Week 7: High school football games of the week in the Olympia area

Week seven of the high school football season is here, and for several Olympia area teams, league titles could be decided on Friday night. Here are the top games to keep an eye on this week.

No. 1 Tumwater (6-0) at No. 8 W.F. West (6-0)

7 p.m. Friday at W.F. West High School

Just as there is this season, the last time these two teams met in Chehalis there was a sense that the game was huge, a clash of 2A titans for the Evergreen Conference crown.

Unlike the unblemished overall marks Tumwater and W.F. West bring into this week’s game, both had suffered non-league losses, but both were undefeated in league and ranked in the state’s top 10. It was the final night of the 2016 regular season, with a championship and district playoff seeding at stake.

With current University of Washington tight end Cade Otton catching three touchdown passes from Noah Andrews and Jakob Holbrook rushing for two more, the game didn’t even go the distance as the Tumwater rolled, 42-0. An injured W.F. West player who would later fully recover had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance with five minutes left on the already running clock, so the teams agreed to halt proceedings.

Half a dozen freshmen suited up for W.F. West’s varsity games that season and five are still part of the team, including offensive mainstays quarterback Josiah Johnson, running back Jaiyden Camoza and wide receiver Leandre Grimes. Linemen Trent Peters and Cooper McCoy were also on varsity in ninth grade.

Things didn’t get any easier the next two seasons when the teams met twice in Tumwater. The T-Birds won 44-3 in 2017 and 28-7 last year.

But W.F. West has made clear the past two weeks it has a different outcome in mind this season, steamrolling injury-plagued defending champ Black Hills, 66-7, and Rochester, 70-13, in its first two EvCo games.

Against Rochester, Johnson, who completed three passes for 69 yards and a touchdown to Grimes, ran five times and erupted for 142 yards and four touchdowns. Camoza, who opened the scoring with a 45-yard punt return for a touchdown, ran for another as did freshman Gavin Fugate.

Peters, with a 30-yard fumble return, and Aaron Fuller, with a 40-yard interception return, scored defensive touchdowns.

Tumwater has its motivation, having missed out on the 2A EvCo title last season for the first since 2009, when the Bearcats claimed the title and a 34-14 mid-season road win over the T-Birds.

A 22-17 home loss in last season’s Pioneer Bowl rivalry game with Black Hills – contested on Week 8 with both Tumwater and the Wolves undefeated – has fueled T-Bird players since their off-season workouts.

They’ve started the EvCo season nearly as emphatically as the Bearcats, smashing Rochester, 64-6, and Aberdeen, 54-8.

Last week against Aberdeen, four different players, Jacob Schuster (usually a lineman), Jaylen Clay, Dylan Paine and Turner Allen scored first-quarter rushing touchdowns.

Tumwater showed its versatility on its next two scores, long touchdown passes from senior quarterback Cody Whalen: 74 yards to tight end Austin Terry and 36 yards to Danny Goodburn.

Clay, whose rushing TD came from 55 yards, then added another big play with a 65-yard punt return for a score. Andrew Lowe capped the scoring with a 14-yard run.

Yelm (4-2) at Peninsula (4-2)

7 p.m. Friday at Roy Anderson Field

South Sound fans have not one, but two, probable de facto championship games to choose from Friday night. Yelm and Peninsula, who each came into the 3A South Sound Conference season winless and have each run off four straight wins since, clash in Purdy.

Those non-league defeats held no disgrace for either squad. Yelm lost to 4A Skyview and Tumwater while Peninsula lost to 3A’s second-ranked team, O’Dea, and 4A Skyline. The tough competition prepared them for league play. Except for a 24-21 overtime win by the Seahawks over Timberline on the road, neither team has won a league game by fewer than 20 points.

Last week was no exception for Yelm as the Tornados posted a 57-0 rout of North Thurston.

Quarterback Ben Hoffman had a big night for the Tornados against the Rams, completing 10 of 16 passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns to go with a rushing score. Running back Carson Amendt had yet another strong game, gaining 94 yards on nine carries and scoring three touchdowns.

Anthony Chipres scored twice, on a 10-yard pass from Hoffmann and a 50-yard run. Chipres carried just four times for a total of 93 yards. Sylas Franklin caught the other two touchdown passes for scores of 15 and 13 yards.

Sean Rohwedder was all over the field defensively with 11 tackles and four assists.

Meanwhile, Peninsula rolled up 352 yards of total offense to down Central Kitsap, 27-7, on the road to stay perfect in league.

Peyton Bice completed 17 of 19 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown to junior Chris Akulschin. Sean Skladany rushed 21 times for 94 yards and a touchdown.

Timberline (2-4) vs. Capital (2-4)

7 p.m. Friday at Ingersoll Stadium

With both teams uncharacteristically low in the 3A SSC standings, the game doesn’t have championship implications, but the Blazers and Cougars have a sometimes friendly, sometimes bitter rivalry across all sports that keeps their meetings exciting.

Timberline hasn’t lost to Capital since a 20-13 defeat late in the 2011 season but has a win streak of just three games since between 2012 and 2015 the Blazers spent some time in 4A and the Cougars in 2A.

Last year, Timberline won at home 34-14. This year’s meeting is up for grabs, judging by comparative scores.

The Blazers come in off a 55-14 home rout of winless Shelton. The Cougars downed the Highclimbers, 50-20, when they met at Ingersoll.

In Timberline’s win last week, quarterback Adam Dafoe completed 11 of 16 passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns. Jaden Gorman led the Blazers in rushing with 11 carries for 102 yards while Max Aunese caught four passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

In Capital’s 38-14 loss at Gig Harbor, quarterback Tristan Redman completed 10 of 17 passes for 164 yards and an 87-yard touchdown to Clayton Grady, who also rushed for the Cougars’ other score.

Washington (1-5) vs. River Ridge (2-4)

7 p.m. Thursday at South Sound Stadium

Looking for some action under the Thursday night lights? Olympia also hosts Skyview, but River Ridge’s junior-dominated offense is worth the price of admission. It will also be the Hawks’ homecoming game.

Running back Darion Brown is averaging eight yards per carry and has scored seven touchdowns. The past two weeks, he has hit his stride, gaining 243 yards in a heartbreaking 42-40 fourth-quarter loss at home to Eatonville, then bettering that with 284 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-25 road win over a Fife team that was 4-1 coming in.

Meanwhile, quarterback Jevon Brown has completed 51 percent of his passes for an average of 114 yards per game. Favorite receiver Dontae Owens has snagged 25 balls, with a 17 yards per catch average and four touchdowns.

Washington comes in off a 42-0 loss to star-studded Steilacoom. The Patriots one win was over Highline on Week 3. River Ridge blanked Washington, 34-0, last season.