Not a bad start for Thurston County teams in football playoffs: Four of six locals prevailed
Six local teams played for state-playoff berths Friday night. Four of them won.
Here are five takeaways from the high school football district playoffs in Thurston County and beyond.
1. 3A SSC teams prove their worth
For most of the 2018 season, the Class 3A South Sound Conference has been an afterthought to voters in the Associated Press poll. Never was more than one team ranked.
After Week 9, Peninsula (8-2) dropped out of the top 10, despite thrashing Capital, 45-7, in its regular season finale.
Timberline (8-2) snuck into the final rankings of the season at No. 9 — but that was it.
Friday night, the three 3A SSC teams won to advance to the state bracket.
Timberline led the way, blanking seventh-ranked Oak Harbor, 21-0, at South Sound Stadium. Yelm (7-3) survived a road game at Bishop Blanchet, 24-21, in Seattle. And league champion Peninsula crushed Seattle Prep, 47-16, in Purdy.
The fourth 3A SSC seed, Central Kitsap (6-3), played at Squalicum (7-2) late Saturday in Bellingham.
Timberline got a big night by senior quarterback Hunter Campau, who completed 8 of 11 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Campau also rushed for 93 yards on 18 carries.
Keola Allison added the dagger in the fourth quarter, running a botched Wildcats punt back 17 yards for a TD.
“I feel like the luckiest quarterback right now, because my defense keeps performing well,” Campau said. “(They) gave up 13 points last week and a shutout this week. I feel real lucky right now having a good defense behind me.”
Linebackers Jamin Fa’alago and Justin Kuhn helped hold Oak Harbor’s run-oriented offense to just 106 yards on 44 attempts.
“We came in with a mindset (to be) aggressive ... just ball out like it’s our last game,” said Fa’alogo, who had 14 tackles, a sack and an interception.
J.J. Graham, who had an interception on defense in addition to his touchdown catch on offense, says the Blazers aren’t finished.
“We are going to keep going. We are going to push our defense more, and we’re going to try to keep pushing for more shutouts,” he said.
Yelm had more of a narrow escape in its victory at Mickey Nash Field in Seattle, but won to advance to its first state tournament in 31 years.
The Tornados took a 14-0 first quarter lead on rushing touchdowns by Derrick Platt and Carson Amendt, only to see the Braves quickly rally to tie before halftime.
That’s when Yelm’s air attack, led by senior quarterback Kyle Robinson’s 251 yards on an interception-free 10 of 15 passing, took over.
Before the break, Robinson found his favorite receiver, Kodee Gifford, for a 66-yard touchdown.
Along with a later 23-yard field goal by Alex Frye, the score gave Yelm enough to stave off a late touchdown by Blanchet.
“It was just a normal alley (route),” Gifford said. “I saw the no safety — safety shaded to the right — and my guy was playing man. So I knew I just had to get off the ball, throw it up and I was off to the races.”
Yelm coach Jason Ronquillo has been putting the pieces together for six years, and saw one goal slip away last week when the Tornados’ loss to Timberline denied them the 3A SSC title.
Now, his team is the first from Yelm to reach state since 1987.
“I’m so excited,” he said. “I’m so happy. These kids have been working really hard all year. This is for them, and this is for the entire community. This community needed this win, and the program is still rolling. We would like to keep it rolling.”
2. Black Hills in; River Ridge, W.F. West out
All season, any conversation with any member of the fourth-ranked Black Hills football team would eventually include praise for new staff members defensive coordinator J.D. Johnson and strength coach Dave Claridge.
After the undefeated Wolves (10-0) surpassed 40 points for the sixth time, coach Kirk Stevens thought it was time to point out a returning assistant coach’s contribution.
“J.D. and Dave deserve all the credit they’ve gotten,” he said. “But what about the guy on the other side of the ball, our offensive coordinator Reggie Gaither? We led our league in scoring.”
Gaither’s varied scheming was on display Friday as the Wolves dusted visiting Columbia River, 45-7, in a district playoff win that might be rewarded with Black Hills’ first-ever home state playoff game.
The Wolves are one of just two undefeated teams, along with defending state champion Hockinson, left in 2A.
Meanwhile, the 2A Evergreen Conference’s third seed, W.F. West was dismissed by top-ranked Hockinson, 62-28, after leading early.
River Ridge, the 2A SPSL’s fifth seed, was eliminated, 33-22, at North Kitsap.
Sixth-ranked Tumwater (8-1) hosted Woodland (8-1) after The Olympian went to press Saturday night.
Black Hills kept mostly to the ground Friday, with Taylor Simmons rushing for 144 yards on 13 carries and Preston Lee for 111 yards on 18 carries.
Gaither and sophomore quarterback Jaden Cote dialed up enough big passing plays to leave the Chieftains shell-shocked. Cote twice found Ethan Loveless for long touchdowns (42 and 66 yards), while also hitting Josh Rodgers and Alex Nagy for scores.
The game was Cote’s fifth career start since Loveless’ ongoing elbow injury forced him to change positions.
“It’s the way things worked out and the moment has never been too big for Jaden,” Stevens said. “Ethan’s always shown he could be a receiver. Even when he was a quarterback, he’d get in on the scout team in practice and make one-handed catches.”
Black Hills defenders Colten Schneider, Lucas Johnson, Simmons and Loveless each intercepted Columbia River passes and Julian Kennedy made several resounding hits on Chieftains ball carriers.
Further south, W.F. West (5-5) took an early 14-0 lead on touchdown runs by Josiah Johnson and Jaiyden Camoza, only to have Hockinson quarterback Levi Crum throw five second-quarter TD passes to trigger the rout.
Tomasi Manu almost single-handedly gave River Ridge a 22-12 halftime lead over the Vikings, but the Hawks (6-4) were held scoreless the entire second half.
Manu ran for touchdowns of 21 and 81 yards, sandwiched around a 52-yard touchdown pass to Lamar Campbell.
3. Elma win makes coach a prophet
After Elma lost its 13th straight East County War to Montesano in heartbreaking fashion last week, coach Ron Clark expressed confidence the Eagles (8-2) could put aside their disappointment and advance to the 1A state playoffs.
They did.
Running back Taitum Brumfield ran for two first-quarter touchdowns, and the Eagles kept going for a 33-21 road win over La Center. Brumfield finished with 159 yards and three TDs on 29 carries.
Though Elma had to travel as a third seed, it may have been the toughest third seed in the state. The Eagles’ league losses came by one point to 1A Evergreen champions Hoquiam and in the final minute to second-place Montesano.
4. Eyes on WIAA seeding meetings
For the first time, the WIAA will employ seeding committees to determine the 16-team brackets (eight-team in 1B) for each classification, instead of pre-selected matchups based on district playoff outcomes.
The 12-person committees — one for 4A/3A, one for 2A/1A and one for 2B/1B — meet Sunday at WIAA headquarters in Renton.
The committees are comprised of active and retired school administrators, athletic directors, coaches, media members and computer rankings experts.
5. Shelton, Tenino post non-playoff crossover wins
Shelton’s seniors knew their final season was unlikely to end with a Highclimbers championship in the increasingly competitive 3A SSC.
Under new coach Mike Speaks, they expressed a desire to set the table for up-and-coming junior varsity and youth league players.
Friday, three seniors stood out as Shelton (2-8) left the 2018 season on a two-game winning streak, beating Mount Tacoma in a low-scoring crossover game, 13-12. Shelton finished 3A SSC play with a victory over North Thurston last week.
Jason Kenyon led the Highclimbers with 58 yards on eight carries. Luke McPhee completed 5 of 14 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown to Anthony Boren, who totaled three catches for 70 yards.
In other crossover games, Tenino (1-9) got its first win of the season, crushing 2B Mossyrock, 50-21, at home, and North Thurston (2-8) fell against Spanaway Lake, 47-34.
This story was originally published November 3, 2018 at 5:15 PM.