Week 9: High school football games of the week in the Olympia area
Week nine of the high school football season is here. Here are a few of the top games to keep an eye on this week in the Olympia area.
Highline (4-4) vs. River Ridge (3-5)
7 p.m. Friday at South Sound Stadium
If you’re looking for a straight-up do-or-die game, the River Ridge Hawks of the Mountain Division and Highline Pirates of the Sound Division will be playing a 2A South Puget Sound League crossover game for a district playoff spot.
The winner gets the league’s No. 4 seed into next week’s first round of the playoffs, the loser won’t be in the postseason.
The Hawks, after a slow start, have won two of their last four games, with the losses coming to a strong Eatonville team and No. 3 Steilacoom. River Ridge discovered a stellar running back in junior Darion Brown along the way.
Brown stands just 59 yards short of the 1000-yard mark for the season despite having no carries in the Hawks’ first two games and not becoming the featured back until Week 5. The 5-foot-7 speedster has carried for 243, 284, 177 and 116 yards in the most recent four games. He’s scored 13 touchdowns, including at least one in each of the six games he’s had a rushing attempt.
Michael Paje is next in rushing, with 287 yards and four touchdowns. Junior quarterback Jevon Brown has passed for 784 yards and five touchdowns. Another junior, Dontae Owens, is the top receiver with 28 catches for 480 yards and four touchdowns. Sean Brost has 16 catches for 201 yards.
Defensively, linebacker Max Eder leads with 51 tackles, four for losses, while freshman cornerback Jonothan Mapu has 43 tackles and a team-high three interceptions.
Six-foot-five junior quarterback Riley Piper and senior wide receiver Kevin Gran, both co-captains, provided an effective passing combination last week as the Pirates clinched their crossover berth with a 52-36 win over Renton. Running back Kelvin Adu also was effective, both rushing from scrimmage and on returns.
Highline has been high-scoring, totaling 119 points in its last two games and breaking the 30-point mark five times over the course of the season. The Pirates and Hawks did not play a common opponent during the regular season.
The game will be streamed live on the ESN/NFHS Network, with a pre-game show beginning at 6:45 p.m.
Yelm (5-3) vs. Timberline (4-4)
7 p.m. Thursday at South Sound Stadium
Playoff implications abound for the Blazers.
Timberline’s postseason future is on the line. Currently part of a three-way tie for the 3A South Sound Conference’s final playoff berth with Central Kitsap and Capital with 3-3 league records, a Blazer win combined with possible losses by CK to Gig Harbor and Capital to league-leading Peninsula would send Timberline on because of a better overall record.
If a three-way tie had to be broken by point differential in games between the three teams, Capital, with a +5 score, would advance over Central Kitsap (-1) and Timberline (-4).
Meanwhile, Yelm has a grip on the SSC’s second seed. It is 5-1 in league, a game ahead of Gig Harbor. Even if the Tornados lose and the Tides win this week, Yelm would have the tie-breaker over Gig Harbor via their 42-18 head-to-head win in Week 3.
Last week, Yelm coasted to a 71-0 rout of winless Shelton.
Quarterback Ben Hoffman completed 7 of 9 passes for 168 yards, including two touchdowns each to Sylas Franklin and Anthony Chipres. Sean Rohwedder, who led with 63 yards rushing on eight carries, Carson Amendt, Kyler Ronquillo and Chipres each ran for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Timberline knocked off crosstown rival North Thurston, 34-14.
Adam Dafoe completed 11 of 15 passes for 168 yards and four touchdowns. Max Aunese had two of those scoring passes among the four he caught for a team-high 85 yards. Noah Cunningham and Nhino Denis also had scoring receptions. Cunningham had 88 yards rushing and Jaden Gorman 79 yards and a touchdown.
The teams had nearly identical results against league champion Peninsula. Timberline took the Seahawks into overtime for the second consecutive year before losing, 24-21. Yelm had a fourth quarter lead but ultimately fell, 31-28.
The game will be streamed live on the ESN/NFHS Network, with a pre-game show beginning at 6:45 p.m.
Peninsula (6-2) at Capital (3-5)
7 p.m. Thursday at Ingersoll Stadium
Capital needs a win to break away from that three-way tie with Timberline and Central Kitsap for a possible playoff spot, but it could be an uphill battle.
The Peninsula Seahawks are undefeated in 3A SSC play and come off a 42-3 wipeout of third-place Gig Harbor in the annual Fish Bowl rivalry game.
Peninsula operates a balanced offense behind quarterback Peyton Bice and a corps of talented running backs. Bice has completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 1035 yards and seven touchdowns. Senior Chase Wittmers is the top receiver with 42 catches for 568 yards and four touchdowns. Junior Chris Akulschin is a deep threat, with just nine catches but three TDs and a 26.9 yards per catch average.
Capital counters with quarterback Tristan Redman, who passed for 160 yards last week in a 14-8 victory over Central Kitsap, eight to Josh Maiava for 109 yards and a touchdown. Clayton Grady has been Cougars workhorse running back.
No. 2 Napavine (6-1) at Rainier (5-3)
7 p.m. Friday at Rainier High School
The Rainier Mountaineers will try to keep pace with Adna for third place in the Central 2B Mountain Division against the No. 2 Tigers.
Adna plays at home against 1-7 Morton-White Pass, which fell to Rainier, 57-8 last week, so the Mountaineers will likely need a victory.
Quarterback Mike Green completed 7 of 13 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns as Rainier routed the Timberwolves. He also ran for two touchdowns. Do-everything senior back Brody Klein had a touchdown both receiving and rushing. He caught five passes for 77 yards and rushed six times for 68 yards.
Kyle Peterson added 60 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.
Meanwhile, Napavine dropped a 36-13 showdown to top-ranked Onalaska on the road.
Quarterback Laythan Demarest led the Tigers with 99 yards on 19 carries, scoring one of Napavine’s two touchdowns. Gavin Parker scored the other on a 47-yard run.