Turnovers sink previously unbeaten Olympia in stunning loss to Curtis

Jase Paulson’s 38-yard field goal was the only score by either team in the second half as Curtis both got its first win and handed Olympia its first loss, 17-14 on Friday night at Ingersoll Stadium.

The Vikings took advantage of three second-half Olympia turnovers, two interceptions by the game’s two-way star, junior Marlon Jones, and a fumble on the Bears desperation final drive.

Olympia, which drops to 3-1, all in Class 4A SPSL play, scored first when quarterback Ketner Young finished off the Bears first drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jaren Thorpe.

Curtis (1-3, all SPSL) tied it at 7 before the first quarter ended when Jones, who would carry eight times for 93 yards, broke loose for a 48-yard touchdown run.

In the second quarter, Curtis took its first lead on a two-yard touchdown sweep by Taj Moffett, but Olympia tied it 14-14 on a quarterback sneak by Young.

After Paulsen’s longest field goal of the year with four minutes left in the third, neither team would score again.

Olympia’s Owen Shea led all rushers with 116 yards on 29 carries. Curtis quarterback Kyle Russell completed 17 of 26 passes for 154 yards. Zack Paulsen snagged eight of those passes for 64 yards.

Capital 47, North Thurston 20: The Cougars set two single-game records in their decisive win over the Rams.

“Tonight we threw the ball really well offensively and had some really good balance. I think we had 6 different receivers,” Capital coach Darren Tinnerstet said. “We set some school records tonight. We threw the ball for 330 yards and 6 touchdowns, both of which were school records.”

Leading the waywas Grant Erickson who threw for five of the team’s six touchdowns and was on fire from the beginning of the game to the end. Still, the team has some things to work on.

“Defensively we gave up a couple scores,” Tinnerstet said. “They were a good team offensively so we gotta clean some things up on defensively.”

Capital next plays longtime rival Peninsula, to whom they lost in their last meeting.

“We have a really tough team next in Peninsula. We traditionally have really good battles with them,” Tinnerstet said. “We gotta build off this and keep moving forward.”

River Ridge 14, Renton 7: It was closer than the Hawks would have liked, but strong defense helped get the job done.

“Our defense played incredible. They had some big stops especially on third downs,” River Ridge coach Chad Arko said. “They really did a great job of getting to their quarterbacks and running backs.”

That helped limit Renton to only one score, which was crucial when going into the second half it was a 12-7 game.

“Our offense has gotta keep working hard,” Arko said. “We’ve been struggling rushing a bit.”

They were able to lean on their defense.

“As long as the defense just keep doing what they’re doing we’ll be fine,” Arko said.

The Hawks will play next on Friday at 7 pm at home against the Highline Pirates.

Evergreen (Vancouver) 9, Black Hills 6: It was an exciting game all the way through the fourth quarter as both defenses would not let the other team settle into a rhythm.

“The offenses on both teams struggled,” said Wolves coach Kirk Stevens. “We had just under 200 yards of offense and we had trouble putting together consistent and long drives together.”

The only touchdown Black Hills had on the night was Tristan Fich’s one yard run.

Union 33, Tumwater 29: The Titans overcame an early deficit and took the win away from the T-Birds on a last-second stand.

With about two seconds left in the game and Tumwater knocking on the door, a pass fell flat in the end zone and time expired.

“I thought that the offense did a great job with time management and plays on that last drive,” said coach Bill Beattie. “We’ve played top-notch competition and our kids battled both weeks, we just got to clean up a few things and I am proud of these guys.”

Despite giving up their early lead, the T-Birds continued to fight back to take back the lead twice in the first half. However, the Titan offense started to spread the T-Bird defense thin as they found their rhythm.

This story was originally published September 23, 2017 at 1:06 AM with the headline "Turnovers sink previously unbeaten Olympia in stunning loss to Curtis."