League-leading rusher, offensive line have Sumner in position to secure outright 4A SPSL title
There is one week left in what has proved an eventful regular season in the Class 4A South Puget Sound League.
The schedule has provided impressive individual performances, close contests, convincing wins, upset losses and more than one shakeup at the top of the league standings along the way.
Now, with one game to play before six programs move on to the postseason, Sumner High School football sits alone in first place.
The No. 4 Spartans (7-1) are the league’s only remaining one-loss team, and have a chance to win an outright 4A SPSL title with a victory this weekend, for the first time since 2016.
Following a slower than expected start to the season, including close wins over Bellarmine Prep and Curtis the first two weeks, and a 10-point loss to Emerald Ridge in the third, Sumner has picked up five consecutive wins, including four victories by at least three possessions.
A win over South Kitsap this weekend would return Sumner to the top of the 4A SPSL for the second time since joining the league. The Spartans’ title six seasons ago was in their first season in the expanded 4A SPSL.
“It’s super exciting,” Sumner junior Matthew Spurbeck said. “This offseason we worked really hard, and the first couple weeks we didn’t see what we wanted to see. And when we lost to ER, it was just like, we’ve got to break down, go back to our basics and get going — get running hard, and just playing how we wanted to play. After that, we just started playing how we wanted to.”
Through eight games this season, the Spartans have collected 3,037 yards — averaging 379.6 per contest — and 37 total touchdowns on offense.
Most of that production has been on the ground, led by a steady offensive line and Spurbeck in the backfield.
Sumner is averaging 234.1 rushing yards per game, 6.3 per carry, and has scored 22 rushing touchdowns behind a starting offensive line that includes, left to right, Dylan Sikorski, Karson Starr, Kyle Martin, Rayvoughn Varnado and Burak Bowers.
“They are always super encouraging during practice, they’re always working their tails off every day, every play, all the time,” Spurbeck said. “They never complain. … They just do their jobs.”
Add in blocks from tight ends Austin Cook and Garrett Farmer, and skill position players on the outside, and the league’s leading rusher — who has eclipsed 100 yards in each game, and 200 in wins over defending league and 4A state champion Graham-Kapowsin and Olympia — has had plenty of space to work this season.
“The linemen do a great job of making holes for me, and the secondary blocks from the wide receivers make everything possible to get those huge games,” Spurbeck said.
Through eight weeks, Spurbeck has piled up 1,335 yards and 11 touchdowns on 170 carries, averaging 166.9 yards per game and 7.9 per attempt in the first full season as the Spartans’ primary back.
“He’s got above-average speed, and then he’s just tough as nails,” Sumner coach Keith Ross said. “He’s not afraid of contact. He’s got a great motor. He never wants to come out.
“ … He’s an every-down back, and we live and die by our run game, so he’s been a blessing to us.”
Spurbeck has gone from primarily a speed back as a freshman two seasons ago, to a back now averaging 21.3 carries per game as a junior — a credit to consistent training in the weight room.
“It’s benefited me tremendously,” Spurbeck said. “I don’t think I’d be the player I am right now without lifting that much.”
The strength and conditioning work eventually led to consistent carries for Sumner last season as a sophomore following an injury to starting running back Peyton Wing (who later signed with Portland State). Spurbeck played significant snaps during Sumner’s run to the 4A state quarterfinals.
“Last year really benefited him, because it gave him a taste of varsity football, and he was hungry for it,” Ross said.
That experience in key games last season helped prepare Spurbeck for the role as Sumner’s lead back this fall.
“We knew going into the season that he was our guy, and we were going to build around him,” Ross said.
Spurbeck, a captain for the Spartans this season, is also a returning starter on defense, and has added 42 tackles, including six for losses, at safety.
“It’s fun,” he said. “You get to interact with all of the defensive guys and offensive guys. They’re all your brothers, and you just love playing with them, and you want to try as hard as you can every single down for them.”
Sumner’s regular season finale is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Sunset Chev Stadium. The Spartans will look not only to close out an outright 4A SPSL title, but carry the momentum built the past month into next week’s district round.
“I tell our team every day, we’re in a good place because we have not reached our maximum potential yet,” Ross said.
Sumner’s best postseason runs in recent seasons were back-to-back state semifinals appearances in 2016 and 2017. The program’s two state championship wins were in 1975 and 1977.
In the weeks ahead, the Spartans will look to make another memorable run through the state bracket.
“We’re feeling good, but we need to just take it one practice at a time, one game at a time,” Spurbeck said. “Our slogan this year was, ‘One more,’ and that’s going to be big in the playoffs. Just one week at a time. We’re going to work hard, and we’re not going to stop doing what we do.”
This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
