High school football scores, roundup: Yelm’s defense silences Lincoln
Results, recaps and more from Week 2 high school football contests around the South Sound will be posted on this page Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Looking for local scores? Find them at the bottom of this story.
SATURDAY’S RESULTS (SEPT. 14)
LIFE CHRISTIAN 35, NAPAVINE 28
Jabez Boyd’s pass may have been intended for Champ Seumalo. The ball definitely tipped off the senior receiver’s finger tips, changing its trajectory slightly near the right front corner of the end zone at Stadium Bowl on Saturday night.
Instead of the ball falling to the turf on third-and-1 from the Napavine 14-yard line, though, Tyler Hamm found it as he crossed behind Seumalo with 33 seconds left. Hamm secured the pass, fell to the ground for Life Christian’s go-ahead touchdown and rolled out of bounds.
Boyd and Seumalo then connected on the two-point conversion, the Eagles defense held Napavine on its final possession and Life Christian walked away with a thrilling 35-28 non-conference victory.
“When you’re a young team like ours, we’re gonna get challenged like that,” LCA coach Herschel Dennis said. “That’s what you can expect from a team that has culture, that has a tradition and has discipline. They’re always going to come out in the second half because they do the little things right, all the time.”
The Tigers managed only 57 total yards of offense over the first two quarters against Life Christian. They scored touchdowns on their first four possessions in the second half.
The fourth, with a two-point conversion, gave Napavine a 28-27 lead with just 4 minutes, 23 seconds left to play in the game. Seven plays later, thanks largely to five runs for 33 yards from running back Atinae Nuu, the Eagles had a third-and-1 on the 14 with 44 seconds left to play.
Nuu was not in the game, having been hit hard on the nine-yard run that got LCA to that point. It was the last of his 18 carries for 132 yards. And it forced him to the sidelines where he definitely was woozy.
On Life Christian’s previous possession, Nuu had come out of the backfield on a wheel route down the right sideline. Boyd found his back near midfield and Nuu did the rest. He made three cuts to elude tacklers, ran through four other defenders as he refused to go down en route to a 59-yard touchdown run that gave the Eagles a 27-20 lead with 6:19 to play.
“I made up my mind,” Nuu said. “I carried the team on my back. What it did, it affected my team. It was in the game, in the moment.”
The reception was Nuu’s only one of the game. But along with the rushing yards, it gave him 191 yards of total offense in the game after not getting a one for his first two years playing at LCA.
Not that he didn’t touch the ball the last two seasons.
“He sacrificed his first two years,” Dennis said. “We always knew about his athletic ability. But we needed him to play offensive line.”
Nuu was the Eagles center for two years. So he saw the ball on virtually every offensive play. But never got the glory. His second start as a running back turned that all around.
Still, Cayle Kelly’s 50-yard run for Napavine less than two minutes later left the Eagles with a one-point deficit, 28-27.
Then Hamm made the second spectacular TD catch in two possessions for the Eagles. That left Napavine with 30 seconds to try to go 63 yards after the ensuing kickoff to tie it or win the game. Quarterback Grady Wilson connected twice with Karsen Denault for 15-yard receptions. But a final attempt to connect with the senior receiver was defended by two Eagles and fell incomplete inside the 5-yard line as the final buzzer sounded.
Boyd finished the game having completed 11 of 14 passes for 204 yards for the Eagles.
FRIDAY’S RESULTS (SEPT. 13)
YELM 26, LINCOLN 13
Lincoln sophomore quarterback Sione Kaho never looked comfortable against the visiting Yelm Tornados on Friday night, rushing a few throws and missing some others, clearly affected by the pressure from the Tornados’ front.
Yelm’s gameplan was to make him uncomfortable. It worked like a charm in Yelm’s 26-13 win at Lincoln Bowl on Friday night in a non-league contest.
“I feel like I was back there a lot,” said Yelm defensive lineman Jonah Smith, smiling. “Just overall got in his head. The whole d-line, d-end to d-end, nose to nose, all of us were back there.”
To Yelm coach Jason Ronquillo, it was the difference.
“We put in some blitzes, stunt packages, particularly this week just for (Kaho) because we knew that if we could get him on his toes, make him work a little bit harder than he’s used to working, then we’d have some chances,” he said. “There were some times we went into Cover 0 and said let’s go get him.
“They knew that, because we know their offense — their offense isn’t on his back — but he plays a gigantic role in how successful they’ll be. That was our No. 1 goal, affect the quarterback and everything else will fall into place.”
Yelm’s defense held Kaho to 174 yards passing, a touchdown and an interception.
Early on, it looked like Yelm might be able to score at will, marching down the field on a 13-play, 66-yard touchdown drive to open the game. But a collarbone injury to senior running back Nathan Ford — who returned in the fourth quarter in a light blue gown after a trip to the hospital — slowed down Yelm’s offense.
Still, junior dual-threat quarterback Parker Myers was efficient with his arm and his legs, passing for 145 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 69 yards and another pair of touchdowns.
“After Ford went out, I knew I was going to be running a lot more,” Myers said. “It’s Yelm football, running the ball. Get down and dirty.”
Lincoln coach Masaki Matsumoto felt the Abes didn’t protect their star sophomore quarterback well enough.
“They’re an aggressive defense,” he said. “We knew that. We prepared for some of their blitzes. We just didn’t do a great enough job coaching them and we couldn’t give Sione enough time. We had guys open. We had guys open all game.”
The game’s biggest momentum swing came in the third quarter. After Lincoln took the lead, Yelm faced a 3rd and 17 and Myers went for a deep pass. The Lincoln defensive back slipped and fell and Myers connected with Jacob Ford for an 80-yard backbreaking touchdown.
Yelm moves to 2-0 with wins over Class 3A Tacoma schools Mount Tahoma and Lincoln. Despite the graduation of Brayden Platt (Oregon), Isaiah Patterson (UCLA) and others, Yelm is still winning football games in typical Yelm fashion.
“Last year, everyone was saying Platt was carrying us,” Smith said. “I would say this year, we’re showing that we don’t really need Platt. He was a great player, a great Yelm player, but we’re showing it’s not just one player that makes a program.
“A program is a program. We’re just playing Yelm football at the end of the day.”
Eastlake 23, Mount Tahoma 7
Moments before Kade Haroldsen’s 28-yard touchdown grab, Eastlake coaches asked the perimeter wideout to beat his man one-on-one. Haroldsen obliged.
Scoreless in the second quarter, Friday night’s run-heavy game script about-faced when Eastlake’s 6-3 senior cut up the field and left Mount Tahoma’s Devon Addison behind him.
“Saw him press me, gave him a little inside release and knew I had him,” Haroldsen told The News Tribune. “Beat him. Caught the ball, touchdown.”
Extending for an impressive snag, Haroldsen’s 28-yard grab provided an early lead that held up at Mount Tahoma Stadium on Friday night. The two-way starter added an interception on defense and Eastlake forced five turnovers in a 23-7 victory, rallying behind backup QB Ryder Barrysmith.
“Everyone just fought really hard,” Haroldsen said. “It feels amazing.”
Eastlake lost QB1 Landon Renfroe in the third quarter of their season opener last week (arm injury), a 40-14 loss to 3A-power Eastside Catholic.
Their defense was the star of tonight’s show.
The Wolves intercepted Mount Tahoma QB Mikkah Cordero four times, forcing him into contested throws on the run. Eastlake recovered a Felix Diaz fumble in the second quarter, another T-Birds drive that stalled in Wolves territory after Mount Tahoma had effectively moved the ball on the ground.
Mount Tahoma falls to 0-2, but don’t measure them by record. The T-Birds fell to reigning 3A state runner-up Yelm by one possession last week, 42-34. Eastlake was another test in Mount Tahoma’s grueling non-league schedule.
It’s by design.
“We’re going to schedule top opponents because we want to get better,” Mount Tahoma head coach Keith Terry said. “Do we want to win games like everybody else? Yes, of course. We want to earn those wins.
“These games that we’re scheduling… They’re testing us. They’re testing our commitment as a team. They’re testing us to see where we’re at as a program.
“There’s been good, and there’s a lot of things we’ve got to improve on.”
Haroldsen’s 28-yard score — plus another contested grab that set up a 33-yard field goal at the horn — sent Eastlake into the locker room with a 10-0 halftime lead.
Mount Tahoma finally cashed in on a sustained offensive drive with 4:55 remaining in the third, when Cordero bounced to the outside on a designed play-action keeper and darted for a two-yard score. Chunk runs by Diaz set it up.
Eastlake’s Dominic Miller intercepted Cordero on Mount Tahoma’s next drive, and within minutes, the Wolves LB/RB converted his own two-yard rushing touchdown.
Just when the T-Birds seemingly settled back in, Miller jumped another route and picked Cordero again.
Eastlake’s Myles Johnson scored from one yard to extend the Wolves lead, 23-7, and with only a minute left, LB Oliver Hamilton’s ensuing interception sealed it.
Mount Tahoma freshman Briytan Bailey intercepted Barrysmith early in the third quarter.
“We’ve been here before, so we’re going to attack it in that same fashion,” Terry said. “We’re going to learn from it and push forward.”
Stadium 42, Silas 21
This one was only for bragging rights. But despite the fact it no longer is a league counter, host Stadium and Silas played as if everything was on the line.
Familiarity definitely can breed some form of contempt.
By the time it became really chippy at Stadium Bowl, though, the Tigers were well in control of their eventual 42-21 victory over the Rams.
“These guys, a lot of them are our friends,” Stadium coach Pat Johnson said. “It’s just, when you get a team down and it starts getting that way, it’s a matter of not getting to a point where it’s gotten in the south Sound before. The referees tried to control it pretty well.”
Stadium, now 2-0, begins play a week from now in its new league – the 4A North Puget Sound. Silas (1-1) remains a 3A school.
“It feels great,” Stadium running back Darius Sum said. “We got the rivals. It feels good, man.”
Stadium gets Mount Rainier to open its NPSL stay. And the Tigers jump into that league’s play with one of the hottest running backs going after the first two weeks of the 2024 season.
Sum was a one-man wrecking crew on Friday against the Rams. The junior carried the ball 18 times overall, gained 255 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns on the ground. Oh yeah, and he added two receptions from quarterback Konner Tasler for another 13 yards and a fifth score.
“Five touchdowns,” Sum said. “I just won me a bet from my friend, my friend.”
Sum and a buddy put a friendly wager on Sum rushing for over 200 yards on Friday. He got to that mark midway through the third quarter, taking a third-and-1 play through the middle of the line for 32 yards to give him 206 yards on 14 carries at the time.
Three plays later, he hit 250 yards with a 34-yard touchdown run that all but finished his night. The score put Stadium up, 35-7, with just 1 minute, 27 seconds left to go in the third.
The Rams got a pair of long touchdown passes, the second a 70-yard strike that Jamal Graham took to the house with 3:06 left in the game. That Silas score did nothing more than tighten the final gap, however.
That’s because Sum basically ended this one by halftime. In fact, his fourth touchdown of the game, after the Stadium defense had stopped Silas on a fourth-and-6 from the Tigers 36-yard line, concluded the first half. Stadium got the ball with 21 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Tigers handed the ball to Sum, who cut up field, broke a tackle and broke to his left. He wound up in the end zone 64 yards later as the clock hit 0:00. It staked Stadium to a 28-0 advantage heading into the locker room, and gave Sum 174 yards on 13 carries in the first 24 minutes.
Sum added his big performance to a 162-yard effort in Week 1 and now has 417 yards rushing in two weeks, averaging 208.5 a game.
“It’s about the guys up front, continuing to work,” Johnson said. “To be able to practice ‘O’ line only is something special. Continuity, it really helps.”
THURSDAY’S RESULTS (SEPT. 12)
Bethel 21, Emerald Ridge 7
The formula called for a heavy dose of the run game, and Lance Santos delivered.
Bethel’s senior halfback assumed a bellcow role Thursday night, handling 34 carries for 155 yards and three touchdowns, and the Bison rumbled over Emerald Ridge, 21-7, for their first win of the 2024 season.
Santos slipped through tacklers and bolted up the right sideline for his third touchdown of the night with less than a minute remaining in regulation, a hat trick that sealed Bethel’s impressive showing at Sparks Stadium.
The difference Thursday? The Bison totaled 163 rushing yards on 43 carries, led by Santos. Emerald Ridge, meanwhile, took nine carries for negative yardage (-2) and totaled 101 yards of offense.
It’s one of the better defensive performances Bethel coach Travis Domser has been a part of.
“We’re good up front, we’re good at linebacker, and we have good DBs as well,” Domser said Thursday night, describing a unit that includes UW linebacking commit Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, the state’s top recruit in the 2025 class.
“We love to hit people. We love to keep you in front and come at you.
“We’re getting to the football, and we’re mad when we get there.”
Fife 48, White River 0
Junior safety Luke Ours opened scoring with a 25-yard pick-six in the first quarter, Fife rumbled for six rushing touchdowns, and the Trojans routed former-rival White River in a Thursday night blowout.
Fife halfbacks La’au Maka and Carlos Reyes converted two rushing touchdowns apiece, and RB Slavik Shemedyuk scored from 11 yards out – all in the first half.
RB Ben Stevenson punched home a one-yard score in the third quarter, extending the lead to 48.
White River won last year’s rendition, 21-14, when the programs were still rivals in the 2A SPSL. The Hornets joined the 3A NPSL this fall.
SOUTH SOUND SCOREBOARD
SATURDAY (SEPT. 14)
NON-LEAGUE
South Kitsap 61, Mount Rainier 8
Life Christian 35, Napavine 28
Cascade Christian 37, King’s 18
FRIDAY (SEPT. 13)
3A NPSL
Enumclaw 47, Todd Beamer 0
NON-LEAGUE
Skyview 21, Graham-Kapowsin 17
Sumner 47, Auburn Riverside 0
Lakes 55, Bonney Lake 0
Olympia 22, Issaquah 16
Spanaway Lake 40, Kentwood 20
Laguna Beach (Calif.) 41, Gig Harbor 0
Franklin Pierce 36, Sequim 14
Steilacoom 18, Aberdeen 0
Tumwater 56, Bainbridge 6
Bellarmine Prep 33, Auburn 8
Puyallup 37, Evergreen (Vancouver) 13
W.F. West 21, Capital 13
North Thurston 41, Shelton 21
Skyview 36, Tahoma 21
Olympic 43, Central Kitsap 6
Curtis 42, Peninsula 6
THURSDAY (SEPT. 12)
3A NPSL
Auburn Mountainview 47, Kentlake 7, Final
NON-LEAGUE
Rogers 63, Kentridge 8, Final
Eatonville 28, Black Hills 0, Final
Timberline 23, Washington 20, Final
This story was originally published September 12, 2024 at 8:33 PM.
