Tumwater’s duo of Dylans help nail down win in Thurston County showdown against Timberline
As if trying to tackle one Tumwater High School player named Dylan wasn’t difficult enough, it looks like opposing defenses will have to figure out how to slow down two of them this season.
Dylan Paine scored three rushing touchdowns, and Dylan Loftis showed off his big-play ability by scoring on an 88-yard kickoff return and a 68-yard run to power Tumwater to a season-opening 35-6 victory over Timberline on Friday at South Sound Stadium in Lacey.
Paine, who flirted with the school’s single-season rushing record last year as a sophomore, scored on runs of 7, 1 and 5 yards.
Not to be outdone, Loftis, a senior transfer from Minnesota, turned the third quarter into his own personal highlight reel, taking the second-half kickoff back for a score before pushing the T-Birds’ lead to 28-6 with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter on his second touchdown.
Paine, who rushed for 1,803 yards and 24 touchdowns last year as a sophomore, scored twice in the first half and added his third touchdown on the ground early in the fourth quarter to put the contest out of reach.
“We’re a second-half team,” Loftis said. “None of this would have happened without all 11 guys on the field.”
Timberline seemed snakebitten from the start, turning the ball over four times in the first half.
Despite the miscues, the Blazers were well within striking distance at intermission as Tumwater led, 14-6.
Things got off to a dreadful start offensively for Timberline, which is looking to win its third consecutive Class 3A South Sound Conference championship this year, as the Blazers turned the ball over three times in the first quarter.
The costliest of the Timberline fumbles occurred when Tumwater’s Scott Duboiski fell on the ball at the Blazers’ 20-yard line.
Three plays later, Paine scampered in from 7 yards out to put the T-Birds on the scoreboard with three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The Blazers had their best drive of the game midway through the second quarter, getting big plays from quarterback Hunter Campau through the air and on the ground as the senior marched his squad 91 yards for a score, ending with his 8-yard scoring strike to Izaiah Jernez.
Following the T-Birds’ second score, Campau was able to move the Blazers into Tumwater territory in the closing moments of the first half.
However, a gorgeous one-handed interception on an attempted screen pass by Tumwater senior defensive end Thomas Drayton ended the threat.
This story was originally published August 31, 2018 at 11:24 PM.