Week 3: What we learned from high school football in South Sound
It was an exciting weekend of high school football in the South Sound. Rivalry games lived up the hype across our area, with a lot of teams jumping into league play this week. Here’s what we learned from week three of the season.
SUMNER GETS THE RIVALRY WIN OVER PUYALLUP; MATCHUP WITH GRAHAM-KAPOWSIN LOOMS LARGE
We felt before the season that Sumner had a good chance of making a run this year in Class 4A. The Spartans are deep, talented and most of all, experienced. It’s a senior-heavy roster led by reigning 4A South Puget Sound League MVP Peyton Wing, who plays running back and linebacker for the Spartans.
It came down to the final play, with Puyallup having one last chance to score the game-winning touchdown on fourth down from the Sumner 22-yard line. Quarterback Micah Balzarini scrambled to his left and heaved a throw to the end zone. It was batted down, with Sumner hanging on to win, 26-21.
For most of the night, Wing was held in check by the Puyallup defense. He had managed a modest 60 yards on 16 carries, a quiet night by his standards. Then in the fourth quarter, Wing took a run off the left tackle and broke it 23 yards for what ultimately became the game-winning touchdown. “It’s a game of inches with this team,” Wing said. “It’s two legit teams going at it. It’s whoever is going to be mentally tough the whole game. We stuck through it.”
Graham-Kapowsin, the state’s top-ranked team in the 4A, remains the favorite to win the 4A SPSL. The Eagles went undefeated and won the league last spring. Sumner wants a crack at Graham-Kapowsin, but the Spartans knew they’d have to get through rival Puyallup first. Now that Sumner passed that test, all eyes will be on the Oct. 16 matchup against Graham-Kapowsin, which most likely will decide the league title.
“It’s always been on our mind,” Ross said. “We knew these two weeks were big games for us. That’ll be an epic game if we both get to that game. We’re both the same style, physical, senior-dominated, hungry. It’s going to be awesome.”
Elsewhere in the 4A SPSL, Emerald Ridge posted a 28-26 road win against Olympia on Saturday afternoon. That’s a big win for a Jaguars team that has its sights set on the postseason this year, led by UW commit and receiver Denzel Boston.
Bellarmine Prep beat Curtis, 41-27 on Thursday night. Tristan Warner was devastating running the ball for the Lions. Not only did he find the end zone four times during the game, but he also earned 223 yards on the ground on just 10 carries. Bellarmine’s matchup against Emerald Ridge on Sept. 30 will be important for playoff positioning.
TUMWATER’S STREAK COMES TO AN END
Credit to Tumwater: The T-Birds don’t back down from a challenge. It’d be easy to schedule cupcake non-league games to try to preserve its 21-game win streak, which didn’t appear destined to end anytime soon. Tumwater’s league opponent Aberdeen had to back out this week because of covid protocols, leaving Tumwater with no game late in the week.
The T-Birds found a game at the 11th hour: Oregon 6A powerhouse Central Catholic. At home, Tumwater lost on Friday night, 42-35 in overtime. It was Tumwater’s first loss since the 2018 playoffs.
“Awesome game,” Tumwater coach Bill Beattie told Alec Dietz of the Centralia Chronicle. “That’s our philosophy. We want to play tough teams. I’m so proud of the way our kids battled tonight. We learned a lot about ourselves and learned we’ve got some battling kids.
“It’s going to be fun the rest of the year.”
Winning streaks are fun, but ultimately, Tumwater is chasing state championships. Playing a competitive game is surely better preparation than coasting to another blowout win in the 2A Evergreen Conference. There will be teaching points for Tumwater’s coaching staff to take from this game that wouldn’t have come from a game in which the T-Birds’ starters are on the sideline in the second half.
PENINSULA COMPLETES EPIC COMEBACK TO WIN FISH BOWL
By the time the first half ended, it looked like Peninsula’s five-game win streak in the annual Fish Bowl rivalry game against Gig Harbor was going to come to an end. The Tides led 28-0 at halftime, led by WSU commit Hudson Cedarland’s two touchdown receptions.
Peninsula’s response? 35 unanswered points in the second half and overtime, to come back and beat Gig Harbor, 35-28. That makes it six in a row for the Seahawks.
“We knew we could do it; we knew what team we could be,” Peninsula coach Ross Filkins said. “At halftime, we said ‘forget about the score, we dug ourselves a hole out there.’ If we could win just one play, just one play, that would be the thing.”
Peninsula didn’t play in the 3A SSC last spring, playing instead in the 4A SPSL as temporary members during the covid-shortened season. The last time Peninsula played in the 3A SSC, the Seahawks won the league in 2019. Can the Seahawks win the league again this year? Timberline is up next. Yelm will be the biggest obstacle, but that’s still a ways off; they’ll face off on Oct. 22.
THE 3A PIERCE COUNTY LEAGUE TITLE COULD BE DECIDED THIS WEEK
Spanaway Lake finally opened its season, after missing the first two games because of covid protocols. The Sentinels jogged to the locker room with a 40-point halftime lead, and coasted to a 47-0 shutout win over Silas on Friday night at Stadium Bowl.
Silas started with the ball to open the game, but senior defensive end Trishion Sullivan scooped up a fumble and ran it back for a score on the first play of regulation.
Quarterback Dempsy James threw a touchdown to KeeKee McQueen, and rushed for three more. Jonathan Graver and Jermaine Broussard Jr. both added touchdowns on the ground for the Sentinels.
Lincoln dropped a 56-35 decision to Bellevue on the road Friday night. While the defense has some room for growth, Lincoln quarterback Gabarri Johnson continued to impress and show why he’s one of the top-rated QB’s in the country. He completed 24-of-39 passes for 353 yards and four touchdowns in the loss.
Lincoln will face Spanaway Lake on the road this week on Thursday, in what could well wind up being the league championship game (though Lakes will probably have something to say about that, as well).
Jordan Whitford, Tyler Wicke, Doug Drowley and Dave Weber contributed to this story.
