Week 5: What we learned from high school football in Olympia area

With the usual suspects currently atop most local leagues, it’s the time of the high school football season for the next tier of teams to sort themselves out as playoff berths are contended for and future goals established. This week, Olympia, Timberline and W.F. West got statement wins and Tenino may have turned itself into a Top 10 team in 1A despite a loss.

TENINO BURNISHES ITS REPUTATION DESPITE DEFEAT

A common synonym for a loss is to say that a team “fell” to another.

Tenino (4-1) may have lost to No. 2 Eatonville on Saturday afternoon, 24-22, but it just might be that the loss won’t see the Beavers fall, but instead rise upward into the top 10 of various state rankings.

The game’s closeness wasn’t a case of Eatonville playing badly. When they had the ball, the Cruisers were as explosive as ever, scoring on a long touchdown pass on the second play of the game and stringing out Tenino’s defense twice as speedy Job Kralik swept to the outside for long touchdown runs.

But Tenino’s game plan was to keep the ball and move methodically up the field, keeping that deadly Eatonville offense off it. It almost worked. The Beavers held the ball two-thirds of the time and ran more than twice as many plays as the Cruisers.

Eatonville coach Gavin Kralik took Tenino’s deliberate style as a compliment to his squad.

“It sends the message ‘hey we don’t think we can beat you in a full game, our best bet is to shrink the game,’” he said.

Tenino coach Cary Nagel had no problem with that assessment.

“They’re a very explosive offense, our offense is grind it out. We thought we could control the game and our game plan worked fine,” he said. “The game went exactly the way we wanted it to go, but a couple of things didn’t bounce our way.”

With Eatonville leading, 24-16, late in the third quarter, the Beavers responded with a time-consuming drive, running 14 straight times before they faced a fourth-and-19 at the Eatonville 23. Quarterback Kysen Knox threw his second pass and his second touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, finding Max Craig down the middle to pull Tenino within a two-point conversion of a tie.

“Kysen is a great player for us,” said Nagel. “We expect big things out of him. He’s kind of solidifying himself as the guy at quarterback. He played well today.”

A near-miss against Eatonville, 5-0 so far in the fall and undefeated in 2021 except for a competitive loss to 3A South Sound Conference champion Yelm in March, bodes well for the Beavers playoff chances, though 1A EvCo games with strong Elma and Montesano teams remain.

Meanwhile, Elma (2-1), which has yet to play an EvCo game, lost at home to No. 5 Mt. Baker, 28-13, Saturday.

The Mountaineers outgained Elma, 359 yards of total offense to 182, despite 100 yards rushing on 13 carries by Jarred Bailey. As was the case with Tenino, Elma coach Ron Clark thought the Eagles came out of the game with a ranked foe better for the experience.

TIMBERLINE SHOWS DEPTH IN COMEBACK WIN OVER CK

Timberline was facing tough odds.

Down 28-14 to visiting Central Kitsap, one of three then-co-leaders in the 3A South Sound Conference with Yelm and Peninsula, the Blazers (3-2) lost their starting quarterback, Jackson Brown, to an injury late in the third quarter Thursday.

Instead of calling it a night, says Blazers second-year coach James Jones, “the kids focused up and rallied on both sides of the ball.”

A defensive adjustment moved senior Cameron Sanders to nose tackle and his efforts clogged up the middle, allowing Timberline’s linebackers to halt any further scoring by the Cougars. Offensively, Franco Segura, usually a wide receiver, slid over behind center.

“We put the ball in the hands of our best player and let him make plays,” Jones said.

The result was 17 unanswered points, culminating in a booming 44-yard field goal at the horn from sophomore kicker Gage Pedro to lift Timberline to a 31-28 victory. Pedro’s kick was a no-doubter, it might have been good from 50 yards.

“If Gage continues to develop, he can kick at the next level,” said Jones.

In Yelm, the Tornados (5-0) rolled to their 11th consecutive win, 40-12 over Capital (2-3) as Kyler Ronquillo starred on both sides of the ball.

He caught seven passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, he was in on seven tackles and intercepted two passes.

Quarterback Palaina Hooper completed 15 of 22 passes for 212 yards while receiver Nathan Paul had four receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Brayden Platt rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.

“We started really fast in the first half,” said Tornados’ coach Jason Ronquillo. “Our execution was clean. We controlled a fast tempo and were able to keep Capital off balance.”

Up next for Yelm will be Gig Harbor, 3-2 after handing North Thurston (0-5) its fourth straight shutout loss, 50-0, Friday night. Ronquillo points to limiting the Tides’ running game and playing well on special teams, where Gig Harbor excels. as keys.

In the week’s final SSC game, Peninsula (4-1) got a road win over River Ridge (2-3), 35-6.

OLYMPIA CONTINUES ITS CLIMB BACK INTO PLAYOFF CONTENTION

Olympia (2-3) took back to the air with a vengeance in a 42-16 road rout of South Kitsap.

Junior quarterback Gabe Downing completed 16 of 29 passes for 318 yards and five touchdowns. Mason Juergens was the focal point of Downing’s throws, grabbing nine for 261 yards and four touchdowns.

Parker Fouts turned two of four receptions into touchdowns while running back Kenyatta McNeese caught five passes. Olympia had 423 yards of total offense, despite gaining just 45 yards on the ground.

“We didn’t run the ball particularly well. South Kitsap is pretty stout up front,” said Bears coach Nick Mullen. “We were able to gain yardage in big chunks at times.”

Mullen pointed to senior cornerback Nick Thompson’s two interceptions as the Bears defensive highlight.

Six 4A South Puget Sound League teams will earn playoff berths. Now, Olympia is in sixth place. Their three losses have all come to teams ahead of them in the standings. Next up is the team immediately ahead of them, 2-2 Puyallup.

W.F. WEST ROARS BACK BEHIND FUGATE TO END SHELTON’S STREAK

Even on its bye week, Tumwater’s dominance in the 2A Evergreen Conference was on display.

A week after the Thunderbirds shut them out, 34-0, the W.F. West Bearcats (3-2) bounced back to remind everyone just how potent their offense can be as they ended Shelton’s two-game winning streak in convincing fashion, 60-20, on the road.

W.F. West, fueled by a stellar performance from quarterback Gavin Fugate, rolled up 564 yards in total offense. Fugate, a 6-foot-3 junior, completed 19 of 28 passes for a career high 387 yards and seven touchdowns. He also led the Bearcats in rushing with 105 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

Cameron Amoroso was Fugate’s favorite target, catching eight passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns. Logan Moore caught a touchdown pass and run for another score.

“We finally quit shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Bearcats’ coach Dan Hill. “When we don’t do that, we put up a lot of points. The defense started playing better, too.”

Meanwhile, Black Hills’ offense went in the opposite direction. A week after putting up 51 points in a win over Centralia, the Wolves (1-4) committed four turnovers and fell to Aberdeen, 20-7, on the road despite 115 yards on 15 carries from running back Johnnie Stallings.

Rochester (4-1) rallied after its first loss of the season to keep Centralia winless, 28-0, as quarterback Landon Hawes threw two touchdown passes to Max Mboob. Running back Talon Betts again put up big numbers, rushing for 162 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Coach A.J. Easley believes his team’s 37-13 loss to visiting Shelton a week before sharpened the Warriors’ determination.

“We’re seven days removed from being brought back down to earth,” he said. “Sometimes a loss grounds you a little bit, focuses you a little more.”