Prep football roundup: Fife scores late, wins nail-biter over Steilacoom
It doesn’t seem to matter which team is good, or if the other is having an off year — Fife and Steilacoom seem to produce 2A South Puget Sound League nail-biters every season.
And Friday was no exception.
If the Trojans are entertaining thoughts of a league title, they needed to put together a definitive offensive series in the final minutes — and did, earning a 27-21 victory at Steilacoom.
Fife used just about every traditional run in the Wing-T offense, going 64 yards for the game-winning touchdown — a 5-yard scamper up the gut by Tanner Knapp with 1 minute, 1 second remaining.
“We ran a couple of toss (sweeps), and ran some hard stuff inside with Knapp. Then we ran some counter (runs) because they were flowing so hard inside,” Fife coach Kent Nevin said.
Wes Nixon’s two-point conversion run gave the Trojans a 27-21 lead.
Steilacoom drove to the Fife 30-yard line with less than a half-minute remaining. But the game ended in the same manner it did last season — on a Trojans’ last-second interception to seal the victory.
This time, Nixon read Anthony Leiato’s intended pass perfectly from his safety position, and picked it off with 21 seconds to go.
Fife improved to 4-0, and 2-0 in league — tied with River Ridge atop the 2A SPSL standings. The two teams meet in late October.
“Absolutely, this (win) keeps us in the hunt,” Nevin said. “This is where we need to be. We have some tough games coming up.”
SPSL SOUTH
Puyallup 35, at Emerald Ridge 25: Taje Davis had two touchdown runs, and the Vikings came from behind to win at Sparks Stadium.
Nathaniel Holcomb’s 29-yard scoring pass to Tyler Torgerson midway through the fourth quarter gave the Vikings a 35-17 lead.
SPSL NORTHWEST
Jefferson 31, at Federal Way 6: It’s not easy to determine which is a bigger shocker — the Raiders being legitimate divisional contenders or the Eagles dropping to 0-4.
Kenny Turner rushed for 172 yards and three touchdowns, but it was the Raiders’ defense that did a number on Federal Way, limited the defending SPSL North champions to 89 total yards at Memorial Stadium.
SPSL NORTHEAST
Kent-Merdian 35, at Kentlake 7: Malik Woolery had 17 carries for 259 yards and three scoring runs of 34, 71, and 80 yards as Kent-Meridian rolled at French Field.
Emmanuel Daigbe had six catches for 99 yards (16.5 yards per catch).
4A NARROWS
Gig Harbor 48, at Stadium 7: Davis Alexander passed for 207 yards and four touchdowns, added 111 rushing yards and hooked up with Kyle Olson-Urbon plenty in the first quarter in a rout at Stadium Bowl.
Alexander threw touchdown passes to Olson-Urbon of 21, 53, 44 and 11 yards in the first nine minutes of the game for the No. 2 Tides.
"It was a pretty solid, all around game," said Tides head coach Aaron Chantler. "We took care of business early and did what we needed to do."
Olson-Urbon had five catches for 143 yards and four touchdowns.
3A SPSL
Bonney Lake 15, at Enumclaw 14 (OT): Quarterback Jason Day juked one defender, and plowed over two more on the game-winning, two-point conversion run, and the Panthers got out of Pete’s Pool with an overtime victory.
The Hornets scored first in the extra session on Scotty Garvin’s 1-yard touchdown run to grab a 14-7 lead.
The Panthers went 25 yards on all run plays, capped by Day’s 4-yard scoring run. He then won the game on the conversion.
Marcus Hamilton of Bonney Lake had 13 carries for 127 yards in Friday's win.
3A NARROWS
Wilson 49, at Mount Tahoma 8: Alex Motonaga threw for 106 yards and a score, but it was two big special teams plays that led the Rams to their victory win of the season at Mount Tahoma Stadium.
Isaiah Clark recovered a botched punt in the end zone for a touchdown, and Montre Brown’s 51-yard punt return for a touchdown gave Wilson a 28-0 lead with 3:13 remaining in the third quarter.
Lincoln 54, at Shelton 3: Dionte Simon ran for three touchdowns in the first half, including ones of 18 and 49 yards in the final six minutes, and the No. 4 Abes steamrolled Shelton at Highclimber Stadium.
2A SPSL
Franklin Pierce 62, at White River 48: Willie Patterson scored a career-high six touchdowns, and the Cardinals needed all of them to turn away running back Justin Tidwell (248 rushing yards, five TDs) and the Hornets in Buckley. The combined 110 points was a new 2A SPSL record.
1A EVERGREEN
Hoquiam 23, at Eatonville 13: The No. 10 Cruisers’ eight-game winning streak to start play in their new league came to a halt as fourth-ranked Hoquiam got three touchdown passes from Gregory Dick to upend the defending 1A EvCo champions at B.W. Lyon Field.
NON-LEAGUE
At Black Hills 46, Columbia River 20: Kyler Nygren had a pair of first-half interceptions, including a 90-yard return for a touchdown, and the Wolves went to 4-0 for the first time in school history with a convincing win at Tumwater Stadium.
Running back Conner Furu rushed for 186 yards, and quarterback Christian Williams threw three touchdown passes.
Tumwater 35, at Lake City (Idaho) 21: The No. 1 Thunderbirds had no trouble moving the football (414 yards), but needed Spencer Bowers’ 10-yard touchdown strike to Kade Otton with 3:08 to go to put away the Idaho powerhouse.
This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 11:39 PM with the headline "Prep football roundup: Fife scores late, wins nail-biter over Steilacoom."