Olympia routs crosstown rival Capital, 40-7, in Spaghetti Bowl
Olympia High School sophomore quarterback Gabe Downing threw four touchdown passes and the Bears dominated all three phases of the game in a 40-7 win over Capital in the Spaghetti Bowl on Friday night at Ingersoll Stadium.
It was the first playing of this crosstown rivalry game since 2015.
Downing was 20-of-28 passing for 350 yards and had one interception to go with his four touchdowns.
“I think I played well, but the line played the best they have all season,” Downing said. “They gave me a great pocket. They really worked hard this week. Receivers made plays. When I can throw a quick little pass and Alfredo (Ramirez Cortes) or Mason (Juergens) and C.J. (Connor Johnson) and Fouts (Parker), I mean, they just take them all, it’s pretty fun.”
Ramirez Cortes led the Bears with seven catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Juergens had six catches for 97 yards, Fouts caught two passes for 55 yards and a score and Johnson caught one pass for 12 yards and a touchdown.
“I don’t know if you can really describe it. It’s one of those things where you’re waiting for them to show everything they’ve got inside of them,” Olympia coach Nick Mullen said. “They competed, they did everything they were supposed to do. They didn’t say nothing, we’ve been saying it all week, just play. Don’t say anything, just do your thing, and they did. They focused up all week and it was by far our best game we’ve played all season.”
While the offense will get a lot of credit for putting up 40 points, the defense deserves an equal amount, if not more, for holding the Cougars without an offensive touchdown.
Mullen highlighted nose tackle Calvin Syverson and Cole Peterson in the middle as players who stood out during a shutout from the Bears defense, recording seven tackles for loss in the victory.
“They’re a good defensive unit. They fly around, they have fun together, they tap off, big plays are contagious,” Mullen said. “We probably should have had a pick-six. Our defense just plays together, they play with a lot of heart, a lot of emotion. We’re not very big, they just fly around and make big plays and have a great time doing it.”
Downing opened the scoring for the Bears on their second offensive play with an 80-yard touchdown pass to Ramirez. A field goal by Vincent Gourley late in the first quarter made it 9-0.
In the second quarter, Downing found Fouts for a 40-yard score before connecting with Ramirez once again for a 30-yard touchdown pass to take a 23-0 halftime lead.
Downing completed his fourth touchdown pass of the game to Johnson from 12 yards out. Senior running back Cole Peterson finished off the scoring with an 8-yard run late in the third quarter to invoke the running clock.
Capital started the game with the ball and had a decent drive going before a turnover on downs, and the Cougars just couldn’t get anything going offensively after that.
“I think we had some good things that went for us. Obviously, we had some things that didn’t go our way,” Capital coach Terry Rose said. “I never will question my team’s heart. I’ll never question my team’s want to actually play. Sometimes, the other team is better. They were better tonight. We didn’t live up to what we had hoped.”
Capital’s Jake Kennedy led the offense with 121 yards on 18 carries. The Cougars scored their only touchdown on a 38-yard interception return by Deonte Burns.
Olympia will retain the Spaghetti Bowl trophy for at least another year until these two teams meet again, and the Bears made sure the Cougars knew that, as they planted the large Olympia flag at the center of the field following the game.
There was no pregame spaghetti feed this season, but coach Mullen will try to allow his team to celebrate on Saturday.
“We’ll social distance, we’ll do it on Zoom tomorrow morning and have some spaghetti,” he joked.
Olympia (3-1) will wrap up the odd season next Friday against River Ridge in Lacey. Capital (1-3) faces Timberline in its season finale at next Friday at home.