Second-year starting QB Daveon Superales has Graham-Kapowsin undefeated atop 4A SPSL
The Graham-Kapowsin High School football staff can see the jump their second-year starting quarterback has made when they revisit game film from 2022.
Daveon Superales impressed in his debut for the Eagles last September, throwing for 200-plus yards and three touchdowns in his first game starting for one of the state’s perennial Class 4A powerhouses.
He paced Graham-Kapowsin to a 56-0 shutout of Rogers that evening at Art Crate Field in Spanaway, and that was only the beginning.
Superales finished his junior season completing 203-of-293 passes for 2,367 yards and 21 touchdowns, leading the Eagles to a 10-3 record, a seven-game winning streak in October and November and an appearance in the 4A state semifinals.
This season as a senior? Superales has built on that performance, and runs one of the most electrifying and efficient offenses not only in the South Sound, but across the state.
Graham-Kapowsin is 7-0, the leader of perhaps the state’s toughest league in the 4A SPSL and is gearing up for another postseason run. And the Eagles’ second-year signal caller is at the center of that success.
“You could always tell there was an athletic ability to him — it’s just the confidence that he approaches the game with and the offense with,” Graham-Kapowsin coach Jeff Logan said, reflecting on Superales’ progression from last season’s game film to what he has consistently put on tape this fall.
“ … You can see the maturity, and the confidence and the recollection of what we’re doing. Everything’s coming a lot quicker to him, he understands things and he’s seeing them a lot earlier and faster, and so it allows him to really utilize the natural athletic abilities that he has.”
Superales spent the first two seasons of his high school career backing up former Eagles quarterback Joshua Wood — who was a perfect 20-0 in two seasons as a starter, led the Eagles to their first state title in 2021 and a thrilling GEICO State Champions Bowl Series win in Las Vegas, and was the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior — learning what it takes to lead one of the top programs in Washington.
“I just learned to be a playmaker,” he said. “He was really good at extending plays with his legs when the reads weren’t there, and was very good at running. He was a very agile quarterback, and him being there and me having to compete with him every day just turned on something in my head like, ‘Oh wow, I can really compete with him. I can really be great.’ He was just a great quarterback, and I’m happy I got to learn a lot from him.”
When Superales took over as the program’s starter last fall, he was quick to lead Graham-Kapowsin to further success, making big strides as the leader of the Eagles’ offense along the way.
Logan recalls the program’s Week 6 win over Curtis last fall as a key moment in Superales’ progression. Graham-Kapowsin had a four-point lead at halftime, but neither team scored in the third quarter, and it wasn’t until Superales connected with Jabez Woods on a 65-yard slant in the fourth that the Eagles put the lead out of reach on the way to a 24-19 win.
“I think that’s when the confidence portion of it really clicked for him,” Logan said. “That, ‘This game isn’t too big or too quick for me, I can do this, and really kind of let my athleticism take over.’ ”
That victory kicked off a seven-game winning streak for Graham-Kapowsin. The final game of that stretch — in a quarterfinals rematch with a Sumner program that beat the Eagles, 34-31, in the regular season on the way to the 4A SPSL title — was when Superales said his confidence soared.
“In a sense, the odds were against us, everyone thought we were going to lose because we lost to them in the regular season,” Superales said. “And then also playing at their home field with their big crowd, and just the atmosphere, the pressure.
“ … I knew I had to stay calm. I knew I had to just play my game, do what I do. And just me knowing that I could do that again, just really boosted my confidence level. Like, ‘Oh yeah, you can really do this, just believe in yourself.’ ”
Superales threw for 220 yards and a touchdown in that game, and rushed for two more to pace the Eagles to a 28-21 victory and a trip to the state semifinals.
When Superales looks back at last season’s film, he too sees how his game evolved his first season as a starter.
“Just seeing me progress from my first start to the semifinal game really showed how much a person can really progress in a couple months,” he said.
Graham-Kapowsin lost to eventual 4A champion Lake Stevens the following week, but gave Superales and the rest of the Eagles’ returners motivation to top that performance this fall.
“I’m happy we got to where we were,” Superales said. “And feeding off that from last year into this year really helped a lot.”
This season, Superales leads a high-flying Eagles offense that has been nearly flawless through seven weeks.
He has completed 75 percent of his passes (174-of-232) for a 4A SPSL-leading 1,968 yards and 24 touchdowns to just one interception. He has thrown for 200-plus yards in every game this season, 300-plus in three games and threw for a career-high 400 yards in a win over South Kitsap last week. He also has passing touchdowns in every game, six contests with at least three and tossed a career-high six in the Eagles’ season-opener against Rogers back in August.
Superales now has 10 consecutive games throwing for 200-plus yards and at least one touchdown, dating back to the opening round of the 2022 state playoffs, and as Graham-Kapowsin has focused more on the passing game this fall, Superales has been able to further showcase his ability through the air.
“He’s just playing with so much composure, so much confidence in the pocket,” 247Sports National Recruiting Editor Brandon Huffman said.
Superales’ skill running the ball has also impressed, whether as designed in the Eagles’ offense or by extending plays and finding ways to pick up first downs on the ground.
“That’s just kind of the natural gamer in him,” Logan said. “That’s not something you teach. Kids either have that or they don’t have that — and Daveon’s got it.”
Superales has averaged 6.5 yards per rushing attempt this season, collecting 324 yards and four touchdowns on 50 carries.
His career-high 120 rushing yards and two touchdowns were key in an overtime win over defending 4A SPSL champion Sumner in Week 5, and he made several plays in the running game to lead the Eagles to a win over Curtis in Week 6 in a meeting of undefeated programs.
“It’s really exciting to watch,” Logan said.
Superales is on track to surpass 5,000 career passing yards and 50 career passing touchdowns his final season, with 4,397 yards and 46 touchdowns in 25 appearances (20 starts) to date. He has also rushed for 698 yards and eight scores so far in his career.
When his final season with the Eagles is complete, Superales hopes to continue his football career at the college level.
The Eagles have already sent two quarterbacks in Wood (now in his second season at Fresno State) and Dylan Morris (in his fifth season at Washington) to Division I programs in the past decade.
Huffman noted Superales’ ability to distribute the ball in the passing game — the Eagles have several Division I recruits in their receivers group — spread the field and make multiple reads, and his football IQ leading the offense as key qualities.
“I think they like his ability to run an offense and manage a game,” Huffman said.
As Superales continues to deliver stellar performances, a future in college football is surely ahead.
“There’s no doubt in my mind about his potential at the next level,” Logan said.
“I’ve just got to stay patient,” Superales said.
Graham-Kapowsin continues its 4A SPSL schedule Saturday night, traveling to play Emerald Ridge (6-1) in an important league showdown at 7 p.m. at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.
A win over the Jaguars, another returning 4A state semifinalist, would secure the league’s top seed into the district playoffs for Graham-Kapowsin with one regular season game remaining.
The Eagles enter the contest averaging 38.3 points and 440.7 yards of offense per game.
“We’ve been rolling for these past few weeks, and we don’t plan to stop any time soon,” Superales said.
Beyond wrapping up their 4A SPSL schedule the next two weeks — following the meeting with the Jaguars, the Eagles host Bethel in their league finale on Oct. 27 — the Eagles will look to return to the 4A state bracket for the ninth consecutive time.
Superales believes Graham-Kapowsin has a group that can reach the final game of the 2023 season on Dec. 2 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
“I believe in this team,” he said. “I believe in every single person on this team to get it done. I believe in this coaching staff. We have a great team. I love this team.”
