High school football roundup: Lefono guides undefeated Lakes past Capital
Results, recaps and more from Week 8 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.
LAKES 47, CAPITAL 6
Most freshman quarterbacks wait their turn, learn from the sidelines, and offer glimpses at what’s to come before getting the call later in their high school careers — but Jadis Lefono isn’t like most freshman quarterbacks.
At Lakes, the future is now.
Lefono doesn’t look like a freshman, nor does he play like one. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound signal-caller displayed poise and comfort beyond his years Friday night, hitting Lancers receivers in stride and directing one of the area’s more high-powered offenses with confidence.
On a rainy senior night at Harry E. Lang Stadium, Lakes’ freshman was the star. The Lancers rolled Capital, 47-6, behind four total touchdowns from their rookie, completing an undefeated 8-0 regular season and capturing back-to-back 3A PSL Nisqually titles.
“It’s a blessing to me and my family,” Lefono told The News Tribune. “None of this would happen without (God). I’m just happy that I’m here today and that he’s still blessing me.”
Lefono threw three touchdown passes and rushed for a fourth without a turnover, conquering wet conditions with a powerful arm and dual-threat skillset. His four total scores set a career high, a mark one day bound to be broken.
“(I like) the way he plays the game mentally,” longtime Lancers head coach Dave Miller said of his quarterback. “A lot of freshmen maybe have an arm, or they can run a little bit. But (Jadis) really sees the game. He’s starting to really feel comfortable in our offense.
“He can run. We try to limit how many times we let him run because we’re trying to be careful, but as we get into these big games, we’re going to have to use all of our weapons. He does a great job of playing the game with his mind, not just with his physicality.”
As much as this was a Lefono takeover, Lakes put together a complete team win in Lakewood. Its defense was superb, a showcase of hard-hitting and line-of-scrimmage domination, and Lancers senior Tristan Baker returned the opening kickoff to the house for six — a special teams contribution that provided Friday’s spark.
The Lancers are 8-0 for a second-straight season, setting the stage for a heavyweight 3A PSL crossover with Mount Tahoma next weekend.
“We take it one step at a time,” Lefono said.
Baker’s kickoff return kept Lefono on the sideline until midway through the first quarter, when Lakes’ QB found Lee Snyder over the middle for a 51-yard touchdown capped by a big-man stiff arm. The Lancers led, 13-0, in short order, only soaring higher.
“We always talk about setting the tone by coming out and getting a fast start, and we’ve been able to do that this year a lot,” Miller said of Baker’s fireworks. “I’m surprised teams are still kicking it deep to us, because Ean (Owens) has taken a couple back, too
“Both of those guys can take it to the house any time.”
Lakes RB Toetu Moliga powered through the middle for a one-yard score on the first play of the second quarter, his sixth of the season. Lancers 19, Cougars 0.
Capital pounced for their only touchdown minutes later, when RB Garrett Murphy slipped outside the right tackle and erupted for a 61-yard run — a splash play the Cougars couldn’t replicate.
In the closing moments of the first half, Lakes struck again in the most unconventional of ways. Lefono drifted back in the pocket and unleashed a deep ball over the middle, tipped by a Capital defender before falling perfectly into the hands of WR Ean Owens, who coasted home for a 50-yard score. Lefono added a two-point rush that pushed Lakes’ lead to three possessions at intermission.
“The D-Tackle came untouched, but he was just standing there,” Lefono said. “I moved back, I reset my feet, and I threw it. The safety got under it, but he jumped up and it got tipped, and Ean was right (there). Touchdown.”
Owens scored again in the third, beating his defender one-on-one for an impressive catch on 4th and 17 from Capital’s 21-yard line. Lefono bulldozed his way into the end zone later in the quarter for a 10-yard touchdown run, his fourth.
Lancers QB Koi Calhoun guided Lakes in the fourth quarter, finding Korben Reed for a six-yard passing score in the game’s final two minutes that triggered the running clock.
Lefono completed 7-of-17 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns, adding two carries for 25 yards and a score on the ground.
Moliga took 15 carries for 123 yards and a touchdown, and Owens had six receptions for 158 yards and two scores. LB Ta’u Mareko piled 13 tackles (3 TFL) and recovered two fumbles.
Through eight wins this fall, Mareko and the Lakes defense have allowed a grand total of 52 points, the head-and-shoulders class of the 3A PSL Nisqually. They’ve allowed more than 10 points just twice and blanked both 4A-Auburn Riverside and league-rival River Ridge.
“Just the consistency with my team at practice,” Lefono said. “Hard work every week at practice. We prepare very thoroughly for each game. That’s the key.
“I’m happy for my seniors. I’m happy I could ball out for them.”
TUMWATER 41, W.F. WEST 20
If there was a recipe for a W.F. West road upset against league rival Tumwater, eight turnovers certainly wasn’t it.
The Bearcats coughed the ball up early and often — four times in the first half, four in the second — against Tumwater’s defense and the T-Birds capitalized, leading 27-7 at half en route to an 41-20 win at Tumwater District Stadium.
Junior corner Ethan Bello was thrilled to see the ball coming his way so often with W.F. West’s pass-happy offense. He pulled in three interceptions.
“We had to work as a team on that,” he said. “We were working on it all week, in practice every day. We knew they were gonna pass so we were planning on it.”
Outside of a Week 1 contest against 4A Puyallup, Tumwater doesn’t see a lot of pass-first teams in 2A. Bello made the most of his opportunities on Friday night.
“I love it,” Bello said. “I love the challenge.”
It was the type of Tumwater win that has become routine over the years: a mixture of aggressive, disciplined defense and a well-oiled Wing-T machine on offense, inducing headaches for opponents with its signature misdirection and deception.
Tumwater struck first on a 1-yard run for Blake Heryford, then scored again early in the first quarter on a Jaxon Budd 42-yard pass to Tyler Briscoe. Peyton Davis extended the lead to 21-0 with a 3-yard run early in the second period, then Jayden Hinchcliffe added another from 10 yards out with 11 minutes, 5 seconds to play in the second quarter.
Tumwater’s offense went into a lull from that point, not scoring against until late in the third quarter.
“We played uncharacteristically poorly for stretches there and it wasn’t good,” Tumwater coach Willie Garrow said. “We didn’t block well up front.”
Fortunately for the T-Birds, the defense kept getting the ball back for the offense and giving it plenty of chances to punch the ball into the end zone.
“An incredible performance from those guys,” Garrow said. “Coaches did a really good job of putting defensive backs in the right positions based on the concepts they like to run. The kids played really well, played contested balls really well.”
Tumwater added two more scores: a Grady Wall 4-yard run and a Wall 3-yard run in the second half.
The win gives Tumwater another 2A EvCo crown, a notch in the belt for Garrow’s squad, but like always, the perennial state tournament contender has its sights set on a bigger prize.
“It’s a very big stepping stone,” Bello said.
PUYALLUP 45, CURTIS 0
Noah Smith and Briytan Bailey helped lead a determined Puyallup team to a big 4A SPSL North Division road victory to wrap up a spot in the SPSL title game next week.
The win kept the Vikings (8-0, 5-0) out of a three-way tie for the top spot and instead gave them the automatic berth for a date with Graham-Kapowsin for the league title at 7 p.m. Oct. 31 at Art Crate Field.
“It was a cold and rainy night and we wanted to see how we’d play in different weather where ball security is a big deal,” Puyallup coach DJ Mims said. “There was a lot at stake tonight and I’m really proud of my team.”
Smith was 13-for-15 for 311 yards and three touchdowns, while Bailey carried the ball 11 times for 162 yards and three touchdowns.
Puyallup scored on its first two possessions to go up 12-0, sandwiched around a Curtis missed field goal. From there it was all Puyallup, as the Vikings went into halftime ahead 32-0 and after Curtis muffed the second half kickoff Puyallup immediately scored and then put in backups.
“We’ve been working really hard this whole week prepping for this game,” Mims said. “We knew they have a big offensive line, but most of them play both ways and so we thought they might wear down a bit.”
Now, the Vikings prepare for undefeated Graham-Kapowsin.
“We feel like they are as good as anybody throwing the ball,” Mims said. “I think we have an advantage in the trenches, so we will try to play into that a bit.”
Curtis (5-3, 3-2) finished third in the North Division and will play at Yelm at 7 p.m. Thursday in a crossover game.
GIG HARBOR 42, BELLARMINE PREP 20
What happens when you load the box against a Wing-T team offense? They throw the ball.
That’s exactly what the Tides did Friday behind backup quarterback Sal Nuuhiwa Alob and receiver Max Schwab, who combined for three touchdown passes as Gig Harbor rolled to the PSL Narrows Division win.
“You have a choice when you play the Wing T – you have to try to sell out to stop the run or play traditional defense and then we will run our offense,” Gig Harbor coach Jeff Scoma said. “We felt confident in Sal and he did a great job running the offense.”
Taylor Carey had two interceptions as the Tides forced three turnovers in the game.
“Bellarmine’s quarterback (Birk Johnston) is really good,” Scoma said. “They run a lot of misdirection, but I think we did a really good job defensively. You would like to hold them to less points, but all in all we did a great job defending them.”
Both teams will play crossover games next week with state playoff berths on the line. The Lions (5-3, 2-3) will play at Peninsula at 1 p.m., while the Tides (5-3, 3-2) will play at Capital at 5 p.m. Both games are Saturday, Nov. 1.
PENINSULA 15, TIMBERLINE 9 (OT)
Lucas Wiseman walked into the end zone with the winning touchdown in overtime Friday, capping off a wild PSL Nisqually Division matchup between the Seahawks and Blazers.
In overtime, Timberline got the ball first but turned it over on downs. Peninsula converted a fourth down on an out route by Trevor Bingham and Wiseman then rumbled to the 1 yard line on a designed quarterback run. On the next play, he punched in the game winner.
“It was a really great game,” Peninsula coach Clay Mauro said. “You have to be proud of the kids. At the end of the day, when you play three and a half quarters of shutout football – that is huge. I’m proud of them for clawing and fighting to get a home crossover game.”
Timberline scored nine points in the first seven minutes of the game, but the Peninsula defense held strong after the early struggles. The Blazers had a chance to win the game in regulation, but missed a field goal with one second left. Mauro, however, had called timeout to try and ice the kicker, so the miss didn’t count. Timberline then went for a touchdown, but was stopped sending the game to overtime.
Both teams advance to crossover games with state berths on the line next week. Timberline will play at Lincoln at 7 p.m. Friday, while Peninsula will host Bellarmine Prep at 1 p.m. Saturday. The winners of each game advances to the state playoffs.
WHITE RIVER 15, DECATUR 0
Blake Bargelt and Chaz Strickland each scored a touchdown as the Hornets held off the Gators in 3A NPSL battle Friday.
With the win, White River will now head to Enumclaw for a showdown between undefeated teams with the league title on the line.
Before the Hornets could worry about next week, though, they had to take care of Decatur (4-3, 4-3) this week.
“(Decatur) was rested and ready and it was a good game,” White River coach Wyatt Evenson said. “We were able to go to our ground game and ran a lot of outside zone, which isn’t exactly what we do and you could tell they weren’t expecting it.”
The Hornets rushed for 136 yards as a team, led by Mason Locke’s 70 yards on 10 carries.
Evanson credited his senior class and especially his two running backs – who had rarely if ever carried the ball on offense before this season – for helping turn around a program that is now on the doorstep of a league title against Enumclaw.
“Those two kids saw what we needed to do to win and this senior class went out and did it,” Evenson said. “Seeing two senior kids who didn’t play running back last year and who worked on their craft and were in the weight room, seeing them deliver in crunch time was special.”
White River (8-0, 7-0) only had three offensive possessions in the first half as both teams struggled in the sloppy conditions, but the Hornets scored twice in the second half to earn the victory behind their run game.
“Two years ago, we probably lose this game,” Evenson said. “We didn’t have the strength up front to run the ball, so if it was raining hard, our chances of winning was low. We prepped for a run focused game and it caught them off balance.”
This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 11:17 PM.
