Bears start season with a big victory at Gig Harbor

By Doug Pacey | The News Tribune • Published September 06, 2008

GIG HARBOR – When Olympia football coach Bill Beattie got his first glimpse of the Bears' schedule, he grimaced.

"I can't remember the last time we opened the season with a league game," Beattie said. "And here at Gig Harbor, no less."

Beattie can breathe easy today. Olympia escaped Roy Anderson Field Friday night with a 21-7 victory over the Tides.

The Bears (1-0), traditionally a wing-T team, unveiled a new offense that's geared to passing. The system had a few kinks, but by the end of the game, quarterback Willie Willard had grown comfortable in the pocket, passing for one fourth-quarter touchdown and rushing for another.

"Willie started looking down and hit the intermediate stuff rather than go deep like he did a couple times in the first half," Beattie said.

Trailing 7-6 in the final period, Willard, a 5-foot-10 senior who missed most of last season with a broken cheek bone, engineered a 15-play, eight-minute drive in the fourth quarter that he capped with a 1-yard sneak into the end zone on fourth down. During the drive, Willard completed all three of his attempts for 56 yards, including a 38-yard bomb to receiver Brandon Maguire on second-and-16 from Gig Harbor's 45-yard line.

"We wanted to get our passing game going," said Maguire, who had three catches for 69 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. "We didn't throw the ball very well last season."

Willard completed an efficient 7-of-14 passes for 108 yards, two touchdowns and was intercepted once.

"I like how we played tonight," Beattie said. "We obviously have to work on some things, but we did some things well. I really like how our defense played."

The Bears held the Tides, who are running the spread offense this season, to 177 yards of total offense and forced turnovers on two of their final three possessions.

"We had some kinks," Gig Harbor coach Darren McKay said, "but they'll get worked out."

Gig Harbor (0-1) and Olympia went back and forth in the first half. The Tides took a 7-6 lead into halftime after running back Jeff Filmer scored on a 1-yard plunge in the second quarter.

Olympia receiver Kramer Skidmore put the game out of reach when he caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Willard on fourth-and-9 halfway through the fourth quarter. Bears defensive back Steven Julian set up the score with an interception at the Tides' 17.

Olympia running back Dylan Parsons ran for 122 yards on 26 carries.

Tides tight end Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, a 6-foot-4, 255-pound sophomore, looked every bit the big-time college recruit he has been billed as. Sefarian-Jenkins, who has been offered a scholarship by Washington, caught three passes for 29 yards and blocked Olympia's first extra point attempt.