South Sound Washington high school football district playoffs roundup

Even steady rain and wind couldn’t stop Washington High School’s high-flying offense Friday night in Tacoma.

Playing Class 2A South Puget Sound League rival Steilacoom for the second time in three games, the Patriots again found a way to win through the air on the way to a decisive 36-8 victory at Franklin Pierce Stadium in the 2A district playoffs.

Senior quarterback Luke Elliott threw four touchdown passes in the win, which sends the Patriots (7-3) back to the state bracket for the sixth time in program history, and first since the 2018 season.

“We’ve got a great group this season,” Elliott said. “Everybody wants to take us as far as we can. We all love each other. I’m just proud of my team, man. That’s all I can say.”

Washington scored on the game’s opening possession, when junior Unterrio Latin-Henley completed a quick seven-play, 65-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring run, and gave the Patriots a lead they never lost.

Elliott tossed the first of three touchdown passes to senior Breydan Fisher on a 16-yard connection on a third-and-11 play with 55.2 seconds left in the second quarter, and Washington took a 14-0 lead into the break.

Meanwhile, the Patriots’ defense locked down Steilacoom’s passing attack, hauling in three interceptions in the first half to keep the Sentinels scoreless early. Kahmari Hale ended the Sentinels’ first drive with an interception, George Maiava ended Steilacoom’s second drive the same way just outside of the red zone, and Jay’Von Harrison caught the third on the final play of the second quarter.

Washington ended three more Steilacoom drives in the second half with turnovers on downs, and the Sentinels’ final possession with the third of three second-half sacks.

“They really brought it tonight,” Washington coach Mike Von Rueden said of the defensive effort.

The Sentinels were limited to 166 yards of total offense — 105 rushing and 61 passing — and reached the red zone only once, on their only scoring drive midway through the second half.

After multiple Washington penalties pushed Steilacoom to the 5-yard line, junior Jaycion Cain — who led the Sentinels with 13 carries for 72 yards — rushed for the short touchdown on the final play of the third quarter to cut the lead to 23-8.

But, the Patriots completed four scoring drives in the second half, including adding two more touchdowns on their final two possessions, to end any late comeback bid.

Senior kicker Jaxson Bowen connected on a 37-yard field goal midway through the third, less than three minutes before Elliott connected with Fisher again on a 23-yard touchdown to make it 23-0 with 1:54 left in the quarter.

Following Cain’s touchdown run, Washington responded with a 29-yard scoring pass from Elliott to Francis Tapasa early in the fourth. Elliott connected with Fisher once more on a 20-yard touchdown with 1:37 to play.

The Patriots piled up 354 total yards of offense led by Elliott, who completed 13-of-21 passes for 211 yards and the four touchdowns — not long after throwing for 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the 35-28 win over the Sentinels in their 2A SPSL clash on Oct. 21.

“I was just focused,” Elliott said of facing Steilacoom for a second time this season. “Did a lot of focusing on film this week trying to figure out what their weak points were on defense, and just trusting my guys to go make a play and trusting my line. I’ve got great players around me. That always helps.”

Fisher led Washington with four catches for 82 yards and the three scores, while Kai Kai Hale had 17 carries for 95 yards, and Latin-Henley five carries for 54 yards and the one touchdown before leaving the game with an injury in the first half.

The Patriots have won seven consecutive games after opening the season 0-3, now look ahead to the 2A state playoffs, and will learn their first-round opponent when brackets are seeded Sunday. Steilacoom (5-5) ends the season just short of the state playoffs for the first time since 2015.

Find district round scores from the South Sound and beyond on this week’s statewide scoreboard.

FRIDAY (NOV. 4)

CLASS 4A

SUMNER 56, KENTRIDGE 12

It was a big-time performance from senior Kayde Bodine that helped lift the 4A South Puget Sound League champion Spartans (9-1) over the Chargers (5-5) and into the 4A state playoffs Friday night at Sunset Chev Stadium.

Bodine had four total touchdowns in the game, including three passing and one rushing. The first touchdown pass was a 12-yard toss to senior Kade Jindra, the second a 15-yard pass to junior Kaden Malesis, and the third an 18-yard connection with senior Kano Borden. Bodine also scored on a 1-yard run late in the first half.

Sumner is set to return to the 4A state bracket for the second consecutive season.

SKYVIEW 14, PUYALLUP 11

The Vikings were playing against more than one storm, as the weather played an important factor in Friday night’s matchup at Kiggins Bowl in Vancouver.

Both teams wanted to run the ball and control possession up, but an errant pass from the Vikings fell into the hands of Storm cornerback Cameron Crooks, who ran the interception back for a 25-yard touchdown early in the first quarter.

From there, Puyallup was playing catch up. And despite knowing what the Skyview defense was going to throw at them, the offense couldn’t string enough plays together in the fourth quarter.

“The conditions were a factor because it was raining pretty hard, it was going to be defensive battle,” Puyallup coach Brain Grout said. “Skyview is built that way, too. They were doing some of the defensive stuff we were expecting them to do, but we had some dropped passes and missed assignments. These things worked against us. However, we got momentum at the end, put together some consecutive positive plays, and we punched it in.”

Rolling early in the last period, Vikings sophomore quarterback Kaden Rolfsness was able to get the 1-yard touchdown. Needing to get the two-point conversion to stay in the game, senior receiver Jacob Velasco converted to cut the Storm’s lead to three.

However, Puyallup wasn’t able to find the end zone again.

LAKE STEVENS 63, BETHEL 0

Bethel had no answer for Lake Stevens sophomore quarterback Kolton Matson, who threw six touchdowns passes against the Bison on Friday night in Lake Stevens to send the Vikings to the 4A state playoffs.

All six passing touchdowns came in the first half, with freshman receiver Trevin Walker hauling in three of them.

MORE 4A DISTRICT ROUND SCORES

Graham-Kapowsin 35, Mount Si 14

Eastlake 28, Tahoma 0

Skyline 31, Mount Rainier 0

CLASS 3A

PENINSULA 35, ARLINGTON 29 (OT)

Purdy grit came out in full force for the Seahawks as they battled through sickness, inexperience, and an Eagles team that would just not go away.

In the back and forth contest, Peninsula found success in their offensive game plan early. They ran the ball downhill at the Arlington defense to set up senior quarterback Payton Knowles and the passing game. And it was successful in the first half.

“Absolutely a classic playoff game, Arlington left it all on the field,” said coach Ross Filkins. “Our kids were gritty. Nobody outside our program can really realize how much we’ve been through. We haven’t had consistent line play all year and had a lot of young kids step up. Arlington has a good defense. Our offense had to be balanced. We did great running down hill, they couldn’t just play one dimensionally. Our defense was really good tonight as well.”

A drive that resulted in a senior running back Aiden Lester 10-yard touchdown was immediately followed up by Knowles connecting with senior receiver Dane Meddaugh for 16 yards.

However, Arlington was able to respond with a scoring drive of their own. Late in the first quarter, senior receiver Neil Carroll caught a 14-yard pass from junior quarterback Jacoby Falor for their only score of the half.

Arlington would score again when sophomore receiver Kaid Hunter pulled in the 32-yard pass from Falor to tie it up 14-14.

Both teams would score 15 points each to force overtime. Even though they allowed 29 points, the Peninsula defense was feeling very confident as they were on the field first. Forcing three-straight Eagles incompletions, Arlington lined up for a field goal.

Just getting a piece of the ball, Meddaugh forced the ball to go wide left and gave the Seahawks their opportunity to win. From 23 yards out, Knowles hit Meddaugh in the flat. A quick move to make the defender miss and a dive across the end zone won the game for Peninsula.

With another week to play, the Seahawks are hoping to get some key players back from injury and keep their tough style of play going.

YELM 50, BISHOP BLANCHET 7

The 3A South Sound Conference champion Tornados (10-0) bulldozed Bishop Blanchet on Friday night in Yelm, adding another win to their undefeated run this fall.

William Carreto averaged nearly 13 yards per carry on 16 attempts, and Yelm rumbled for seven rushing touchdowns in another convincing victory.

Carreto finished with 201 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the win, while Kyler Ronquillo and Ray Wright also added two touchdowns apiece.

Marius Aalona’s 67-yard scamper shortly before halftime was Yelm’s longest touchdown of the contest.

Bishop Blanchet mustered only 14 total passing yards on three completions.

Yelm’s Isaiah Patterson and Onyx Carter shared a team-high four tackles, and Patterson also added a sack.

EASTSIDE CATHOLIC 48, AUBURN RIVERSIDE 3

Eastside Catholic running back Richie Fotualii-aliifua had more than 130 rushing yards and three touchdowns for the Crusaders in Friday night’s win over Auburn Riverside in Sammamish.

Crusaders quarterback Brady McKelheer threw for 253 yards and added three more scores.

The Ravens’ only score was on a 42-yard field goal from kicker David Perez-Cortez in the third quarter.

MORE 3A DISTRICT ROUND SCORES

Stanwood 28, Lakes 20

Lincoln of Tacoma 62, Marysville-Pilchuck 31

Southridge 41, Auburn 20

CLASS 2A

ENUMCLAW 56, LINDBERGH 0

Emmit Otero was unstoppable Friday night, piling up four first-half rushing touchdowns in Enumclaw’s eventual rout of Lindbergh.

“That’s what he does,” Hornets coach Mark Gunderson said. “He’s our workhorse. That’s Emmit being Emmit tonight.”

Otero eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the ninth time in 10 games in the win, and Enumclaw bulldozed its way to 250 rushing yards as a team behind an offensive line that thrived at a rain-soaked Pete’s Pool.

Enumclaw (10-0) keeps its undefeated season rolling with the win.

“We have special group here and (have) high expectations for them,” Gunderson said. “We prep these kids hard. They practice hard. They take hard coaching, and we expect good results out of them.”

OLYMPIC 32, FRANKLIN PIERCE 14

Olympic’s dominant victory over the visiting Cardinals included a 20-0 halftime lead and three touchdowns from running back Joshua Guayan.

The Trojans defense suffocated Franklin Pierce early, holding them off the scoreboard until the third quarter.

Olympic quarterback Justin Kelley found Riley McCoy for a 45-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, and the Trojans’ signal-caller added a 1-yard touchdown rush in the second.

MORE 2A DISTRICT ROUND SCORES

Fife 21, Bremerton 14

Highline 28, Orting 14

CLASS 1A

EATONVILLE 24, CASTLE ROCK 18

Job Kralik’s versatile heroics propelled Eatonville to victory on Friday night, outlasting Castle Rock to return to the 1A state playoffs.

Kralik tossed a first-half touchdown, ran for a 2-yard score in the third, and drilled a 35-yard field goal to open scoring as the Cruisers’ kicker. Kralik also converted three PAT tries.

Ky Nation’s 44-yard touchdown catch shortly before halftime gave Eatonville the lead for good.

“It was good for our kids to respond when they were down in times, and battle through some adversity,” coach Gavin Kralik said.

The Cruisers (8-2), last season’s 1A runner-up, now return to the state playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

“Our margin for error obviously gets a lot less as we move forward, and so we’ve got to play more disciplined as a team,” Gavin Kralik said.

TENINO 54, KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 0

The Beavers dominated on the ground, piling up 387 yards and seven rushing touchdowns in a decisive rout over King’s Way Christian on Friday night in Tenino.

Kysen Knox was the workhorse, handling a team-high 11 carries for 122 yards and three touchdowns. Eight Tenino rushers combined to average nearly 8 yards per carry.

Tenino (9-1) heads back to the 1A state bracket for a second consecutive season.

This story was originally published November 5, 2022 12:15 AM.