High school football roundup: Graham-Kapowsin outlasts Curtis in 4A SPSL shootout
Results, recaps and more from Week 6 high school football contests around the South Sound will be posted on this page Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Find Week 6 scores from games across Washington on our statewide scoring sheet, which will be updated live throughout the weekend.
SATURDAY’S RESULTS (OCT. 6)
YELM 56, CAPITAL 7
When Yelm’s run game hits a groove, there’s no stopping these Tornados.
Thanks to six rushing touchdowns and 394 total rushing yards, Yelm stomped Capital to remain atop the 3A SSC standings — setting up an exciting finish to the regular season as contests with Timberline (Oct. 13), Peninsula (Oct. 20), and Gig Harbor (Oct. 27) will likely determine a league champion.
Capital scored first Saturday night. A wayward snap sailed over the head of Yelm QB Damian Aalona on the second play of the opening drive, resulting in a Capital fumble recovery that offered prime field position on the Tornados 25.
Penalties then put Capital at the one-yard line, and Cougars QB Nolan Lahn punched a one-yard rushing score over the goal line.
Yelm trailed by seven, then scored 56 unanswered.
RB/LB Anthony Kiamco was Yelm’s leading rusher, who took seven carries for 181 yards (25.9 YPC) and two touchdowns. RB Brayden Platt tallied 150 yards and three rushing touchdowns on eight carries.
Yelm QB Damian Aalona completed 13-of-19 passes for 205 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Yelm WR Jacob Ford scored twice — first on a 35-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter and again on a 44-yard run in the third that gave the Tornados a 51-point lead.
Leading-receiver Marius Aalona grabbed three receptions for 44 yards and a 15-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Yelm totaled 620 yards of offense, 394 rushing and 226 passing.
FRIDAY’S RESULTS (OCT. 6)
GRAHAM-KAPOWSIN 42, CURTIS 35
The Graham-Kapowsin Eagles are alone at the top of the 4A SPSL standings.
Friday night on the road, at a packed Viking Stadium in University Place, the Eagles piled up 477 yards of total offense and six touchdowns to push their still-perfect record to 6-0 with a 42-35 win over a Curtis program that also entered the evening undefeated.
“This team is electric,” Eagles quarterback Daveon Superales said. “Offense is electric, defense is physical, just an overall great team. I love being an Eagle.”
Graham-Kapowsin and Curtis, which feature two of the South Sound’s top offenses, were the only two remaining undefeated 4A SPSL programs entering Week 6.
Curtis picked up signature wins over returning state contenders Sumner and Emerald Ridge early on, while the Eagles stayed undefeated with an overtime victory over the Spartans on the road last week, setting up Friday’s marquee matchup.
“I like hearing all the energy, it brings me more energy,” Eagles running back Alele Fa’apito said. “Coming out and hearing both of our sides getting loud, it makes me want to get loud, gets me hyped up for this game. I knew this game would have offense on both sides, so it really came down to defense, who was going to be the best. We pulled out the dub.”
Graham-Kapowsin’s defense forced a quick three-and-out on Curtis’ game-opening drive, the Eagles scored 10 plays later on an 8-yard keeper from Superales on a fourth-and-5 play, and never trailed.
The two programs exchanged touchdowns throughout much of the contest.
Curtis answered the Eagles’ first score on the ensuing possession, when Parker Mady made a leaping catch on a pass over the middle from Rocco Koch, and escaped a group of Eagles defenders to even up the score at 7-7 late in the first.
Malachi Durant’s corner end zone catch on a 12-yard pass from Superales gave the Eagles the lead again on their next possession, but Curtis needed only two plays to answer, when Koch ripped through the Graham-Kapowsin defense and up the sideline for a 62-yard rushing touchdown.
Durant caught a second scoring pass from Superales, this time for 18 yards, on the next drive to again give the Eagles a one-score advantage.
Mika Roberson intercepted a pass from Koch on the first play of Curtis’ next drive, but the Vikings defense later forced a turnover on downs just outside of the red zone late in the second.
Curtis then put together a one minute, 14-second touchdown drive, scoring on an 11-yard pass from Koch to Mady in the back of the end zone, and added a two-point pass from Koch to Mataio Wilson to even the game again at 21-21 with 37 seconds left in the half.
It seemed the two programs would enter the break tied, but the Eagles engineered a four-play drive in the final 31 seconds of the half to take a 27-21 lead. Backup quarterback Kaden Bourgeau, in the game for Superales who left briefly, tossed a pair of completions, including a 25-yard touchdown, which tight end Noah Fox-Flores caught on a deflection in the end zone as the half expired.
Superales returned in the second half, and led the Eagles on an eight-play scoring drive, completed with a 9-yard run by Fa’apito. Graham-Kapowsin extended the lead back to 14 points on a two-point pass from Superales to Fox-Flores, and Curtis never caught up.
“It was really big,” Superales said of extending the lead to two touchdowns in the third. “Got the momentum started. They came back and scored, they’re a really good team, too. We knew it was going to be a dogfight, knew it was going to be a shootout. We just had to keep scoring. Great play-calling by our head coach and offensive coordinator.”
The Vikings answered on their next drive, on a 17-yard pass from Koch to Mady, but Graham-Kapowsin responded with another touchdown, this time a 20-yard pass from Superales to Khris Norris, who dove across the goal line as the Eagles pushed the lead to 42-28 in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
Eagles defensive tackle Anthony Taula’i ended the Vikings’ ensuing drive, which reached the Graham-Kapowsin 33, with an interception. The Eagles later punted, giving Curtis the ball back with 5:28 to play, still trailing by a pair of touchdowns.
Koch ended a long drive with a 2-yard scoring run with 2:04 to go, but Graham-Kapowsin recovered the onside kick attempt, and the Eagles ran out the clock from there. Superales’ 19-yard run on third-and-5 with 1:39 left closed out the victory.
Superales completed 20-of-26 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns in the win, and added 92 rushing yards and another score on 14 carries.
Fa’apito led the Eagles with 121 yards and the one touchdown rushing, while Jabez Woods paced Graham-Kapowsin in receiving with 11 catches for 118 yards, and Durant added six catches for 65 yards and the two scores.
Koch was 10-of-21 for 144 yards and the three touchdowns to Mady, and led all rushers with 25 carries for 165 yards and two more touchdowns. Mady led Curtis with 117 yards and the three scores on seven catches.
Graham-Kapowsin continues 4A SPSL play next Thursday, hosting South Kitsap, while Curtis hosts Rogers on Thursday.
LINCOLN 42, STADIUM 9
Jemani Teplasy enjoyed an ultra-successful Friday evening at Stadium Bowl, both on and off the football field.
First, Teplasy went out and caught six passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half, to help lead the Lincoln Abes to a convincing 42-9 victory over host Stadium. A few minutes after the game, as his teammates surrounded him on the Bowl’s track, the senior asked and received a “yes” to homecoming from his girlfriend.
A double win for the Lincoln receiver.
“It feels great,” Teplasy said.
Teplasy’s performance boosted the Abes as they scored on their first four possessions of the game. After using the running game to score in all of 1 minute, 22 seconds after the first of five interceptions Lincoln got from Stadium quarterback Kooper Tasler, the Abes went to the air.
And they continued to do things quickly. Teplasy culminated drives of 53 seconds, 4:14 and 46 seconds with scoring catches of 25, 6 and 59 yards.
That also helped the stat line of Lincoln’s freshman quarterback, Sione Kaho, who completed 17-of-26 passes for 339 yards, those three touchdowns and two interceptions. Overall, Lincoln’s longest drive of the game only lasted 4 minutes and 35 seconds – and that came late in the fourth quarter when the second string went 56 yards in seven plays for the Abes final score of the game.
With the win, Lincoln moves to 3-3 overall, 2-1 in the Pierce County League, as the Abes continue to right the ship after a tough nonleague schedule. In beating the Tigers, Lincoln keeps Stadium from securing its first winning season since 2016 as the Tigers fall to 4-2, 2-2.
“Playing tougher teams really exposes what you need to work on, and we really work on those things,” Lincoln coach Masaki Matsumoto said. “There’s still a lot of things to do. But know that our kids will be up for it. Our goals are still in front of us. Every week matters and every game counts.”
EMERALD RIDGE 49, BETHEL 14
Jake Schakel just walked into Bethel’s building and put on a passing clinic.
Schakel, Emerald Ridge’s senior quarterback, threw for 377 yards and six touchdowns in a 4A SPSL-clash that soon turned one-sided.
Better yet — Schakel completed 19-of-23 passes without an interception. He threw more touchdowns (six) than incompletions (four).
Bethel RB Roy Lockley III countered with a 102-yard rushing performance on 14 carries, and the Bison led by a touchdown after the opening quarter.
Bethel out-rushed Emerald Ridge 159-32. It didn’t matter. Make no mistake: This was the Schakel show.
A trio of Jaguars WRs were obvious beneficiaries. Tony Harste took five receptions for 79 yards and three touchdowns. Gio Kafentzis logged five catches for 111 yards and two scores, and Kajon Babcock added five receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown.
AUBURN RIVERSIDE 54, TODD BEAMER 14
Auburn Riverside RB Thyrou Umi-Tuato’o ran wild for five touchdowns — an insurmountable performance for Todd Beamer in a rout Friday.
Umi-Tuato’o soon proved unstoppable. He scored twice in the first quarter on 13- and 24-yard totes, and went on to collect a game-high 153 rushing yards on 16 carries (9.6 YPC).
Auburn Riverside’s defense was again scary, too. Todd Beamer mustered just 24 rushing yards on 22 attempts, and Lucas Lemalu and Isaac Mospanko snagged interceptions.
Ravens QB Andrew Wold completed 13-of-16 passes for 110 yards with zero interceptions and one touchdown — a 24-yard pass to Alex Park in the third quarter.
Umi-Tuato’o erupted for a 15-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, his fifth of the contest.
BATTLE GROUND 23, LAKES 0
A normally-dynamic Lakes offense failed to surpass 100 total yards, the Lancers’ inhibitor in a shutout loss to 4A-power Battle Ground.
Battle Ground averages nearly 40 points per game; not on Lakes, which held the Tigers to three field goals and a pair of goal-line touchdown runs by QB Jacob Champine.
But how good was Battle Ground’s defense? Lakes mustered 51 rushing yards on 20 attempts, adding 38 total passing yards on five completions by QB Exavier McChristian.
The Tigers have allowed just 14 points all season, still an unbeaten 6-0.
Battle Ground stormed to non-league victories over Mark Morris (Sept. 1), Todd Beamer (Sept. 9), and Heritage (Sept. 22) by a combined score of 148-0.
Friday’s win over Lakes marks Battle Ground’s second-straight win over a 3A PCL program after a 24-7 victory vs. Mount Tahoma on Sept. 30.
THURSDAY’S RESULTS (OCT. 5)
GIG HARBOR 59, RIVER RIDGE 12
Tides QB Benji Park eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark and threw six touchdowns in a rout over league-rival River Ridge on Thursday night.
Park completed 15-of-24 passes for 318 yards, good for over 21 yards per completion and 13 yards per attempt.
Gig Harbor drew first blood on Park’s 80-yard touchdown pass to Ayden Fink, the longest completion of the game.
The Tides built a three-touchdown lead before River Ridge answered with back-to-back rushing touchdowns that brought its deficit to five.
Then came 42 unanswered points by Gig Harbor.
Fink paced all wideouts with 173 receiving yards, adding two touchdowns on five receptions.
WR Drake Matthies grabbed a team-high six receptions for 92 yards and three scores.
Ryland Geldermann totaled two touchdowns (one receiving, one rush). Matthew Ehler added a 29-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.
This story was originally published October 6, 2023 at 10:55 PM.
