High school football roundup: Kickoff return sparks Lakes comeback over Curtis
Results, recaps and more from Week 3 high school football contests around the South Sound will be posted on this page on Friday night. Looking for more scores? Find them on our statewide scoreboard here.
LAKES 21, CURTIS 17
Lakes coach Dave Miller couldn’t believe Curtis kept kicking the ball in the direction of Ean Owens. Four times early last season, Miller watched Owens return kickoffs for touchdowns.
So when Lakes was trailing Curtis 17-7 and the ball floated to Owens around the 10-yard line in the fourth quarter immediately after a demoralizing Curtis touchdown, Miller knew something special could happen.
Owens had already returned a couple kicks near midfield. This one, he took 90 yards to the house, a show of blazing speed in the blink of an eye.
“The whole game, they’ve been kicking to me, I’ve been getting 40 yards, 30 yards. I can see the hole but it’s just that one last guy,” Owens said. “The last time, I just followed my blocks, shook up the last guy and just took it to the house.
“I was happy. … I feel like I’m one of the fastest players in the state.”
It was the momentum swing the Lancers desperately needed. Lakes followed up Owens’ score with a defensive stop and a touchdown drive, capped off by running back Korben Reed juking his way into the end zone for the 16-yard, go-ahead score. Lakes recovered a Curtis fumble on the ensuing kickoff and won, 21-17.
“(Owens is) a big play guy and we’re excited any time the ball gets in his hands, because he can take it,” Miller said. “We needed that spark. That sparked our guys.”
Curtis struck first on a Tyce Kinley 1-yard run in the second quarter. Lakes answered on the next drive with a Romiece Taviuni four-yard touchdown run. Curtis made a field goal and Kinley scored another in the fourth quarter, a 33-yard run, to extend the lead to 10 points before the Lakes comeback.
It was a similar story to last year’s meeting in University Place, in which Lakes trailed 10-7 heading into the fourth quarter before coming back to win.
“It was like, man, it’s a lot of emotions,” Owens said. “We have to score. We can’t lose. We have to win.”
Win, they did. And in a full game this time, too. After last week’s road game at Bonney Lake was called off at halftime due to rising tensions between the two teams on the field, Friday night’s game at Harry Lang was a welcome return to drama-free normalcy.
“Playing a full game, especially a competitive one, that really just makes me happy and I feel like the whole team appreciates it,” Owens said.
West Linn 31, Sumner 24
Keith Ross knew Sumner had West Linn buried.
But the Spartans grabbed their shovels, unearthed the lead they had built, and brought the Lions back to life.
Ross, Sumner’s longtime head coach, can’t remember a better first-half performance in his 28 years in The Valley, given the stage. The defending 4A-champion Spartans hosted Oregon’s 6A-champion West Linn on a crystal clear Friday night at Sunset Chev Stadium, a heavyweight bout between two of the Northwest’s best teams. Three-star RB Lance McGee (288 YDS, 2 TD) carried the Spartans to an early, 21-10 lead as Ross’ defense stood strong — but costly interceptions resurrected the Lions, and Sumner never regained the momentum stolen by their southern neighbors.
West Linn RB Shane Peters scored the go-ahead touchdown with 3:40 remaining in regulation, and the Lions prevailed, 31-24, in a game every Spartan will tell you they should’ve had.
Because they did.
Sumner had West Linn “dead in the water,” one reporter said.
“Yeah, we did,” Ross replied. “And we let ‘em out.”
Let’s back up to the second quarter, when Sumner controlled that 21-10 lead and everything changed. McGee and the Spartans threatened for more in the final minutes of the first half when Sumner opted to pass, QB Nate Donavan was hit as he threw, and an underthrown ball found the hands of Lions CB Josiah Molden, Oregon’s No. 1 recruit.
“A big thing was learning from my mistakes,” Molden said, discussing a game-changing interception that flipped Friday night’s script. “On the first drive, I got beat for a touchdown. Obviously, I was super mad about that. I just needed to turn quicker, and that’s what I did. That changed the momentum for me, the defense, and the whole team.”
Sumner could’ve led by three possessions at the break, had McGee continued to rumble through defenders and kept the ball out of the Lions’ hands. But it was West Linn that scored instead, using Molden’s pivotal interception to march down the field and steal points of their own. With 12 seconds before intermission, Baker found a wide-open TE Gavin Thaut down the right sideline for a 29-yard touchdown that closed West Linn’s deficit to four, 21-17.
As both teams jogged to the locker room, Ross overheard West Linn coaches: “We’ve got the momentum now.”
And Ross thought to himself: “You’re right. You do. And we gave it to you.”
“When you’re running the ball like that, you can’t turn it over to a team like that,” Ross told reporters. “The defense played great. We just couldn’t play that long without making a few mistakes, and that’s what happened.”
Until then, Sumner had cruised. The few plays before halftime unraveled it all.
After West Linn went three-and-out on the game’s opening drive, Sumner’s run-heavy scheme worked to perfection, capped by McGee’s three-yard touchdown run that drew first blood, 7-0.
The Lions responded with Zander Morris’ 38-yard field goal before Sumner struck again — a 19-yard touchdown pass from Donavan to WR Braylon Pope, a great throw and catch through contact. The Spartans led 14-3 after one quarter.
Lions RB Shane Peters cut outside the tackles for a four-yard touchdown early in the second, slashing the deficit to four, 14-10.
And when a holding call pushed Sumner back to the 18-yard line on 1st and Goal minutes later, Ross and Co. didn’t flinch. They gave McGee four straight carries, who converted a one-yard score on fourth down. If that doesn’t describe Spartans football, what does?
“We knew (McGee) was going to be a problem going in,” West Linn head coach Jon Eagle said of the Oregon State commit. “I don’t think anybody’s used to seeing a running back like that. He’s phenomenal. But also, let’s give some credit to that (Sumner) offensive line. That’s really a pretty dominant performance by them in a losing effort. They’re really good.”
Sumner DB Izear Ferguson intercepted Baker in the closing minutes of the half before West Linn’s Molden made the play of the game, a massive interception and shift in momentum the Spartans couldn’t take back.
Baker hit Molden for a 25-yard touchdown in the third quarter that put the Lions in front, 24-21, an impressive throw on the run for West Linn’s dual-threat signal-caller.
“It was such a good ball,” Molden said. “Shout out to Sloan Baker.”
Sumner kicker Juan Jacobo-Guzman drilled a game-tying, 40-yard field goal with 5:58 left in regulation — setting the stage for an exciting finish at Sunset Chev — before West Linn’s Peters returned a Spartans kickoff deep into their own territory and capped the drive with his second touchdown from six yards. Sumner couldn’t return the favor.
“I like playing them,” Ross said. “They’re classy. They’re great. Their coaches are great. They’re humble. It’s nice when two classy programs play each other like that with mutual respect. There’s no egos. That’s what high school football’s supposed to be.”
McGee took 33 carries for 288 yards and two touchdowns. RB Israel Nabors had seven rushes for 43 yards, and Donavan completed 5-of-15 passes for 60 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, adding four rushing yards on three carries.
The Spartans open 4A SPSL play with South Kitsap at Sunset Chev next Friday night at 7 p.m.
Spanaway Lake 24, Federal Way 10
All phases of the game were clicking for the Sentinels on Friday at Art Crate Field against the visiting Eagles – special teams, offense and defense.
Spanaway Lake used a big third quarter and an inspired defensive effort to earn its first win of the season and hand Federal Way its first loss.
“Our plan was to keep their offense off the field as much as possible and our offense did a good job of chewing the clock,” Spanaway Lake coach Cameron Robak said. “They have some great athletes and they try to get them into space and we played our fundamentally sound defense.”
With the game tied 3-3 at halftime, Malik Burnes returned the opening kickoff 90-plus yards for a touchdown to send the Sentinels on their way.
Burnes later caught a long touchdown pass, while Cordae Cummings had a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown. A 21-0 burst in the third quarter that sent the Sentinels to the upset.
“We didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot and we actually got some turnovers this week,” Robak said. “We forced five turnovers and didn’t turn the ball over tonight, which always makes you happy.”
Last year when these two teams met, the Sentinels were 2-0 before losing 53-10. On Friday, Spanaway Lake was 0-2 before shutting down an Eagles team that had scored at least 50 points in their first two games.
Camas 35, Lincoln 22
The Abes couldn’t get untracked Friday in a nonconference matchup with the Papermakers at Doc Harris Stadium in Vancouver.
After Camas went the length of the field for a touchdown on its opening drive, Tyrone Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown to make it 8-7 midway through the first quarter.
After giving up two more touchdowns, JT Williams scored from 19-yards out and after the two-point conversion, Lincoln was back within 22-15, but the defense couldn’t get a stop when it needed to. Camas scored and despite a Jadeon Scranton 4-yard touchdown with 5 minutes, 42 seconds remaining, the Abes couldn’t do enough to earn the win.
“The positive (takeaways) are that we can play with good teams and we are competitive,” Lincoln coach Masaki Matsumoto said. “We need to fix a lot of things and it starts with me.”
TUMWATER 49, EASTLAKE 21
It was a reunion for the two coaches: Tumwater’s Willie Garrow and Eastlake’s Greg Herd. Herd played for Garrow at Steilacoom High School and went on to work for his former coach at North Thurston. Advantage to Garrow on Friday night in Tumwater.
Eastlake led early but Tumwater stormed back with a huge second quarter, scoring 28 points in the period to take a 28-21 lead into halftime. The T-Birds outscored the Wolves 21-0 in the second half. Tumwater RB Peyton Davis led the T-Birds with 140 yards rushing. QB Jaxon Budd made the most of his three passing attempts, completed two of them -- both for touchdowns. He had 77 yards and the two scores through the air, finding tight end Evan Baxter and receiver Wyatt Chase for the touchdowns.
“They’re very good,” Tumwater coach Willie Garrow said. “I was really pleased with how our kids responded in the second half.”
Linebacker Gavin Kaikkonen had 10 tackles, including three for loss; senior linebacker Blake Heryford had nine tackles, including two for loss with a sack. Junior defensive back Ethan Bello had an interception.
W.F. West 28, Timberline 27
The Blazers put together a furious rally late in their game Friday against the visiting Bearcats, but came up just short in a nonconference matchup.
Cooper Jones scored a rushing touchdown with 39 seconds left to pull Timberline within a point. Coach James Jones decided to roll the dice and have his team go for the win, but Timberline was sacked on the play.
“We’re a go for two team right now and we figure we are the underdogs, so lets go for the win,” Jones said. “We ran a pass play and they had it covered.”
The Blazers trailed by two scores in the fourth quarter, but forced a pair of turnovers to give them a chance to get back into the game. Champp Hernandez hit pay-dirt to pull Timberline to within a score and then the team recovered a fumble to set up Jones’ touchdown, but they couldn’t complete the comeback.
It was quite a turnaround from a year ago, when W.F. West defeated Timberline 50-8.
“I don’t think they expected that game to go that way,” Jones said. “Moral victories are OK, but they are not great. If there is one thing to take away from tonight is that the kids competed the whole time. They didn’t give up, they believed the entire way that we had a chance to get in the game and make a stop.
“We were just one play short.”
King Spearman scored on a 90-yard kickoff return, while Jones added another rushing touchdown.
This story was originally published September 19, 2025 at 10:29 PM.
