High school football roundup: Graham-Kapowsin extends winning streak in season-opener
The streak continues.
Graham-Kapowsin High School football, which entered the evening looking to build on an impressive stretch of 20 consecutive wins, won again Thursday night in its season-opener against Rogers at Art Crate Field in Spanaway.
Despite how the contest started — penalties piled up throughout the game, two ejections and injuries also played a part early — the defending Class 4A state champions and three-time defending 4A SPSL champions eventually ran away with a 56-0 victory over visiting Rogers.
“I think a lot of these guys are ready to kind of show and prove that it’s their time, it’s their year and there’s a lot of emotion coming off of what we did last year,” Eagles coach Jeff Logan said. “But, last year’s last year.
“That can’t happen,” he said of the game’s early minutes. “And that starts at the top with me, and we’re going to fix that and rectify that.”
Even as penalty yardage piled up, though, the Eagles (1-0) still pieced together seven scoring drives on offense, added another touchdown on defense, and rarely allowed the Rams (0-1) to cross midfield in a convincing performance to open league play.
“Schematically in what we did I thought we played really good football,” Logan said. “But, it’s the mentality and the attitude.”
Graham-Kapowsin took the game’s first and only lead late in the opening quarter. The Eagles’ first drive had stalled at midfield, and they set up to punt, but the kick was misplayed near the goal line, and Graham-Kapowsin defensive back Cohen Miller recovered. Running back Khalil Yarbo scored from 2 yards out on the next play.
After the Rams turned the ball over on downs on the ensuing drive, Eagles junior quarterback Daveon Superales tossed three consecutive completions, including finding tight end Noah Flores alone behind the defense on the first play of the second quarter, and connecting with him for a 34-yard score.
Yarbo added his second touchdown on a 1-yard run the following drive, and Vinicio Hansen gave the Eagles a four-possession lead five minutes later when he hauled in a short pass from Superales and dashed up the sideline for a 42-yard score.
Caden Smith gave Graham-Kapowsin a 35-0 advantage just before the break, when he intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 43 yards for a score.
Superales tossed his third touchdown of the game midway through the third, when he connected with Jabez Woods, who took a short pass 30 yards for a touchdown.
Superales impressed in his first career start — reigning state Gatorade Player of the Year Joshua Wood guided the Eagles to wins in their past 20 games before heading to Fresno State — and consistently connected with receivers on short passes over the middle and down the sidelines, as well as deep downfield.
“You can see the accuracy he has and the spin that he has,” Logan said. “And he throws such a good, pretty football. I don’t think there’s a ball that wasn’t on target really tonight.”
Superales completed 12-of-13 passes for 242 yards and the three touchdowns.
“He played really well,” Logan said. “I think his ceiling is incredibly high. He’s a really hard worker, he’s a really good leader, and so I’m excited to kind of see him grow week to week and really unleash his full potential.”
Julian Delossantos (43 yards) and Nikoh Rivers (47 yards) also scored rushing touchdowns for the Eagles in the final quarter.
Graham-Kapowsin finished with 408 yards of total offense, averaging 7.7 yards per play on the ground and 19.8 yards per play through the air on the way to a win.
The Rams’ best chance to score was on their opening drive, when aided by a series of Eagles’ penalties, they advanced as far as the Graham-Kapowsin 9.
But, a bad snap on a second-and-goal play that sailed into the backfield was recovered by Graham-Kapowsin safety Ethan Pletcher, setting up the deciding score not long after.
The Eagles limited the Rams on offense throughout the rest of the contest, and stopped Rogers in the backfield 11 times.
Thursday night’s victory was the first win of Logan’s head coaching career, after taking over for longtime coach Eric Kurle following eight seasons as an assistant on Graham-Kapowsin’s staff.
It also brought the Eagles’ active winning streak to 21 games — which they’ll look to extend again next week when they host 4A SPSL contender Puyallup.
Rogers also resumes its league season next week on the road at South Kitsap.
EATONVILLE 47, OLYMPIC 27
Job Kralik did a little bit of everything for the Cruisers in Eatonville’s season-opening win over visiting Olympic on Thursday night.
The Army commit has moved to quarterback this season, and got off to a strong start in the new position in the first game, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for three. Those touchdowns on the ground included a 66-yard run in the second quarter and a 35-yard rushing touchdown in the third. Unofficially, Kralik was 3-for-3 passing for 145 yards and two touchdowns and ran for over 100 yards and three touchdowns.
“It was fun,” said Eatonville coach Gavin Kralik, Job’s dad. “You never know how it’s going to go with a player making a first start in a new position. I’m proud of how he performed today.”
Kralik hasn’t played quarterback since middle school. At 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, he might not look the part, but his understanding of the game puts him in a good position to succeed.
“He has a really good football IQ,” Kralik said. “Obviously, being a coach’s kid, he’s been around the game for a long time. He has a good sense of leadership in our program.”
Sophomore receiver Ky Nation had two receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown.
Eatonville is a strong contender to challenge for the 1A state title this season. The Cruisers advanced to the 1A championship game last season, falling to Royal.
FRIDAY (SEPT. 2)
GIG HARBOR 20, SPANAWAY LAKE 0
Gig Harbor’s spotless defensive showing on Friday night was “exactly what Tides football is all about,” in the words of first-year head coach Darrin Reeves.
Tapped for coaching duties after previously serving as defensive coordinator, Reeves’ squad posted a shutout in the season opener and beat a Spanaway Lake team sporting four Division I recruits at Roy Anderson Field.
Defensive backs Colton Oyster and Christian Parrish snagged interceptions as Gig Harbor completely denied Sentinel attacks for all 48 minutes.
“We forced about three other fumbles that we didn’t recover, but we were hitting them and knocking it loose,” Reeves said. “It’s playing as one. No matter who’s been successful on our team, we’re gonna be happy for whoever it is, and just keep building off playing Tides football.”
Gig Harbor quarterback Will Landram took care of the ball and made crucial plays when needed, including a 1-yard touchdown rush in the second quarter that put the Tides on the board.
The score gave Gig Harbor a seven-point halftime lead before Gary Michael converted a pair of field goals and tailback Blaze Herbert erupted for a 50-yard rushing score in the third.
“We had a lot of new faces on defense,” Reeves said, “and it was just amazing to see them gel and work as a team, and work as one.”
BOX SCORE
SL: 0-0-0-0--0
GH: 0-7-13-0--20
SUMNER 22, BELLARMINE PREP 16
Sumner’s defense posted a second-half shutout on Friday night, fueling a Spartans rally en route to a season-opening win over Bellarmine Prep at Sunset Chev Stadium.
Senior signal-caller Kayde Bodine dashed for a 7-yard keeper touchdown in the fourth quarter, which was the eventual game-winner.
He found wideout Kano Bordon for a 30-yard passing touchdown in the third, totaling 116 yards through the air and 37 more on the ground.
Caden Evans scored the game’s first points with a 2-yard rushing touchdown in the opening quarter.
BOX SCORE
BP: 10-6-0-0--16
S: 7-0-7-8--22
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 12:10 AM.
