Tumwater caps off perfect season with 48-34 win over Steilacoom in Class 2A state championship game
The streak is over.
In Tumwater’s last four state championship game appearances in 2017, 2015, 2013 and 2012, the T-Birds came out on the losing end.
Not this year.
Tumwater, the state’s tournament top seed, defeated second-seeded Steilacoom, 48-34 in the Class 2A championship game on Saturday evening at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup to cap off a perfect 14-0 season to end its nine-year title drought. It’s Tumwater’s first title since 2010 and the program’s sixth overall.
“We needed this win right here,” said Tumwater quarterback Cody Whalen. “We needed it. It started back in May with workouts. We knew we were going to be here. We knew we were going to lift that trophy.”
It was the first title for Tumwater’s Bill Beattie, now in his third season as the T-Birds head coach.
“I’m so excited for these kids, these coaches, and this fan base has been absolutely fantastic,” Beattie said. “Tumwater has had a lot of success over the years. It started with coach (Sid) Otton bringing this thing up in 1974. Just to be a part of this again and the tradition that just keeps carrying on — I’m so happy for these players, these coaches, everyone here.”
It capped one of the most dominant seasons the state has seen, with Tumwater and its signature Wing-T attack proving unstoppable all season long, and indeed, again in the title game. In the state tournament, Tumwater outscored its four opponents 207-48.
“Everybody had the same mindset from the beginning,” said Tumwater running back Hunter Baker. “We’re a unit. There’s no cliques, everyone hangs out with everybody. Everybody loves everybody. It’s like a machine. You trust the person next to you, they trust you, there’s nothing that can get in the way of you.”
Tumwater rushed for 422 yards. Dylan Paine rushed 21 times for 228 yards and three touchdowns, and teammate Hunter Baker rushed 10 times for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
Steilacoom, a polar opposite offense from Tumwater’s Wing-T, racked up 479 yards in the air. Quarterback Chance McDonald completed 48-of-70 passes for 479 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Five-star recruit Emeka Egbuka hauled in 18 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed twice for five yards and a touchdown.
The game was closely contested in the first half, with Steilacoom jumping out to a 6-0 lead after a McDonald 28-yard pass to Tre Horner in the first quarter. Tumwater responded quickly, with a 22-yard pass from Whalen to Danny Gooburn.
Dylan Paine rushed for two scores in the second quarter and McDonald connected with Egbuka for a 23-yard score in the second quarter on what was the catch of a game — an unbelievable one-handed grab in the back of the end zone.
“You’re not surprised when you see it,” said Steilacoom coach Colby Davies. “We see it so often. We marvel at it of course as coaches seeing it, but it’s definitely not a surprise at this point. He’s makes those plays pretty consistently.”
Down 20-13 in the waning seconds of the first half, Steilacoom had a chance to level the game, but McDonald’s pass fell incomplete from the 4-yard line as time expired.
“There were a few plays in that first half you wish you had back,” Davies said. “That’s one for sure. We get a score there and go into half feeling good about it. Different as far as momentum goes.”
That thought proved true at the start of the second half. On the first play from scrimmage, Baker rushed, untouched, for a 56-yard yard score, giving Tumwater a 27-13 lead.
“That was very important,” said Tumwater lineman Jacob Schuster. “It boosted our confidence when we got our first score, and it really just paid off after that.”
Tumwater took a 41-20 lead into the fourth quarter, but Steilacoom kept clawing back, with McDonald connecting twice with Egbuka for scores. Beattie wouldn’t have expected anything less from the Sentinels.
“There’s a reason they were No. 2,” Beattie said. “They’re a great football team. They have a lot of good players. You’re never secure until that final horn goes off against those guys.”
With Tumwater leading 41-34 with 1 minute, 9 seconds remaining, Steilacoom went for an onside kick. Tumwater’s Austin Terry apparently had no interest in falling safely on the ball once he secured it — instead running for a 43-yard return touchdown, sealing the win.
“This is our third year with this staff,” Beattie said. “What these guys have accomplished, the way they bought in and worked, these seniors are absolutely tremendous this year. They sure played their rear ends off. They’re great young men.”
OTHER NOTES
▪ Tumwater’s 422 rushing yards set a record for the Class 2A state championship game, breaking Othello’s previous mark of 406, set in the 1998 title game against Elma.
▪ Hunter Baker’s 87-yard touchdown run in the third quarter is now the longest run in the Class 2A state championship game, breaking the previous mark of 83 yards, set by Othello’s Isaac Jahns in 1998.
▪ Steilacoom quarterback Chance McDonald set three records in Saturday’s game: Most passes attempted (70) and most passes completed (48). The previous marks — 45 and 27, respectively— were set by Hockison in 2017. He also set the mark for passing yards in a 2A state championship game with 479, breaking the previous mark of 390, set by Meridian’s Jeff Bennum in 1999.
▪ The 82 combined points were the most in a Class 2A state championship game, breaking last year’s 79 points between Hockinson and Lynden.
This story was originally published December 7, 2019 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Tumwater caps off perfect season with 48-34 win over Steilacoom in Class 2A state championship game."
