First, Capital led its crosstown rival Olympia 14-0, scoring on its first two offensive possessions.
Then Olympia rallied, twice. Taking leads, twice.
And in the end, after three lead changes and eight touchdowns scored, Olympia’s Justin Henry scooped up a fumble and raced untouched 72 yards for yet another touchdown, giving the Bears an unlikely 35-28 comeback victory.
“It’s a 48-minute game and our guys never quit,” Olympia coach Bill Beattie said. “Down 14-0 our kids didn’t get rattled.”
Olympia returned two fumbles for touchdowns.
“Capital is a hard-hitting team,” Beattie said. “Our defense came up with some big plays and our offense did enough for us to get a win.”
Late in the fourth quarter, Capital was driving for what appeared to be the clinching touchdown when Tyler Sundberg fumbled and Henry, a 5-foot-9 junior defensive back, ran for his life to the end zone for the winning touchdown with 4 minutes, 16 seconds remaining.
“We never say it’s over when we’re playing Oly,” Capital coach J.D. Johnson said. “It came down to some plays we didn’t execute.”
Sundberg, after rushing for 62 yards in the first half, finished with 208 yards rushing. He scored on runs of 3, 1 and 5 yards.
“Tyler had a phenomenal game,” Johnson said. “He put us on his back and carried us. We’ve got to get more out of our passing game.”
Olympia’s Jordan Pine sparked the comeback by scoring two touchdowns and rushing for 118 yards. He had only 8 yards rushing during the first half.
On the second play of the third quarter, Pine popped through the right side of the line and raced 76 yards for a touchdown and a 20-14 Olympia lead.
But Capital rallied and regained a 28-20 lead on two touchdowns by Sundberg.
Capital got off to an impressive start. After two possessions by both teams, Capital led 14-0, had a 95-1 edge in total offense and appeared to be headed for a blowout win.
On their first two possessions, the Cougars put together scoring marches of 46 and 49 yards, respectively.
Sundberg plowed into the end zone on a 3-yard run, capping a five-play drive set up by Roman Vern’s 42-yard kickoff return to start the game.
Capital came right back on its next possession and scored on Alex Everson’s 11-yard keeper off left tackle. During the nine-play, 49-yard drive, Everson scrambled out of trouble and completed a 26-yard pass to a wide-open Jason Syverson for a first down at the Bears’ 12.
Late in the second quarter, the momentum unexpectedly went Olympia’s way when defensive tackle Jeff Waldner caught a fumble out of the air and raced untouched 20 yards for the Bears’ first score. Griffin Boudia forced the fumble when he hit Everson, popping the ball loose.
Olympia tied the score midway through the second quarter when senior running back Numia Magalei pinballed 15 yards into the end zone with 2:13 left in the half. The Bears’ 68-yard scoring drive was kept alive on a gutsy fourth-and-1 play at the Bears’ own 42. After a time out, quarterback Jared Mercer followed the block of his center and picked up the first down.
With just two returning starters on defense and three on defense, Olympia coach Beattie came into the season worried about how his team would survive its first two games.
His young team maybe matured quicker than he anticipated.
“If we can just get through those first two games,” Beattie said before the season started.
Olympia, which edged Capital 7-0 last year, beat its crosstown rival for the fifth straight year. Capital still leads the series, 18-15.
Last week, Olympia manhandled league-rival Gig Harbor 40-27, scoring 27 points in the first quarter before putting it on cruise control.
It was a college-like atmosphere as the stadium with seating for 3,600 was nearly full 45 minutes before kickoff, alive with excitement. Many fans had their faces painted, were dressed in their school colors or were cheering with pom-poms handed out before kickoff.
The game wasn’t a league contest for the fourth year, but it remains a fan favorite.
Capital, which lost 19-15 to O’Dea last week at Qwest Field in Seattle, dropped to 0-2 for the second straight year. Last year, the Cougars rebounded to go 9-4 and reached the state semifinals for the first time in eight years.
gwood@theolympian.com
