Bears' opening statement is a win

HIGH SCHOOLS: Title-minded Olympia tops Gig Harbor, 40-27

MEG WOCHNICK; The Olympian | • Published September 05, 2009

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OLYMPIA – This wasn’t your typical Week 1 game.

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Olympia vs Gig Harbor Football

The hype of two perennial powers in the Narrows League – Olympia and Gig Harbor – clashing in a season opener had a feeling of a league title already at stake.

Olympia made a strong statement about making another league title run with its 40-27 win over the visiting Tides on Friday night at Ingersoll Stadium.

“I was very pleased with the first half,” Olympia coach Bill Beattie said. “We were very disappointed in the way we came out in the second half. But our kids came though in the end and shut them down at the end.”

Olympia, the defending Narrows League champion, scored touchdowns on three of its first four possessions and raced to a 27-7 lead after the first quarter on touchdowns by senior Numia Magalei. His 62-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage gave the Bears a quick 7-0 lead and was the team’s longest run of the game. He also had 15- and 9-yard TD runs.

Magalei and fellow senior Jordan Pine scored five of the Bears’ six touchdowns – all rushing TDs. Magalei and Pine combined for 208 yards on the ground.

Olympia had a 34-7 lead at half time following Spenser Killman’s 14-yard touchdown with 27 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

The victory wasn’t going to be easy, however. Especially after Gig Harbor almost made it a one-touchdown game late in the third quarter.

The Tides starting chipping away at the Bears’ lead in the third quarter. Their first possession of the second half was a 12-play drive that took almost six minutes, capped by Tides quarterback Barrett Schmidtke’s 2-yard touchdown run on a keeper.

Four minutes later, Schmidtke brought the Tides to 34-20 after another 2-yard TD run with 2:13 remaining in the third.

Gig Harbor was knocking on the door again to start the fourth quarter, but the Bears’ defense came up with one of their biggest stops of the game.

On first-and-goal from the 8, the Bears forced Schmidtke’s third fumble, and Olympia’s Jeff Waldner scooped it up and ran it back to the Tides’ 49 before being brought down.

Schmidtke, a senior, transferred to Gig Harbor from Life Christian Academy, where he threw for more than 5,000 yards during his first two seasons. He was 18-for-30 passing for 274 yards and one touchdown Friday – a 62-yard pass on the Tides’ second offensive play.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins, a 6-foot-7 tight end, was Schmidtke’s favorite target in the second half, catching eight passes.

Olympia got its final score on Pine’s second touchdown – a 1-yard run – with 3:43 left in the game.

Olympia lost 38 starters from its 10-1 team that reached the first round of the state playoffs last season, when the Bears had one of the state’s best defenses, allowing 34 points during the regular season. But Beattie said he was pleased with the effort of many of his new starters in their opening game.

“We just have to realize it’s a 48-minute football game,” Beattie said.

Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473

mwochnick@theolympian.com

www.theolympian.com/prepsportsblog