Week 3: What we learned from high school football in South Sound
Week three of this unusual high school football season is in the books. The 4A North Puget Sound League will begin its league season this week. Here’s what we learned from week three.
PUYALLUP CRUISES BY SUMNER
Although the valley battle rivalry game didn’t produce the drama we might have hoped for, it did reaffirm what we saw the previous two weeks of the season: Puyallup is good. Really good. Puyallup beat Sumner at Sunset Chev Stadium on Friday night, 38-13.
This one was the closest of the three, but never felt much in doubt. After Puyallup trailed 3-0 early, the Vikings went on a 21-0 run to close out the half, taking a 21-3 lead into the break.
Last week, Puyallup trailed early to Lakes, too, before going on a run and putting the game completely out of reach. The Vikings offense can put up points in a hurry, as they showed against Sumner (2-1) on Friday night.
“Our offense is really explosive,” said Puyallup receiver Jordan Dwyer, who had two touchdown receptions in the win. “We have the players, we have a lot of athletes on this team. We’ve got the best line in the state, as you can see. The best receiving corps in the state. We can do a lot. We’re a great team this year.”
Senior Luke Holcomb said he worked on his deep ball and his accuracy during the offseason, after his first season as the team’s starting quarterback during his junior year. This year, he’s making all the throws, hitting the intermediate routes and the deep balls. He racked up 266 yards on just 19 passes in Friday’s win.
“That’s what I’ve been working on,” he said. “Last year, I felt I was a little bit limited. I needed to get better on that. The coaches are drawing up great schemes, the linemen are drawing up great blocks and the receivers are running great routes and catching it. It’s not just me. All those pieces have to come together.”
Puyallup coach Gary Jeffers said Holcomb’s progression is the natural byproduct of simply having more experience and more reps in the pocket.
“He’s just seeing the field better as an older player with a year of experience under his belt,” he said. “I think he has the confidence and connection with some of the guys playing receiver. They’ve spent a lot of time working together. I think it’s just age and maturity a little bit, knowing when to take the shots.”
And Dwyer has emerged as the Vikings No. 1 receiver. The rapport he shares with Holcomb is obvious. When Holcomb needs a completion to move the chains, he’s usually looking to Dwyer. The junior caught five passes for 124 yards in two touchdowns in the win.
“He’s emerged as a top receiver,” Holcomb said. “He’s a beast out there. He’s really reliable. I know he’s going to catch it always. I believe in all my guys to catch it. It’s not always just, ‘I need a catch so I’ve gotta go to Jordan.’ He is that type of guy, but I try to see what’s open and spread the love to all the guys.”
Jeffers wants the ball in Dwyers hands, too, because of his skillset.
“He’s a good route runner,” Jeffers said. “He has a good concept of the game. He understands what space we’re trying to get to. He runs good routes and he catches the ball and he’s pretty fast.”
Dwyer said his rapport with Holcomb is strong right now, after the two gelled in the 2019 season.
“Me and Luke, we built a great connection last year when I was a sophomore,” he said. “We’ve just been building on it. It’s great, me and him, we’re on the same page. We know what each other like, he knows where to put it. I know where to be. We’re just on the same page.”
FIFE RUNS. AND RUNS. AND RUNS ITS WAY TO WIN OVER WASHINGTON
Fife beefed up its offense and ran Washington off its own home turf – literally.
The Trojans had the ball for 55 total plays in its 41-6 victory over the Patriots at Franklin Pierce High on Friday night. Of those, 51 were running plays.
“We have great faith in our running system, and it’s a true system,” Fife coach Kent Nevin said. “We are a running team. That’s what we are. We hang our hat on that. We don’t care how big our linemen are, how small our linemen are. We run the ball, and it’s a mentality.”
No single Fife player had more than 15 carries. But eight different Trojans toted the ball on the ground against Washington. In the first half alone, 27 of Fife’s 30 offensive plays were runs.
Trojans senior quarterback Brynna Nixon completed her only two attempts in the first half for 10 yards. She finished 2 of 3 overall. Backup Brandon Racz’s only pass attempt fell incomplete.
The Trojans ran for a total of 423 yards in the game.
Fife did try passing a bit. Nixon completed a ball down the sideline on one play midway through the second quarter, but that and her other attempt were both called back due to penalties. It didn’t matter, since the ground game chewed up yards and clock.
Jay Harper-Brooks finished with 153 yards rushing on 15 carries. He was one of four Fife running backs with at least 66 yards on the ground.
“When you run the ball as much as we do, you have to have good backs to get the ball down the field,” Harper-Brooks said. “We’re improving as a team.”
Could Fife be a sneaky contender in the 2A SPSL? The Trojans now move to 2-0 with the win, after beating White River last week, 20-6. Fife won the league title in 2018, beating a rapidly-rising Steilacoom team that was grabbing all the headlines and attention. That was before Steilacoom took off in 2019 and cruised to the league title, behind Emeka Egbuka’s unbelievable junior season.
Next week will be a good litmus test for Fife, when the Trojans face a quality Eatonville program, led by UW signee Caden Jumper. We picked the Cruisers as a possible league title contender, along with Steilacoom and Enumclaw. If the Trojans find a way to come away with a win, it sets up an intriguing matchup against defending 2A SPSL champion Steilacoom on April 2.
TUMWATER LOOKS THE PART OF A DEFENDING STATE CHAMPION
Speaking of 2A, it’s a shame there will be no state tournament this year. At least if you’re Tumwater. If you’re anyone else in 2A, maybe you’re grateful.
The T-Birds are looking just as dominant as last season, after traveling east of the mountains on Saturday — about 236 miles — to face Prosser on Saturday afternoon. Tumwater was looking all week for a game to schedule, and it nearly didn’t come together with Prosser. Prosser played Grandview on Friday night, less than 24 hours before playing Tumwater on Saturday.
But the Mustangs played mostly junior varsity players in Friday’s game, since football players are limited to four quarters of play per week. In the end, it came together. And not surprisingly, Tumwater came away with another blowout win, beating Prosser 48-10.
This sort of dominance has become routine for the T-Birds lately. In the 2019 state tournament, Tumwater was untouchable, beating Franklin Pierce 56-7 in the opening round. Then in the quarterfinals, Tumwater beat Archbishop Murphy, 48-0. In the semifinals: A 55-7 win over Hockinson.
It’s worth noting that these are very good, historically successful programs. Archbishop Murphy is a perennial 2A contender. Hockinson won the state title in 2018. The only program that even presented a challenge to Tumwater last season was Steilacoom in the state championship game, which Tumwater won, 48-34.
A lot of the talent from Tumwater’s 2019 state championship team is back this year. Minnesota signee Jacob Schuster, last year’s 2A Evergreen Conference MVP, is back. All-league tight ends Austin Terry and Ryan Otton are back. The roster is packed with talent. We’ll get a rematch of the 2019 state championship game later this month, when Tumwater faces Steilacoom in a non-league game on March 20. But the matchup loses some of its luster without Emeka Egbuka in the picture.
EASTSIDE CATHOLIC SHUTS OUT O’DEA
OK, this isn’t a local result. But the rematch of last year’s Class 3A state championship game was the game of the week in Washington. Eastside Catholic, which beat O’Dea in that title game, 20-12, won again on Friday night, beating the Irish, 20-0. It was the opening week of the 3A Metro League’s season.
Senior quarterback Kobe Muasau threw three touchdown passes and the Crusaders held O’Dea to 95 total yards in the win. It marks the first time the Irish have been shut out since 2010.
O’Dea starting quarterback Milton Hopkins Jr. was not in the lineup. He will miss the first three games with an eligibility issue, Scorebook Live reported.
THE GAME OF THE YEAR IN THE SOUTH SOUND IS UP NEXT
It’s the matchup we’ve had circled on our calendars: Defending 4A SPSL champion Graham-Kapowsin vs. Puyallup, the league runner-up in 2019.
Graham-Kapowsin won convincingly again on Thursday night, beating Bethel, 41-7. And Puyallup beat Sumner 28-13.
Both teams will enter Thursday night’s 7 p.m. matchup at Sparks Stadium with undefeated records. Graham-Kapowsin won last year’s matchup, 27-13.
We called Graham-Kapowsin and Puyallup 1A and 1B, respectively, in our season preview of the 4A SPSL. Both teams have lines that are among the best in the state, good running games, strong quarterback play and quality skill position players. Anything is possible, but it’s difficult to imagine a lopsided score in favor of either team. It’s most likely going to be a close game and could well decide the league title, even if that honor won’t be quite as meaningful this season.
“It’s going to be physical,” Puyallup QB Luke Holcomb said after the team’s win over Sumner. “They’re going to be well coached. They’ve got some dogs on the defense. So it’s going to be a tough game. We’re going to have to come with our A-game, be sharp, be focused.”
Puyallup coach Gary Jeffers called the upcoming matchup a likely “slobber-knocker.” Slobber-knocker, slugfest, whatever you want to call it — it’s going to be fun, and it’s going to be physical.
“I’ve got a lot of friends over there, it’s a great program,” Puyallup receiver Jordan Dwyer said. “One of my favorite games of the year, obviously. Last year, we couldn’t come out on top. This year, it’ll be a different story, I’m hoping.”
