Tailback Andrew Brown scored four long touchdowns and passed for another to lead Tumwater to a 48-26 victory over Timberline in an entertaining non-conference football game Friday night at Tumwater District Stadium.
Brown’s final grace note was a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown on the last play of the game. He totaled 291 all-purpose yards for the game.
For Timberline (1-1), it was a coming-out party for quarterback Gabriel Gutierrez. The sophomore completed 24 of 44 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns, though each of his three interceptions cost his team.
Tumwater’s special teams and defense staked the T-Birds to a 14-0 first-quarter lead as both offenses struggled to find their rhythm.
After the Thunderbirds (1-1) stifled the Blazers’ first possession, Brown fielded a line-drive punt near his own 30, got a crushing block from teammate Korye Trejo to gain the corner, then outsprinted the field down the right sideline for a 72-yard touchdown.
Tumwater’s second touchdown didn’t come from its offense, either. Jaime Bryant, 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, jumped in the middle of a Timberline screen pass, caught the football in stride and cruised 39 yards for the score.
The Blazers, unable to generate much on the ground, turned to Gutierrez and a stable of sure-handed receivers. Gutierrez connected on a 36-yard touchdown pass that landed in Justace Buhl’s arms after being tipped by defender Gabe Gleizes.
On the Blazers’ next possession, Gutierrez found an open Tobi Gann for a 26-yard TD strike.
Tumwater would score once more before halftime, set up by the T-Birds’ second theft of a Timberline screen pass, this one by David Durden. Brown made the takeaway pay. He took a pitchout and hit Kyle Plamondon in the numbers on a 36-yard TD play.
Brown, a 5-11, 175-pound senior, asserted himself on the first scrimmage play of the second half. He took off around right end, and once he made the corner, it was a footrace he would win on a 59-yard scoring run.
Gutierrez and the Blazers struck quickly in response, with Trent Gallagher on the receiving end of a 45-yard scoring pass.
On the next T-Birds possession, Brown created a near-duplicate of his previous touchdown, this one from 63 yards away as Tumwater built its lead to 35-20.
Gutierrez wasn’t done. With the Blazers facing fourth down and 12 from their own 48, Gutierrez found a streaking Brennon Kaleiwahea for a 52-yard scoring play.
Christian Cummings added a 16-yard scoring run for Tumwater, before Brown closed out a late Timberline threat by picking off a Gutierrez pass at the goal line and streaking the entire length of the field as the game clock hit zero.
