Word’s out: Lakes defense among the South Sound’s best. ‘Playing like a brotherhood’
In the preseason’s final stages, the all-too-familiar injury bug bit Lakes once again. Three-star LB Ta’u Mareko: Out with a lower back strain for Week 1 and beyond.
Longtime Lancers coach Dave Miller quickly pivoted. He moved senior safety Sentoa Leapai down to linebacker, joining standout sophomore Michael Pulalasi in Mareko’s place ahead of Lakes’ opener with 4A-Auburn Riverside on Sept. 5.
It’s still early, but Miller’s calling it the decision of the year.
Leapai admitted early growing pains in his new position, if only for moments. Midway through their 28-13 win at Auburn Riverside, something clicked – he was comfortable. And now, in three games without Mareko, the trusted Leapai paces the Lancers defense with 33 total tackles.
“I got it down pretty fast,” Leapai told The News Tribune. “We just like to hit. We just like that feeling of hitting someone, putting them on the ground, and making them lose yards.”
Even if Leapai isn’t a natural linebacker, he certainly sounds like one.
“We had to (move Sentoa to linebacker) because of Ta’u’s absence,” Miller said. “And it’s probably one of the best things we did.”
With big shoes to fill, Leapai has risen to the occasion in a new role despite missing the entire 2023 season with a PCL tear. The two-way halfback is pacing the defense in tackles (33) and sacks (3.5) and leads a Lakes rushing attack through three contests with 208 yards on the ground.
Word’s officially out: Lakes’ defense is among the South Sound’s elite, and the unit has yet to trot out Mareko, its Division-I recruit. When he does suit up, the Lancers project to be fully healthy – a luxury in comparison to injury-riddled rosters in recent years.
In the meantime? No Mareko, no problem. Lakes (3-0) has allowed 7.7 points per game and two offensive touchdowns this fall, sporting impressive road wins over 4A-Auburn Riverside and Curtis. There’s renewed energy and confidence on campus after the Lancers already toppled perhaps the toughest remaining opponents on their schedule – and considering a rare hiccup and missed postseason in 2023, there’s even more fuel to throw on the fire.
“We’re coming with a chip on our shoulder,” Leapai said. “We’ve been working really hard. I’m talking early mornings and late nights. We’ll do anything to win.”
LANCERS RALLY TO STUN CURTIS
Behind the high-flying Curtis Vikings by double-digits in University Place, the Lancers weren’t stressed. Smiles in the huddle and on the sideline proved the opposite.
“We were laughing on the field, actually,” Leapai said. “We were having a great time. Fourth quarter came around, everybody made big plays. Linemen did their stuff, quarterback did his stuff. Everybody, both sides of the ball.”
Lakes QB Willie Nash Jr. found wide receivers Tristan Baker (three yards) and Exavier McChristian (59) for touchdowns in the closing minutes, and the Lancers rallied from a 10-0 deficit to shock 4A-Curtis behind a defense that kept them within striking distance all night. Lakes lured the Vikings into three interceptions; Leapai sacked two and recovered a fumble.
Another eye-popping stat: Curtis mustered 11 total rushing yards.
Pulalasi noticed.
“I love my D-Line with all my heart,” he said Wednesday. “They make my job easier. They make everything less complicated.
“It helps me and my other linebacker fill the holes and get our job done.”
Added Leapai: “Our defensive line is crazy. It’s actually stacked.”
Lancers DE Tupu Saleauma tipped and corralled the game-sealing interception at Curtis High School, and victory formation ensued. Lakes 14, Curtis 10.
Miller’s postgame dance moves in a noisy visiting locker room may have proven this was more than your typical non-conference victory.
“I had to dance with him,” three-year varsity lineman Amidjah Dilworth smiled. “All good things after the game.”
DEFENSE BY THE NUMBERS
Even the South Sound’s premier playmakers are having fits with Lakes defenders.
Week 1 at Auburn Riverside: Lakes silenced four-star Ravens RB and UW commit Jonathan Epperson in his senior debut. He took seven carries for two yards and caught three passes for 24 yards. Lancers allowed one offensive touchdown (and pick-six) in 28-13 win.
Week 2 vs. Bonney Lake: Lancers suffocated the Panthers and literally pushed them backward. Bonney Lake mustered negative-two total yards of offense (six pass, -8 rush) in a 55-0 defeat at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood. Lakes recovered three fumbles; DB Jalen Boone returned his nine yards for a second-quarter touchdown.
Week 3 at Curtis: Vikings WR and Montana State commit Xavier Ahrens logged one catch for a loss of two yards. Three-star Curtis WR Parker Mady secured six receptions for 106 yards, including a 49-yard catch-and-run screen after making two Lancers miss. “He’s shifty,” Miller said of Mady. Neither playmaker found the endzone.
Tough to run, tough to pass.
“We’re just playing like a brotherhood,” Dilworth said, a two-way defensive tackle and all-conference center. “It’s deeper than football for us.
“We’re praying together, we’re having fun together. It’s just that chemistry that makes us want to go out there and really do it for our coach and brothers beside us. It’s not really an ‘I’ thing anymore.
“Last year, it was more of an ‘I’ thing… It’s more of a team thing (now). That’s really keeping us together.”
Miller’s hoping the good times roll into Friday night’s 3A PSL opener with North Thurston, when the quest for a league title officially begins.
“It’s just been a fun group to coach,” he said. “They come to practice wanting to get better, and we don’t have any attitudes slowing us down.”
MAREKO EYES OCTOBER RETURN
Mareko, a three-star recruit holding four Division-I offers, ramped up running drills at Tuesday’s practice and is expected to return in early October. The senior linebacker praised by teammates for unmatched intensity will miss Friday night’s league opener with North Thurston but aims to play Oct. 11 in a new rivalry with Peninsula at Roy Anderson Field.
“Just trying to be really careful because he’s got a future, you know? We’re that way with everybody, but especially guys who’re playing at the next level,” Miller said.
Mareko’s offers span from Hawaii to Nevada, from Boise State to Washington. The 6-1, 205-pound linebacker played his way onto the TNT’s 2023 All-Area Second Team with a team-high 105 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 10 games.
“(Ta’u) is an alpha-male,” Miller said. “He’s got D-I offers. He’s talented. He just adds to our already-really-good defense. Michael Pulalasi… he’s going to be a D-I linebacker, too. He’s a dawg. He just loves to play football.
“So those two in the middle… man. (Ta’u returning) is just going to make us better.”
The buzz around Mareko’s upcoming season debut presents the intriguing question: When a standout defense adds a player like Ta’u into the fold, how far can the Lancers go?
“(There’s) energy that we still haven’t seen yet,” Dilworth said, “because (Ta’u) brings a different energy. He’s just a playmaker. He just makes those plays for us when we need it.”
