High school football scores, roundup: Mount Tahoma topples undefeated Bellarmine Prep
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. Looking for local scores? Find them at the bottom of this story.
FRIDAY’S RESULTS (OCT. 11)
MOUNT TAHOMA 27, BELLARMINE PREP 20
Mount Tahoma QB Mikkah Cordero drifted to his right on 4th and 2 when the junior signal caller suddenly discovered daylight.
A pivotal play in the second half of a one-point game, it wasn’t a designed quarterback run – but Cordero took matters into his own hands (and legs). The six-foot junior cut upfield, beat Bellarmine Prep linebackers to the secondary, and erupted for a 48-yard touchdown run that silenced Friday night’s home crowd.
There would be no turnover on downs, no shift in momentum. Mount Tahoma pushed a late lead to seven points, Cordero finished with three total touchdowns, and the T-Birds recovered a last-gasp onside kick to seal it.
“I read it, saw a gap, and just cut through and saw grass,” Cordero told The News Tribune. “It wasn’t our best game, but we came out with a win. We’re just gonna keep stacking days.”
Rarely are wins so timely.
Mount Tahoma squandered a 20-point, fourth-quarter lead at Central Kitsap on Sept. 26, then fell to longtime-rival Lincoln in double overtime last weekend, 38-32.
Keith Terry’s T-Birds were in no way prepared to pack it in.
“The last two weeks were rough,” the head coach said. “As a team, we knew a lot of things didn’t go our way.
“But what we didn’t do is fold. That was our motto tonight.”
Despite four holding penalties that erased a pair of Mount Tahoma touchdowns in the first half alone, Terry’s T-Birds dominated the trenches, the foundation for a powerful run game mixed with Cordero, RB Felix Diaz, and short-yardage back Keshawn Hines.
Mount Tahoma’s defensive line stymied opposing rushers, forced Bellarmine QB Birk Johnston into constant pressure, and routinely held Lions receivers to short gains on the outside.
Bellarmine Prep used two splash plays – a long catch-and-run by TE Brian McDonough in the first quarter and WR Gabe Gomez’s 62-yard score in the third – on each scoring drive. The rest came up empty; Mount Tahoma forced three second-half turnovers.
“We know most weeks, we’re going to have the advantage in the middle,” Terry said. “When we can win those battles, we know that we’ve got a good chance of winning the game. We try to keep it as simple as possible… we want to let our (defense) play fast.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Bellarmine’s Johnston punched home a one-yard touchdown rush that drew first blood, his seventh rushing score of the season. It wasn’t until the final play of the first half that Mount Tahoma equalized – a six-yard touchdown to Durr in the right corner as time expired. The programs jogged into the lockers at Bellarmine Prep Memorial Field knotted, 7-7.
“We said pressure makes diamonds,” Cordero said.
It’s when the T-Birds pulled away. Diaz found a seam and zipped up the middle for a six-yard touchdown in the third, Mount Tahoma’s first lead. T-Birds WR Anthony Quintanilla Jr. added a 55-yard score after coming down with an impressive leaping catch and jogging home, 27-13, on the opening play of the fourth.
“(The win) feels great,” Cordero said. “All of us are just trying to stay on the same page, all of us are trying to (connect), and we did it tonight.”
Undefeated no more: Bellarmine Prep’s (5-1) win streak ends at five.
Mount Tahoma concludes the regular season at home with Gig Harbor (Oct. 18) and Silas (Oct. 25).
“Regardless of the adversity, regardless of how we think something is being called… I know I’ve got a group of guys ready to fight,” Terry said. “You’re not going to knock us out that easily. Guys are going to have to beat us. We’re going to stop beating ourselves.”
SPANAWAY LAKE 34, OLYMPIA 29
The guy across the way entered Friday’s South Puget Sound League football game with all the hype. Olympia senior quarterback Cameron Downing came into the Bears game against Spanaway Lake No. 3 in the state in passing with over 1,200 yards.
But by late in the first quarter, Downing was standing helplessly on the sidelines with an undisclosed injury, having completed three of six passes for 64 yards and Olympia leading by seven points. He would not see the field again at Art Crate Field.
Meanwhile, Sentinels senior Chase Best put together the best effort of his career to lead Spanaway Lake from behind not once, or twice but three times as the Sentinels earned their first 4A SPSL victory of the year, 34-29.
“Any given day,” Spanaway Lake coach Cameron Robak said. “I knew ‘Four’ was going to have to win that game for us. And he stepped up, the best game of his career.”
‘Four,’ of course, is Best. And all the senior did on a night where Olympia completely stifled the Sentinel running game was to complete 30 of 50 passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns. Spanaway Lake trailed in the game 7-0, 22-19 and finally 29-26 after Olympia backup quarterback Tucker Downing (the sophomore brother of starter Cameron) found Harper Hejtmanek for a 20-yard touchdown with 4 minutes, 26 seconds to play in the game.
But Best wasn’t going to be beaten Friday. The senior completed five of nine passes on the deciding drive for 56 yards and the Sentinels (3-3 overall, 1-2 SPSL) went 61 yards in 11 plays, capped by Best’s 10-yard throw to Malik Burns with 2:34 remaining.
While that touchdown, Burns’ third scoring catch of the game and part of a 10-catch, 122-yard receiving night for the sophomore receiver, proved to be the game-winner, the younger Downing and the Bears made it interesting until the end.
Olympia moved the ball from its own 20-yard line to the Spanaway Lake 37 with just under a minute to play. But trying to go for the end zone with 45 seconds remaining, Tucker Downing was intercepted by Sentinels defensive back Raymond Kunimoto at the 2.
A pair of Best dives into the line of scrimmage ended it.
“Oh my,” Best said upon hearing his stat line. “That was certainly my best game ever. I’ve done this before in practice so I could do it in a game. It wasn’t too new. I know I had a slow start to the season, so really just dialing in, working hard … really just helped us come together for this big win.”
In getting their first league win, the Sentinels also handed Olympia (5-1, 2-1) its first loss of the season. Of course, the Bears will have to see what will happen with their own senior signal caller.
“It’s high school football,” Olympia coach Nick Mullen said. “We didn’t want to risk anything. We’ll re-evaluate next week and see.”
In Cameron Downing’s stead, brother Tucker put together a nice game of his own. The younger Downing completed 23 of 37 passes for 252 yards, three touchdowns and threw two interceptions.
THURSDAY’S RESULTS (OCT. 10)
NO. 6 GRAHAM-KAPOWSIN 26, BETHEL 24
When the final whistle sounded in Friday night’s rivalry game between Graham-Kapowsin and Bethel at Art Crate Field, it was all love between two of the area’s biggest stars. Bethel linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, the state’s No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class, posed for a picture with friend AJ Tuivaiave, Graham-Kapowsin’s freshman quarterback.
“I watched AJ grow up,” Rainey-Sale said. “We used to train together in like sixth, seventh grade. He’s been like that. Just watching him grow up, he’s doing his thing.”
Healthy mutual respect after a hard-fought game. Rainey-Sale showed why he’s the state’s top-rated recruit, blowing up Graham-Kapowsin plays left and right at linebacker and snagging a pair of touchdown passes on offense at receiver.
Graham-Kapowsin used a big second half to win the game, 26-24, but it didn’t come easy after last week’s statement road win against Yelm.
“We knew they had a chip on their shoulder and knew they were gonna give us everything they had, so we fully expected this,” said G-K receiver Kase Betz. who caught a pair of touchdown passes in the win.
Graham-Kapowsin trailed at half, 17-13. The message in the locker room from Logan and his staff was to the point.
“I can’t remember the exact words — ‘either give up and leave, turn in your pads and leave or buckle up and get ready for a fight,’” Betz said.
Tuivaiave, who officially announced himself by throwing a school record seven touchdowns in last week’s win over Yelm, threw three touchdown passes in the win.
But even with all the firepower on G-K’s side, it was Rainey-Sale who largely stole the show, despite the loss. Logan had high praise for the Bethel standout.
“He’s so damn fast,” Logan said. “You can’t get away from him. You can clearly see why he was so highly coveted as a recruit out of high school at linebacker. He just does some incredibly special things, his first step is fast and he makes ground on everybody.”
Graham-Kapowsin will hit the road to face Olympia next week, while Bethel will host Yelm.
SUMNER 57, ROGERS 8
Spartans QB Nate Donavan threw three touchdown passes, FB Israel Nabors scored twice on the ground, and Sumner triggered the running clock in a 49-point win over Rogers on Thursday night.
Donavan, the South Sound’s leading passer through five weeks, spread his touchdowns to three Sumner receivers, and one of the state’s top defenses blanked Rogers until the closing minutes of a 4A SPSL clash at Sunset Stadium.
Junior FB Dillon Titialii drew first blood with a 10-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and Donavan connected with Braylon Pope for another 38-yard score on the ensuing drive.
RB Israel Nabors erupted for a 53-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and Donavan hit TE Carter Cocke for a five-yard score before halftime; Sumner led 30-0 at the break.
Titialii scored again the third, a 30-yard dash. Then, another big run: Sumner’s Che Molina rumbled 40 yards for a touchdown just two minutes later.
Donovan threw his third touchdown to senior WR Kainoa Grounds in the fourth, an 11-yard pass. Freshman QB Brennan Abbott stepped in for the final minutes and hit Chase Borgomainerio for Sumner’s final touchdown, an 11-yard catch.
Make it three straight wins for the Spartans, who travel to University Place for an intriguing matchup at Curtis next Friday.
SOUTH SOUND SCOREBOARD
SATURDAY (OCT. 12)
4A NPSL
Tahoma 40, Auburn 8
FRIDAY (OCT. 11)
4A NPSL
Stadium 43, Kentridge 13
Kennedy Catholic 59, Auburn Riverside 7
4A SPSL
Emerald Ridge 7, Curtis 0
Yelm 44, Bonney Lake 7
Spanaway Lake 34, Olympia 29
3A NPSL
Decatur 49, Auburn Mountainview 0
Enumclaw 71, Kent-Meridian 0
Federal Way 15, White River 0
Thomas Jefferson 35, Kentlake 21
3A PSL
Mount Tahoma 27, Bellarmine Prep 20
Lakes 21, Peninsula 15
Lincoln 55, Silas 0
Gig Harbor 17, Central Kitsap 13
North Thurston 40, Timberline 13
2A EvCo
Tumwater 62, Black Hills 0
2A SPSL
Washington 50, Clover Park 6
Franklin Pierce 44, Steilacoom 7
NON-LEAGUE
W.F. West 28, Battle Ground 14
THURSDAY (OCT. 10)
4A SPSL
Puyallup 42, South Kitsap 14
Sumner 57, Rogers 8
3A PSL
River Ridge 38, Capital 35
2A SPSL
Eatonville 32, Fife 7
Orting 41, Foss 6
This story was originally published October 10, 2024 at 11:48 PM.
