High school football roundup: Mount Tahoma beats Bellarmine, remains undefeated
Results, recaps and more from Week 6 high school football contests around the South Sound will be posted on this page on Thursday night. Looking for more scores? Find them on our statewide scoreboard here.
MOUNT TAHOMA 35, BELLARMINE PREP 13
It was close for a while, until it wasn’t. Bellarmine Prep wanted to play spoiler on Friday night on the road against Mount Tahoma, and for a while, it looked like the Lions might have an outside shot against the T-Birds, who are a top-five 3A team in the state this season.
But Mount Tahoma is fine with these grind-it-out, tight games.
“We’re very comfortable,” said Mount Tahoma two-way WR/DB star Elijah Durr, a UW commit.
The large senior class is close on the field and off. Even when things aren’t going perfectly, there’s a level of trust that exists between them.
“The biggest thing is owning our identity,” T-Birds’ coach Keith Terry said. “We want to run the ball. We’re gonna be explosive in the pass game but we’re OK grinding it out.”
Mount Tahoma led 14-10 at half, getting all it could handle from Bellarmine QB Birk Johnston and the Lions. The T-Birds led 21-13 at the end of the third quarter. Then Mount Tahoma quarterback Mikkah Cordero found Durr twice in the fourth quarter for touchdowns to make it a comfortable 35-13 win.
“Honestly, I just had to put the thought in his head that he’s that guy and he’s gonna make every single throw,” Durr said of his connection with Cordero.
Mount Tahoma struck first on a 67-yard touchdown run from running back Nezie White and added a 9-yard rush from Ke’Shawn Hines to make it 14-0 in the first half. But Bellarmine scored 10 points with less than three minutes to play in the first half to hang around: Johnston found Ben Heisel for a 9-yard touchdown before a field goal to cut the lead to four.
Cordero kept it on a read option for a 6-yard touchdown in the third quarter, before another Bellarmine field goal made things interesting. Then Mount Tahoma distanced itself from the visiting side.
Mount Tahoma running back Nezie White rushed 14 times for 170 yards and a touchdown in the win behind Mount Tahoma’s offensive line. Running back Ke’Shawn Hines had 111 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Mount Tahoma coach Keith Terry felt one reason the game was close until the fourth quarter was because the officiating was one-sided.
“Honestly, man, it’s tough playing against the refs, too,” he said. “No knock on Bellarmine by any stretch of the imagination. It’s tough when every call goes against you.”
Regardless, Mount Tahoma came away with another win to move to 6-0 on the season. The run game racked up yards all night and Durr was the clear two-way standout, coming away with an interception (nearly two, if not called off on a questionable penalty) and a pair of receiving touchdowns. The UW commit was thrilled to face a pass-happy Bellarmine team that was willing to test him.
“I was looking a lot forward to it, I ain’t gonna lie,” he said. “I don’t really get action like that. When I get the action like that, I’m gonna make a play.”
T-Birds’ coach Keith Terry saw a special performance.
“He’s just showing who he is,” Terry said. “It’s nice to see somebody that’s gonna throw against him a little bit. He doesn’t get a lot of balls throughout the season, so when the ball comes his way, he makes plays.
“He showed, again, why he’s one of the best in the state on both sides of the ball.”
GRAHAM-KAPOWSIN 20, BETHEL 10
Kolton Wadley made the most of his moment Friday, coming off the bench when the starting quarterback went down with an injury to lead the Eagles to a key 4A South Puget Sound League victory against the Bison at Art Crate Field.
On just the fifth offensive play of the game for Graham-Kapowsin, starting quarterback AJ Tuivaiave got his foot caught under another player and had to come out of the game. Wadley, a senior, stepped in and led his team to a victory that puts them in the driver’s seat in the South Division.
“He played a hell of a game and I’m proud of the way he stepped in and was ready to go,” Graham-Kapowsin coach Jeff Logan said of Wadley. “I can’t speak highly enough of Kolton’s character and he led us to victory tonight and I’m extremely proud of him.”
Wadley was 10-of-17 for 102 yards and a touchdown, as the Eagles (6-3, 3-0) dialed back their playbook a bit. Bethel worked hard to take star receiver Kase Betz out of the offense, allowing him a 57-yard touchdown catch on the second play of the game and then not much else.
“Bethel is a really, really good football team,” Logan said. “They are really good up front on the line and they run the ball downhill.”
Special teams play was a big difference Friday, as kicker Matthew Vollmer put on a display in the second half.
Thanks to two penalties on Bethel (4-2, 2-1), the Eagles went with an onside kick from the 35 and recovered. They later scored a touchdown and on the ensuing kickoff, Vollmer did a pooch kick and again the Eagles recovered and again they scored a touchdown to go up 20-3.
“It was a good, gritty win,” Logan said. “It was a little different than we have accumulated so far this season, but I’m proud of our kids for overcoming a little adversity. Kids that don’t typically get their number called stepped up and did a really good job for us.”
Graham-Kapowsin also had two linemen go down with injuries on the opening drive.
Blake Pearson ran the ball for 119 yards on 18 carries, while Jayce Halasz had four receptions for 40 yards and Quinncey Ratteray returned from injury to make three receptions for 45 yards and a touchdown.
OLYMPIA 22, SPANAWAY LAKE 10
After allowing a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as time expired in the first half, the Bears shook it off and grabbed a 4A South Puget Sound League victory against the visiting Sentinels.
Ibrahima Diallo scored on a 1-yard run in the final seconds of the second quarter to give Olympia a 7-3 lead, but Peyton Martin returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and a 10-7 lead.
“The real message at halftime was that we were doing everything that we were supposed to be doing, but just shooting ourselves in the foot,” Olympia coach Nick Mullen said. “Football is a game of emotion and heart and you have to take those moments. The other team is not going to just give it to you. The kids came out and responded.”
Spanaway Lake (2-4, 1-2) got the ball out of halftime, but the Olympia defense stood strong and the offense helped the Bears pull away for the victory.
Braydon Cook had four sacks to lead the Bears defense, while Tucker Downing threw for two touchdowns. Canon Betts and Noah Miller each had receiving touchdowns.
Now, the Bears (3-3, 2-1) prepare for undefeated Graham-Kapowsin.
“They have a great program, but if you go in doubting yourself, you have already lost,” Mullen said. “Our defense is playing lights out and the offense is starting to click – we are running the ball pretty well and keeping teams honest defensively. We are going in with the mentality that we are supposed to win.”
LAKES 48, PENINSULA 7
The Lancers just keep on rolling, using a dominating offensive night to cruise past the Seahawks in 3A Puget Sound League action.
Quarterback Jadis LeFono was 15-of-18 for 217 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 47 yards on four carries with two more touchdowns. The Lancers (6-0, 3-0) finished with more than 500 yards of offense, while jumping out to a 41-0 lead after three quarters.
Ean Owens carried the ball five times for 66 yards and a touchdown, while Toetu Moliga had 64 yards rushing and two scores and a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown, Korban Reed had 63 yards and two touchdowns and Tristan Baker had 44 yards and a score. Baker added a receiving touchdown as well.
Peninsula quarterback Logan Johnson threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Wiseman in the fourth quarter for the Seahawks (3-3, 2-1).
This story was originally published October 10, 2025 at 11:19 PM.
