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Balanced Capital attack blasts Enumclaw, 42-7

PREP FOOTBALL: QB Alex Everson runs for two scores and passes for another

GAIL WOOD; The Olympian | • Published November 08, 2009

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OLYMPIA – It was a lopsided win with a warning.

In a 42-7 blowout win against Enumclaw, Capital proved Saturday it’s not just a one-man team, living and dying on the running of Tyler Sundberg.

Alex Everson, Capital’s junior quarterback who moved into the starting lineup this season, made sure of that. He ran for two touchdowns, passed for another and ran the option to perfection.

“They were biting on the fakes a lot,” Everson said. “It’s worked before, but that was the best it’s worked all season.”

Coming into the game, Everson had run for four touchdowns and passed for another 14. Against an Enumclaw defense that was giving up just 16.2 points a game, Everson completed 7 of 9 passes for 108 yards and rushed for 44 yards on five carries.

Capital piled up 355 yards in total offense.

“Teams have to worry about everybody, not just Tyler,” Everson said. “Tonight our fullback ran well. Tyler ran well and we passed the ball well.”

Capital dominated an Enumclaw team that was averaging 21 points per game and more than 300 yards in total offense. It was the fewest points Enumclaw scored all season.

“Our defense did the job,” Capital coach J.D. Johnson said. “We brought the heat. We decided we weren’t going to do what we did against Timberline. If they complete it, they complete it.”

Enumclaw quarterback Riley Carel, throwing under constant pressure, completed just 4 of 19 passes for 44 yards with an interception.

“Our secondary did a great job of staying in coverage, and we got pressure from the front-four guys, or whoever we were bringing,” Johnson said. “We figured we could get to their quarterback coming from off the edge and flush him out.”

Sundberg, the Cougars’ single-season record holder for rushing touchdowns, ended up getting his yards. The shifty, 200-pound running back rushed for 117 yards and scored on runs of 3 and 5 yards in the third quarter. He now has rushed for 31 touchdowns this season.

Capital, winners of three in a row and now 7-3, led 22-7 at halftime.

“It took Tyler a little time to get going, but once he started hitting the ones and doing what he does, we were fine,” Johnson said.

Capital’s best defense was a ball-control offense in the first half. The Cougars scored on three of their four first-half possessions, putting together scoring drives that went 85 yards in 11 plays, 80 yards in 14 plays and 53 yards in 10 plays.

Capital had 36 offense plays to Enumclaw’s 15 plays in the first half and had a 19-3 edge in first downs.

Everson scored Capital’s first touchdown on a 14-yard run, faking a pitch to Sundberg and cutting upfield for the score with 6:39 left in the first quarter.

After Everson threw an interception on Capital’s second possession, the Cougars scored on their next two drives. Jay Maiava, a backup fullback who starts at linebacker, scored on a 2-yard run. He appeared to be stopped at the line of scrimmage and then spun into the end zone for a 13-0 lead with 8:27 left in the second quarter.

On a third-and-goal from the 6 later in the second quarter, Everson faked a pitch to Sundberg and raced into the end zone for a 22-0 lead with 33 seconds left in the half.

Earlier in the quarter, Capital’s Greg Hibbard burst through the line on a fourth-and-long to block a punt. The ball bounced into the end zone for a safety to give the Cougars a 15-0 lead.

“The question was, we can’t win the big ones,” Johnson said. “We’re going to take tonight as a step forward.”

Enumclaw avoided being shut out in the first half for the first time this season when Tyler Carlson ran back a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown with 14 seconds left in the second quarter, giving the Hornets an emotional jolt. But Capital shut Enumclaw down again in the second half.

Until Carlson’s runback, Enumclaw’s wide-open offense was stifled, held to 41 yards in total offense – 21 rushing and 20 passing. The Hornets finished with less than 100 yards in total offense.

“Their quarterback did a good job,” Enumclaw coach Don Bartel said. “As soon as our kids jumped on that dive, he’d carry it to the outside. He was getting yardage and he still had the pitch left to go.”

Capital advances in the playoffs and next plays Saturday against Union, state runner-up last season, in Vancouver. Enumclaw finished with a 7-3 record.

“Capital is a good team,” Bartel said. “They found something that worked and they stayed with it.”

Gail Wood: 360-754-5432

gwood@theolympian.com