanaway Lake.
The loss was Lincoln’s first in the league since 2018, when Lakes came to Lincoln Bowl and beat the Abes, 42-24.
“We’ve got to get better,” Abes coach Masaki Matsumoto said. “A lot of missed opportunities. … A lot of youth. I told them, ‘We’ve got to grow up fast.’
“That team from last year is gone. We’ve got to do a lot better, and it starts with me.”
SPSL 4A FAVORITES WIN BIG
Puyallup ran all over 4A SPSL newcomer Bethel in a 46-18 road win at Art Crate Field on Friday night. Running back Ziere Ford put on a show, rushing for 186 yards on 21 carries, four rushing touchdowns and a TD catch.
“I mean, I was expecting it because I had trust in my line and we’d been working on it all year,” said Ford, who made his varsity debut. “In the practices we had, everybody was trying to get on the same page. Today, we had some minor mistakes. But we’ll get there.”
Senior quarterback Luke Holcomb completed 10 of 17 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
And Graham-Kapowsin pitched a shutout, winning 27-0 on the road against Bellarmine Prep. Jalen Davenport rushed for a game-high 111 yards and a touchdown, and fullback Jonas Waugh added three rushing scores for the Eagles, per Scorebook Live.
3A SSC FAVORITE YELM TOUGH AS NAILS
It all starts up front for the Tornados. Yelm’s vaunted line includes Cal signee Dylan Jemteegard and Central Washington commit Slade Edwards. The unit was as good as advertised against temporary league member Olympia, a 4A school, bullying its way to a 31-7 win over the Bears. 5-foot-9, 200-pound senior running back Sean Rohwedder ran for 204 yards on 21 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns.
“I was ready to go out and smack some people. It had been so long since we played, I felt great” Rohwedder said. But, Rohwedder, who did make some key tackles on defense, had more in mind than simple contact.
“Dude, I’ve been looking forward to running the ball for so long,” he said, pointing to guys who came before him at Yelm, Carson Amendt and Brandon Thompson, as players he patterned his approach after. “I learned so much from them and it was my time to shine.”
Yelm’s line controlled play in both directions most of the night. Yelm rushed for 277 yards and allowed the Bears only 38 yards on the ground.
GAME ATMOSPHERES WERE STRANGE
In most instances, no fans were allowed at games across the South Sound on Friday night as schools abide by capacity restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.
It was weird, everywhere. The Fish Bowl, for instance, is a huge annual community event in Gig Harbor. It normally packs thousands of fans into Roy Anderson Field, lined all the way around the track of the field. Fans arrive hours before kickoff to pregame in parking lots. The past few years have even drawn multiple food trucks. The total silence this year was strange.
Longtime Peninsula coach Ross Filkins has coached plenty of Fish Bowls. He’ll never forget this one.
“It was so strange,” Filkins said. “We’re used to five or six thousand people here. We’re used to communication issues and practicing with hand signals. It was just so strange. We had momentum going but it doesn’t quite feel like it because it’s just kind of like we’re in a vacuum. But I think we adapted and the players did a good job making their own momentum.”
It’s an interesting viewpoint from Filkins, and it’s something that every team is dealing with this year. Every team is going to have to find ways to create energy from within without the influence of the crowd.
More good news: The Class 2A South Puget Sound League starts its season next week. Look for a league preview next week in The News Tribune.
Lauren Smith, Dave Weber and Doug Drowley contributed to this story.
This story was originally published February 20, 2021 at 12:54 PM.
