Week 6: What we learned from high school football in South Sound
Week six of the high school football season is in the books. We’re heading into the final stretch of the regular season and playoff positioning is becoming more clear. Here’s what we learned from the high school football week in the South Sound.
STEILACOOM’S DOMINATING DEFENSE MOST LIKELY WINS IT THE 2A SPSL
These days, plenty of offenses are putting up lots of points. But Friday night’s football game between Class 2A SPSL foes Steilacoom and Enumclaw was in many ways a throwback, an old fashioned, grind-it-out defensive battle.
Steilacoom came out on top, 14-7, in what was the de facto 2A SPSL championship game. Sure, there are still a few games to be played, but these were the top two teams in the league coming into the game, and there’s nothing that leads us to believe that’ll change over the next few weeks. Even if Steilacoom drops a game, it would still hold the tiebreaker advantage over Enumclaw.
A week earlier, Steilacoom shut out White River, 14-0. This week, another suffocating defensive effort. This is one of the top defenses in the state in 2A, with plenty of team speed and dominant interior line play, led by 6-foot-2, 320-pounder Sam Stowers, who was last spring’s 2A SPSL co-defensive lineman of the year as a junior.
“Sam is a very special talent,” said Steilacoom coach Kyle Haller. “Somebody is going to be really lucky to land him when he finally gets some offers. It hasn’t happened yet. Hopefully that can ramp up for him a bit. … He’s super versatile.”
FIGHT FOR PLAYOFF SPOTS IN THE 3A SSC HEATS UP
The 3A South Sound Conference has four playoff spots. There’s a scenario in which Bainbridge could leapfrog the 3A SSC’s fourth seed, based on its standing and final RPI, but for now, let’s go with the assumption the 3A SSC has four playoff berths.
Yelm and Peninsula, both 4-0 in league, are strong bets to take two of those playoff spots. After that? It’s up for grabs. Central Kitsap is 2-1 in league but is in a two-week covid protocol quarantine, which will hurt its chances. The Kitsap Sun’s Jeff Graham reports those two contests are likely going down as forfeits.
Timberline beat Thurston County rival Capital on Friday, 28-14, which puts the Blazers (2-2 SSC 3A) in favorable position to take a playoff spot. Timberline quarterback Jackson Brown suffered a concussion a week earlier against Central Kitsap, so Timberline coach James Jones decided to move his most dangerous playmaker in Franco Segura to quarterback.
That decision has paid off. Against Capital, he made plays down the stretch after the game was tied 14-14 to seal the win for Timberline.
“Franco’s an athlete, he’s a baller. We told him ‘we’re not going to overcoach you, just go out, be an athlete and make plays’ and that’s what he did,” said Jones.
Central Kitsap (2-1 before covid cancellations), Gig Harbor (1-3) and Capital (1-3) are also competing for playoff spots.
COVID SHUFFLE CAUSES INTRIGUING NONLEAGUE MATCHUP
Peninsula was slated to play Central Kitsap in Week 7, while Lincoln was supposed to play Stadium. Central Kitsap and Stadium are now both in covid protocol, so Lincoln will travel to Roy Anderson Field to face Peninsula next Friday night.
It’s an intriguing matchup between two 3A teams that will be in the playoffs. Peninsula had a lopsided loss to Bellevue in the season opener but hasn’t lost since then, posting back-to-back comeback wins over rival Gig Harbor and against Timberline, before coasting to wins against River Ridge and North Thurston.
Peninsula coach Ross Filkins and his staff do a great job developing and getting the most out of their players, so it’s not surprising to see the Seahawks improving as the season progresses.
Lincoln has had a similar season trajectory, dropping two of its first three games to Yelm and Bellevue, before bouncing back for a 41-14 win over reigning 3A Pierce County League champion Spanaway Lake and cruising past Mount Tahoma last week.
Friday night’s game between Lincoln and Peninsula will give us some insight on just how far each program has progressed and another look at how the 3A PCL stacks up with the 3A South Sound Conference. And for Lincoln, it’s surely a better test than a certain blowout against Stadium.
LINCOLN’S GABARRI JOHNSON PUTTING UP VIDEO GAME NUMBERS
Speaking of Lincoln, no quarterback in the state has done what Abes’ QB Gabarri Johnson has done through six games. He has completed 97-of-147 passes (66 percent completion rate) for 1,733 yards and 22 touchdowns. He’s also the team’s leading rusher, with 60 carries for 452 yards and another nine touchdowns on the ground.
His 31 total touchdowns leads the state, per MaxPreps. Perhaps equally impressive: He hasn’t yet thrown an interception this season. Johnson, considered a four-star recruit by 247sports.com and the top quarterback in Washington in the 2023 class, showed glimpses of his potential in his first season starting as a sophomore last spring. This season, he’s been on a different level entirely.
THE GAME OF THE YEAR IN THE SOUTH SOUND IS UP NEXT
This is the one we’ve had circled on our calendars: Top-ranked Graham Kapowsin (6-0) against No. 4 Sumner (6-0) for the Class 4A South Puget Sound League championship. Graham-Kapowsin has yet to play a close game this season. Last Friday, the Eagles blew out previously undefeated Bellarmine Prep, 41-0.
Bellarmine didn’t pick up a first down until the fourth quarter. Graham-Kapowsin racked up 520 yards of offense, 301 of which came on the ground. Six different players scored touchdowns for the Eagles. Quarterback Joshua Wood, on the same day he announced his verbal commitment to Eastern Washington, had another typically efficient outing, completing 15-of-20 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns. Graham-Kapowsin now has outscored its opponents 284-15 over its first six games this season.
Sumner, meanwhile, coasted to a 52-6 win over Curtis to stay perfect on the season. The Spartans have been just about as dominant as Graham-Kapowsin, with their only true test coming in a 26-21 win over Puyallup, which is in the upper tier of the 4A SPSL alongside G-K and Sumner.
Expect a physical, hard-fought game on Saturday at Sunset Chev Stadium. There are explosive athletes on both sides, but at the heart of these teams’ identities is a pride in strong line play and toughness. Graham-Kapowsin won last spring’s meeting 34-14.
