Helmet in hand and a smirk on his face, the Olympia High School defensive back scooped up his mouthpiece from the turf and scurried back to the sideline, hoping no one, other than the small group of teammates who were giving him a bad time, noticed.
Tran had been out of the game for quite some time, but just now realized he had failed to secure this important piece of equipment when he exited.
It was the only mistake in an otherwise perfect night for Tran.
Tran paced an overwhelming defensive effort by scoring two second-quarter defensive touchdowns as the sixth-ranked Bears hammered visiting Mount Tahoma, 39-7, in 4A Narrows League action Friday at Ingersoll Stadium.
“Our goal tonight was to jump on them early and get off to a fast start,” Olympia coach Bill Beattie said. “I think we were able to do that.”
The undefeated Bears (5-0 overall, 3-0 league) had raced out to a 20-0 lead before Tran scored twice in the second quarter in a 3-minute span.
First, Tran intercepted a Junior Gillespie pass and returned it 18 yards untouched for a score.
“I was pretty shocked,” Tran said. “It seemed like he threw it right to me. I had no one around me and was able to score.”
His second touchdown was even more impressive.
On the T-Birds’ next possession, Gillespie hit B.J. Breckenridge on a short pass.
Tran immediately came up to make the hit, stripping the ball in the process.
“I was trying to strip it, but then it just bounced right to me,” Tran said. “And I took off.”
Tran turned on the jets and bolted 50 yards to put the Bears up 33-0 at halftime.
“Boy, what can you say about Bentley Tran?” Beattie said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a player score two defensive touchdowns in a game, and he did it in a quarter. Bentley’s a senior and a very smart player out there.”
Spenser Killman, who missed two games with an injured shoulder, showed no signs of the injury, rushing for 70 yards on 12 carries with two touchdowns for the Bears.
“The shoulder’s fine with Spenser. It’s nice to have him back there,” Beattie said. “We were able to give him some rest in the second half because of the score, but it was good to see him get some contact out there.”
Olympia scored on its first three possessions, getting touchdown runs of 10 and 1 yards from Killman and a 4-yard TD run from Trevor Houser.
Houser later hit Nate Slosson on a 25-yard scoring strike in the third quarter, increasing the Bears’ advantage to 39-0.
Olympia has won 15 consecutive Narrows League games, last losing to South Kitsap, 10-6, on Sept. 25, 2009.
The Bears are 43-1 in league games since 2004 and are 9-0 against Mount Tahoma since joining the Narrows in 1999, outscoring the T-Birds by a combined score of 394-80.
