Tumwater shows no weaknesses in 48-0 rout of Archbishop Murphy in state 2A playoff quarterfinal

During the week leading up to their state 2A playoff game with Archbishop Murphy High School, Tumwater’s coaching staff wondered if the Thunderbirds could equal the defensive effort they had the last time they met the Wildcats.

Two years ago, Tumwater beat heavily favored Archbishop Murphy, 10-6, by holding two of the Wildcats’ stars to negative yardage.

That didn’t happen this time, but close enough: Tumwater held Archbishop Murphy to just 74 yards of total offense and shut the Wildcats out, 48-0, Saturday at Tumwater District Stadium to move on to next weekend’s state semifinals against either Lakewood or Hockinson, who kicked off later in the day.

It was the fifth time in seven post-season meetings over the past nine years that Tumwater has defeated Archbishop Murphy.

“All three phases did a great job,” said Tumwater coach Bill Beattie. “The coaching staff did a phenomenal job, but more importantly these kids prepared. They paid attention to what was going on. They were very focused this week.”

Tumwater benefitted from a right ankle injury to the Wildcats’ star quarterback, Victor Gabalis. Gabalis jogged off the field after getting up slowly midway through the second quarter, with Tumwater already ahead 13-0. After a Ty Gilliland punt died at the Archbishop Murphy 24, Gabalis returned but immediately fumbled trying to drop back to pass.

Gilliland, playing defense as well as punting, scooped the ball up at the 13 and jogged into the end zone untouched to put the T-Birds up 20-0. Gabalis had his ankle wrapped and tried jogging on the sidelines after halftime, but never returned and Tumwater was never again in danger.

Gabalis finished with four completions in six attempts for just 14 yards. He rushed for 15 yards on eight carries, sacks offsetting 43 positive yards he picked up on three unscouted quarterback draws during the first quarter.

“They surprised us a little with that,” said Tumwater lineman Jacob Schuster. “But we were prepared for most everything else and adjusted well.”

Though Gabalis and his replacement, Colton Johnson, were interception free as was Tumwater quarterback Cody Whalen, two lost fumbles by each team shaped the first half, as did inopportune penalties.

After the Wildcats began the game with a 17-yard gain by Gabalis, running back Mason Mathis fumbled and Tumwater linebacker Gaven Murphy recovered at the Archbishop Murphy 35. On the next play, T-Bird running back Turner Allen – who would later add a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown – sprinted 35 yards up the left sideline to start the scoring.

When Archbishop Murphy punted at the end of its next possession, Tumwater had the ball at its own 12. Dylan Paine, who would redeem himself by leading the T-Birds with 94 yards rushing on 12 carries for two touchdowns, fumbled the ball right back.

Four plays later, Gabalis was chased right but found Josh McCarron the end zone, only to have the play called back by a penalty. From that point, a big sack for a loss of 17 yards by Tumwater’s Cooper Wall, left Archbishop Murphy facing a fourth-and-goal at the 30.

“We didn’t really think we had it won until near the end,” said Wall, who had another big sack of Johnson, good for a 15-yard loss, in the fourth quarter.

Right before Gabalis injury, Tumwater embarked on its best sustained drive of the afternoon, moving 91 yards on 10 plays to ultimately score on a four-yard pass from Cody Whalen to Austin Terry, who pulled it in just as he was knocked out of bounds by Wildcat defensive back Joe Ennis.

Tumwater would later score on Paine’s two touchdown runs, Allen’s punt return and a stellar 25-yard scoring pass from Whalen to Danny Goodburn, who leaped with two defenders and came down tangled up with Archbishop Murphy’s Josiah Santiago but was awarded the touchdown via the simultaneous catch rule.

“This time of the season, you’re always facing strong teams, this was a good one for us,” Beattie said.

Despite the wide margin, Tumwater kept its starters in to the end. Beattie explained that he wasn’t oblivious to the chance of an injury or trying to roll up the score.

With the game marking the eighth time this season the mercy rule has invoked a running clock because of big Tumwater lead, the T-Bird starters have had few chances to prove they can play a full game.

“We need to make sure they can play 48 minutes of football,” Beattie said. “We’re really concerned about our kids conditioning. We’re not going to run them to death in practice.”

BOX SCORE

No. 8 Archbishop Murphy 0 0 0 0 -- 0

No. 1 Tumwater 6 14 14 14 -- 48

T – Turner Allen 35-yard run (kick failed)

T – Austin Terry 4 pass from Cody Allen (Nathan Vani kick)

T – Ty Gilliland 13 fumble return (Vani kick)

T – Dylan Paine 5 run (Vani kick)

T – Danny Goodburn 25 pass from Whalen (Vani kick)

T – Allen 74 punt return (Vani kick)

T – Paine 4 run (Vani kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

PASSING

A – Victor Gabalis 4-6-0-14, Colton Johnson 5-12-0-31

T – Whalen 5-7-0-124.

RUSHING

A – Gabalis 8-15, Mason Mathis 14-38, Joe Ennis 4-0, Johnson 4-(-21), Josiah Santiago 1-0, Ryan King 1-(-2).

T – Paine 12-94, Jack Jones 1-1, Jaylen Clay 3-15, Allen 3-35, Hunter Baker 8-63, Whalen 1-(-7),.

RECEIVING

A – Josh McCarron 6-26, Ennis 3-19.

T – Goodburn 1-25, Allen 1-10, Clay 1-22, Terry 1-4, Ryan Otton 1-25.

This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Tumwater shows no weaknesses in 48-0 rout of Archbishop Murphy in state 2A playoff quarterfinal."