Jaycion Cain, Steilacoom win 2A SPSL shootout against Franklin Pierce
Those who arrived at Steilacoom High School looking for, or maybe even expecting, defense on Thursday night waited a long time to find it.
Instead, those congregated for the News Tribune’s Game of the Week poll winner witnessed a series of offensive body blows, big plays and lead changes before the host Sentinels finally scratched out a 48-44 victory over Franklin Pierce in a 2A South Puget Sound League contest.
“I can’t even think of the last time we’ve had a back and forth, with this type of points on the board,” Steilacoom coach Kyle Haller said. “But, that’s three weeks in a row we’ve found a way to win football games.”
Early on, there were a lot of guys involved in the offenses. Though the lead changed hands only once during the first 24 minutes, both sides made plays to get points on the board.
The Cardinals built the early advantage, scoring first on Christian Goode’s 17-yard run with 4 minutes, 36 seconds to play in the first half. Franklin Pierce retained an 8-6 advantage, even after Jaycion Cain grabbed a desperation toss out to the left sideline from Drew MacDonald and raced 17 yards of his own to cut the margin.
On the ensuing kickoff, Treyvon Silva got his first punch of the night in. Silva gathered in the Steilacoom kickoff at his own 22-yard line, made one cut and was gone 78 yards for the second Cardinal score of the game, pushing the lead to 14-6.
THE MAIN EVENT: SILVA VS. CAIN
That return seemed to ignite what turned into a blow-for-blow grudge match between Silva and Cain. On Steilacoom’s next possession, Cain answered with a 40-yard touchdown run.
MacDonald connected with Syr’Anthony Lomiga for the two-point conversion pass and suddenly things were tied again at 14-14. MacDonald went on to have a big half, throwing three of his five total touchdown passes to stake the Sentinels to a 28-14 lead heading into halftime. MacDonald enjoyed his night overall, completing 17 of 28 passes for 256 yards with an interception to go with those five TDs.
Once the third quarter started, though, the match became Silva vs. Cain.
“He’s a dawg,” Cain said of his Cardinal running back counterpart. “He definitely lit my fire.”
Silva hadn’t carried the ball at all, other than on returns, in the first half. After the break, he amassed 169 yards on 11 carries (to go with that 78-yard kickoff return), and scored three of Franklin Pierce’s four touchdowns in the half.
Silva’s second of those TDs put the Cardinals back in front for the first time since the game had been 14-6, as he went seven yards with 11:11 to play in the game to put FP in front, 36-34. It was the first of four lead changes in the fourth quarter alone.
Cain immediately responded, playing off a short 45-yard drive when he grabbed a short pass in the backfield from MacDonald on a broken play and weaved his way into the end zone for a six-yard score. That put the Sentinels in front, 42-36.
Three plays later, Silva swung outside and raced 68 yards as Franklin Pierce forged ahead, 44-42, with 6:34 to go. Just over two minutes later, Cain scored his fourth TD of the night, from six yards out, and Steilacoom led it, 48-44.
Cain finished the night with 204 yards of total offense, going for 174 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries while adding two more scores on three receptions for 30 yards.
“Really, dang,” Cain said. “I didn’t know. I was just running. It was going through a lot of adversity. We overcame it. A great team win.”
PLAY OF THE GAME
Amid all of the offensive fireworks, it did finally come down to defense. And it was Steilacoom who came up big when needed, halting the Cardinals twice on fourth downs inside the last two minutes to secure the victory.
The bigger of the two stops came with 1:51 to go, as there was plenty of time on the clock – especially how things were going on Thursday – for FP to get another score. But, on fourth and four from the Cardinal 41, Dawan Johnson’s attempt to bull his way up the middle was stopped by a cadre of Sentinel defenders filling the gap, and halting Johnson after a two-yard gain.
“I think our guys just finally recognized that they had to,” Haller said. “It was really that. We didn’t do a whole lot differently defensively. But our guys knew it. At that point it was just do or die, and they stepped up in a big way.”
UP NEXT
The Sentinels will play arguably their biggest contest of the season when they travel to Enumclaw. The Cardinals go home to host Orting. Both games are scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. on Friday.
This story was originally published September 22, 2022 at 11:53 PM.