High school football roundup, Week 1: Gig Harbor three-peats Fish Bowl over Peninsula
Results, recaps and more from Week 1 high school football contests around the South Sound will be posted on this page Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Looking for more scores? Find them on our statewide scoreboard here.
SATURDAY’S RESULTS (SEPT. 6)
GIG HARBOR 35, PENINSULA 21
Ian Shearer feels like he’s in a dream. From his earliest years across the Narrows, Gig Harbor’s running back spent his Friday nights watching Tides football games at Roy Anderson Field — imagining the moment he’d finally put on the pads for his hometown team.
But Shearer has officially transcended his childhood aspirations, etching his name into Fish Bowl lore: The Gig Harbor junior ran for three touchdowns in Saturday’s annual rivalry game with Peninsula High, a hat trick for the bruising tough-to-bring-down back.
“People are gonna know who No. 8 is now,” first-year Tides head coach Jeff Scoma told The News Tribune. “We knew how good (Ian) was, but he was stuck behind a really, really good back last year [Ryland Geldermann].
“Ian got his chance, and he shined big time.”
Shearer bulldozed his way to a third touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and the Tides rolled to their third-straight Fish Bowl victory over Peninsula at Mount Tahoma Stadium on Saturday, 35-21. Scoma’s Wing-T offense hummed from start to finish and three Tides scored on the ground with pass attempts few and far between.
“We’ve prepared since spring ball, waiting for Peninsula,” Tides quarterback Sawyer Hayes said. “We knew what they wanted to run, we knew what we wanted to do against them, and we worked really hard to get where we were tonight.”
Scoma and the Tides hoisted the Fish Bowl trophy in front of a packed house in South Tacoma, where thousands have gathered since the crosstown rivalry moved from Roy Anderson Field to Mount Tahoma Stadium in 2024.
The Seahawks scored first when RB Jacob Martin extended over the pylon for a 15-yard score in the opening minutes — but Gig Harbor turned the tide and never looked back. Shearer bolted 23 yards for the equalizer on the first play of the second quarter, and RB Wilson West added a six-yard score for the lead just 10 minutes later.
Peninsula trailed by a touchdown with 1:21 remaining in the first half, enough time for points before the break, when Gig Harbor struck again. Hayes, a two-way quarterback and safety, lurked in the secondary when his eyes lit up: Tides DL Peyton Howard had tipped Seahawks QB Talen McDonnell’s pass near the line of scrimmage, and Hayes snagged the wayward football for an interception before rumbling to the 4-yard line.
Instead of a potential halftime draw, the Tides doubled their lead, 21-7. It was only fitting that Hayes cashed in at quarterback, a 1-yard keeper that sent Gig Harbor to the locker room up 14.
“Getting the pick and then flipping over and playing quarterback is pretty crazy,” Hayes said. “The QB sneak, just trusting my center and guards to get me in.”
Shearer ballooned the score, 28-7, with a 3-yard touchdown run in the third. His 10-yard run early in the fourth completed the hat trick.
McDonnell added a 2-yard touchdown up the middle in the third quarter and lofted a 15-yard score to WR Jake Johnson in the fourth before Gig Harbor’s run game bled the game clock empty.
“We are brothers on this team,” Shearer said. “We came together as a family. I love all of these guys, and there’s no one else I’d rather win with.
“I’ve got my coach and my fellow running back right here, and I just want to give a shoutout to Wilson West and (RB coach) Jacob Lawson.”
FRIDAY’S RESULTS (SEPT. 5)
GRAHAM-KAPOWSIN 40, O’DEA 38
AJ Tuivaiave used to dream of moments like these — two minutes to go, the game on the line and in his hands.
That dream played out right in front of him against reigning 3A state champion O’Dea on Friday night at Art Crate Field. Watching his team’s lead wither against the Irish in the fourth quarter, Tuivaiave needed to take his team 80 yards down the field to win the game. He did just that: seven plays and 80 yards, capped off with a QB keeper from a yard out to win the game, 40-38.
Not bad from the 15-year-old sophomore, who had to wrestle all the momentum back from O’Dea coach Monte Kohler’s side.
“Stay level-headed,” Tuivaiave said of his thought process. “It’s just a football game, at the end of the day.”
Tuivaiave was brilliant, picking apart an O’Dea defense that was one of the state’s best last season. He rushed for three touchdowns and passed for two more, targeting junior receiver Kase Betz and sophomore receiver Jayce Halasz throughout the game.
The performance was made more impressive by the fact that it came against the state’s best defensive line with Graham-Kapowsin missing a couple linemen.
“I think he showed such a poise in the pocket tonight,” Graham-Kapowsin coach Jeff Logan said. “Sliding up and moving. … He has shown such tremendous strides as a pocket mover. The sky’s the limit for him.”
Graham-Kapowsin led 34-17 at the end of the third quarter but O’Dea stormed back with touchdown runs from Max Speller, Uriah Stringfield and Owen Brustkern, the last of which gave O’Dea a 38-34 lead late.
“We challenged our d-line, because we were thin,” Logan said.
Tuivaiave handled the rest. His game-winning touchdown was set up with a 27-yard pass to Mazaia Roberson, who made several defenders miss on his way to the 1-yard line. Roberson had dropped a pass earlier in the drive, but Tuivaiave went right back to him.
“That’s what a leader is,” he said. “A leader doesn’t bash their teammates, a leader picks them up, still goes back to them. Roberson made a couple mistakes but he’s gonna clutch up. That’s a thing for us, putting faith in each other, putting faith in God, mostly.”
The Eagles’ win accomplished one other thing: spoiling Monte Kohler’s party — or at least delaying it for a week. With a win, Kohler would’ve become the all-time winningest coach in Washington state history. For now, he remains tied with legendary Tumwater coach Sid Otton with 394 wins.
FRANKLIN PIERCE 38, LINCOLN 29
They’ll remember the night of Sept. 5, 2025, at Lincoln Bowl as “The Bryson Allen Game.”
Franklin Pierce’s feature back rumbled for a career-high five touchdowns, and the 2A-Cardinals knocked off the Lincoln Abes, 38-29, in a statement road win on Friday night.
Need the reigning 2A SPSL MVP to convert a 4th and 3? No problem. How about a 4th and 11 to the house for a 22-yard score? You bet. Allen dashed home for a 21-yard touchdown run in the final minutes of the fourth quarter for his fifth score, followed by a two-point conversion that pushed Franklin Pierce’s lead to two possessions and served as Friday night’s dagger.
“I don’t really know… I mean, five (touchdowns)? Kind of crazy,” Allen said.
Cardinals head coach Trevor Hanson scheduled 3A-Lincoln and 2A-Lynden for a season-opening, non-league gauntlet with the idea that “iron sharpens iron” — but Franklin Pierce looked plenty sharp in a win that sparked bedlam on Lincoln Bowl’s visiting sideline when the final whistle blew. And Allen thrived in Franklin Pierce’s Power-T offense, wearing down a stout Lincoln defense that faltered after halftime.
“(Bryson’s) our workhorse,” Hanson said. You’ve got to be crazy to be a fullback in this offense. You have to be willing to run through a brick wall. And looking at the Lincoln D-Line, those were brick-wall guys.
“In the first quarter, we were getting smacked for one (yard), we were getting smacked for two, smacked for zero. And as the game wore on, Bryson didn’t let up. He wasn’t negative about that, and just trusted and believed.”
Allen powered through the line for a four-yard touchdown on the game’s opening drive, and the Cardinals led by eight points within five minutes of game clock when Franklin Pierce QB Jeremiah Orcutt found Anthony Lomiga for a two-point conversion pass.
Orcutt, a two-way signal-caller and roving safety, never wants to leave the field — and it’s easy to see why after the Cardinals junior intercepted four-star Abes QB Sione Kaho’s deep throw on Lincoln’s opening drive, preserving momentum.
“They gave their everything in this game,” Hanson said. “They didn’t want to come out. They were cramping and wanted to go back in.
“I think this game meant a lot to them.”
Lincoln recovered when RB Jadeon Scranton cut inside and barreled through defenders for an impressive 45-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, slashing the deficit to 8-6 before halftime. The Abes grabbed their only lead of the game early in the third, when WR Elijah Carney took Kaho’s screen pass untouched down the left sideline for a 44-yard score — his first of three touchdowns on Friday night.
“(Jadeon) gave us life in the first half,” Lincoln head coach Masaki Matsumoto said, “and really kept it going.”
Within minutes, Allen and the Cardinals took back their lead and never let go. Allen punched in his second score from two yards and broke loose for a 22-yard touchdown on 4th and 11 late in the third, securing a hat trick.
He’d score again from seven yards before a fifth touchdown from 23 yards out. Allen can’t remember a bigger and better night.
“Going against tough teams is what I love to do,” he said. “There’s not really much fun going and whooping on weaker teams. But Lincoln… they’ve got some dawgs.
“We had to be gritty. I really owe it all to my offense and defense, for real. I really love them.”
Allen handled 33 carries for 285 yards and five touchdowns, averaging more than 8.5 yards per carry. He also lost a fumble.
Orcutt completed 2-of-6 passes for 38 yards and took six carries for 32 yards, adding an interception on defense.
Kaho completed 16-of-24 passes for 246 yards and threw three touchdowns (all to Carney) with one interception to Orcutt, his Franklin Pierce counterpart. The Cardinals forced a second turnover when Adam Cook recovered a kickoff-return fumble late in the third quarter.
Carney took five catches for 94 yards and three scores.
“It comes down to discipline, focus,” Matsumoto said. “I’m more on the defensive side, and I know we didn’t execute the game plan. We didn’t read the keys. We just didn’t do a good enough job.
“It just really depends on what these guys want to take away from it.”
LAKE STEVENS 31, SUMNER 28
LAKE STEVENS – In a marquee matchup that lived up to its billing, the Class 4A defending state champion Spartans lost to the Vikings on a touchdown with 1 second remaining in a nonconference matchup.
Quarterback Blake Moser rolled right and hit wide receiver Seth Price, who got a toe in before falling out of bounds, for the game-winner from the 15. Moser’s legs extended the drive, as he scrambled for 32 yards to move the ball inside Sumner territory.
“This is what happens when two elite teams play each other,” Sumner head coach Keith Ross said. “Our hat goes off to Lake Stevens.”
Sumner had taken a 28-24 lead with 4:45 left after Nate Donovan hit Braylon Pope from 4 yards out. The ensuing two-point try was unsuccessful, setting up the final drive.
Pope finished with four touchdown receptions, all from Donovan.
Mount Tahoma 42, Yelm 0
YELM – The Thunderbirds overcame a turnover on the third play from scrimmage to roll past the Tornadoes in a nonconference matchup.
Quarterback Mikkah Cordero’s pass was tipped in the air and intercepted, but the Mount Tahoma defense held firm, stopping Yelm at the goal line and eventually blocking a field goal attempt.
From then on, it was all Mount Tahoma.
“It was fun to impose our will and make the other team surrender,” Mount Tahoma coach Keith Terry said. “Our defense played lights out the entire game and they really sparked us. Offensively, we ran the ball really well.”
Felix Diaz rushed seven times for 92 yards and a touchdown; Nessi White added 13 carries for 101 yards and a touchdown. Cordero completed 7-of-14 passes for 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win.
Mount Tahoma had dropped its previous two games to Yelm – 42-34 in the opener last year and 29-12 in the playoffs in 2023. This year they jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead and they made sure it held up.
“We knew last year we let one get away and in our opinion we were the better team,” Terry said. “We had to learn how to win and be leaders, and through the offseason we were able to do that.”
Rogers 27, Bellarmine Prep 14
The Rams certainly didn’t play like a team with only four returning players, as they knocked off the Lions on the road in the nonconference opener for both teams.
A balanced offensive effort was led by Rashard Boone and Mikey Lee, while it was a big hit by Lane Mahlum causing a fumble that flipped the momentum in favor of the Rams.
“We have a chip on our shoulder,” Rogers coach Shawn Yohn said. “We are building this program from inside the walls with the kids that walk our halls. We may not have a bunch of transfers or 10 D-1 guys, but we do have a bunch of guys who believe in hard work.”
Puyallup 25, Tumwater 19
PUYALLUP – All summer long, the Vikings had their scoreboard on with the numbers 56-6 on them - a reminder to the 2024 season-opening loss to Tumwater.
Puyallup made sure that didn’t happen in 2025, jumping out to a 25-7 lead early in the third quarter and holding off the perennial Class 2A powerhouse T-Birds.
“We were dealing with a lot of adversity,” Puyallup coach DJ Mims said. “We have a backup QB playing the first four games, we were down our right tackle who is a UW commit, we had a freak injury on Thursday and we were pretty banged up – so it was really good to see our second string guys step up.
“We ran the ball all night long. It was just ball control – we kept their offense off the field as much as possible and did a good job against the Wing-T.”
Friday marked the first win for Mims at Puyallup after previously coaching at Mercer Island.
Lakes 47, Auburn Riverside 0
Lakes scored in every quarter and held Auburn Riverside scoreless on the night in a blowout win. Running back Toetu Moliga rushed 12 times for 131 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman quarterback Jadis Lefono was efficient, completing 6-of-11 passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns.
Receiver Tristan Baker, an Idaho commit, hauled in two passes for 88 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Ean Owens caught four passes for 76 yards and two scores.
Orting 21, Life Christian 13
Orting held Life Christian QB Jabez Boyd and the rest of the Eagles’ high-flying offense in check on Friday night.
“They are a talented, high-powered offense that made us have to adjust and disguise coverages,” Orting coach Cody Baskett said. “Jayden Schoenbachler and Brady Whittaker had some great safety play. Boyd is so athletic and has a cannon of an arm so we had to be relentless in our swarm mentality.”
Offensively, bruising RB Carson McCall led the charge for the Cardinals, racking up 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
“It was nice to be able to come out Week 1 and execute after our hard work this summer,” Baskett said.
THURSDAY’S RESULTS (SEPT. 4)
ENUMCLAW 30, DECATUR 14
Enumclaw senior quarterback Gavin Trachte didn’t hold back with his assessment of how he played in the first half of Thursday night’s Class 3A North Puget Sound League opener against visiting Decatur.
“I kinda sucked it up in the first half,” he said. “Not even gonna lie.”
Fortunately for the Hornets, he turned things on in the second half. The offense started rolling, the defense made stops consistently and the Hornets came away with a 30-14 win, avenging last year’s early-season loss to the Gators. The game was tied 7-7 at halftime.
“It was definitely sweet,” Trachte said. “It was a rough first half, very physical. … We went into halftime knowing that we were gonna pull away. We just had to keep battling.”
A two-yard QB sneak from Trachte put the Hornets up 14-7 and a field goal pushed the lead to 10. Decatur cut the deficit to three when sophomore quarterback Antoine Williams found receiver Scottie Dinwiddie down the sideline for a 45-yard score, but Enumclaw answered when Trachte hit Kolt Kuzaro on a play action pass for a 73-yard score.
After a Decatur turnover, Trachte found Jason Feddema on a seven yard fade in the corner of the end zone to put the game out of reach.
The second half performance was the type of performance Enumclaw coach Mark Gunderson expected to see from his offense, and in particular, his senior quarterback.
“Really proud of the way he responded and our kids, too, in the second half,” Gunderson said. “He’s a big-time player.”
And Enumclaw’s defense, which had to replace all 11 starters from last year’s state tournament team, looked just fine.
“We’re young but talented,” Gunderson said. “Some growing pains are gonna be a part of this. … Just coverage, making some tackles. We can coach that and be alright, but the kids have gotta go learn for themselves in between the lines. That comes with reps, which they’re getting now.”
The win gets Enumclaw off to a 1-0 start in league play, which comes earlier than most leagues around the state, which typically have at least a couple of non-league games.
“It’s huge,” Trachte said. “Obviously, we just kept preaching, ‘I don’t know how we’re gonna win, I just know we ain’t gonna lose.”
FEDERAL WAY 52, AUBURN MOUNTAINVIEW 0
Zamarie Tellez scored two touchdowns and four different running backs crossed the goal line as the Eagles opened 3A NPSL play with a big win against the visiting Lions.
“It was a great job by our kids,” said Federal Way head coach Marcus Yzaguirre. “You have your first-game adjustments you have to work through and we had some of those tonight, but we had some guys who stepped up and just really put in some work.”
Tellez, an Eastern Washington commit and two-way star, caught a go ball for a touchdown on his way to seven receptions for 100 yards and the two scores.
“Hats off to Mountainview – they practice hard and work hard and that showed up,” Yzaguirre said. “They were very physical, especially on offense. We had to dig down a little bit and match their intensity and their physicality.”
The high-flying Eagles did just that as six different receivers had receptions and four backs had carries out of the backfield.
EMERALD RIDGE 34, KENTWOOD 19
When the Jaguars needed their defense to make plays Thursday, they did just that in the fourth quarter to seal a season-opening non-conference victory at Sparks Stadium.
Emerald Ridge returned just three starters on defense this season from a team that made a surprising run to the state tournament a year ago. The lack of experience didn’t show, though, as the defensive unit looked like seasoned veterans when it mattered most.
Four times Kentwood had the ball and four times they were stopped – once on downs, twice on turnovers and once when the final clock ran out.
Jerin Biembongo had the play that sealed the victory, recovering a fumble and rumbling 41 yards for a touchdown on a 4th-and-1 play with 5:36 remaining.
Emerald Ridge quarterback Brayden Paulino was 13-of-21 for 306 yards passing and four touchdowns in his first game since transferring from Puyallup. Hunter Rusler had five receptions for 106 yards and Zab Zenkner had three catches for 138 yards.
This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 10:47 PM.
