What we learned from Week 10 high school football playoffs in Olympia area
Three Olympia-area teams have home games in the first round of the state football playoffs, while another goes on the road. Meanwhile, Northwest Christian stayed alive for a championship in the six-man ranks.
YELM TABBED NO. 4 SEED IN 3A, DRAWS SEATTLE PREP AT HOME
Yelm (9-0) overcame early jitters and bursts of rain and hard cross winds to claim the No. 4 seed in 3A with a 37-21 victory over visiting Mead (3-7).
The Tornados will host No. 13 seed Seattle Prep (6-4) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the first round of their third consecutive state tournament. The Panthers advanced with a 38-27 win over Mountain View.
Defensively, Yelm excelled against Mead, holding the visitors to 53 total yards and one offensive touchdown. But the Tornados turned the ball over five times, twice for Panther scores, allowing Mead to grab a 14-12 third quarter lead despite two 27-yard first half sweeps for touchdowns by Tornados’ sophomore running back Brayden Platt.
With 1:30 left in the third, linebacker William Carreto looked a Colby Danielson pass right into his arms and sprinted 41 yards to make it 20-14. Yelm got up by as much as 35-14, as Wright, scored from 20 yards out and Carretto on a five-yard touchdown run.
Elsewhere, Timberline made the round of 32 with a 21-20 win Tuesday over Central Kitsap in a minigame tie-breaker, but didn’t have enough left on Saturday, falling 262 miles from home, 28-7 to Kennewick.
In the air tight battle with CK, quarterback Jackson Brown rushed for two touchdowns and threw a clutch fourth-down touchdown pass to Franco Segura. Gage Pedro, whose 44-yard field goal gave Timberline (7-4) the win in a regular league game, booted the extra point that broke the overtime tie in the post-season battle.
2A TOP-SEED TUMWATER HOSTS EAST VALLEY, NO. 10 WFW VISITS PROSSER
Top-ranked Tumwater (7-2) got the mercy rule clock running by halftime in its opening round playoff game with visiting Columbia River (3-7), going up 48-0 at intermission and winning, 62-14.
The Thunderbirds outgained the Rapids, 280 yards to 132. It was Tumwater’s fourth game of 50 or more points scored this season.
The victory earned the T-Birds the No. 1 seed into state and a home game on Friday night at 7 p.m. against No. 16 East Valley of Spokane (4-3).
East Valley reached its first state tournament since 2013 by emerging from a three-way tie-breaker with Clarkston and West Valley.
W.F. West (8-2), the No. 10 seed, travels to No. 7 Prosser (7-1) for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday.
The Bearcats advanced after a 21-7 first round home victory over Mark Morris. Brock Guyette rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns in the absence of junior quarterback Gavin Fugate, who suffered a season-ending broken collar bone the week before against Black Hills. Fugate’s replacement, Gage Brumfield, ran for 69 yards and a touchdown while also completing five of seven passes.
Prosser, state champions as recently as 2016 and a quarter-finalist last time the tournament was held, has won seven in a row. The Mustangs wrapped up another 2A Central Washington Athletic Conference title with a 32-26 double overtime win Friday at Selah.
Eric Delgado ran for three touchdowns while a six-yard Kayden Rivera pass to Max Flores ended the game.
Meanwhile, Rochester, the 2A Evergreen Conference’s third seed into the round of 32, was nine years removed from the playoffs. Their foe, Hockinson, was two years removed from a 2A state championship.
The difference showed.
The Warriors (6-4) were held to less than 100 yards in total offense and didn’t score until a 21-yard run by Talon Betts in the fourth quarter, losing 50-7.
TENINO IS NO. 6 SEED, FACES FREEMAN AT HOME IN 1A
Tenino (9-1) claimed its first state tournament berth in eight years and the No. 6 seed in 1A after scoring 50 or more points for the fifth time this season in a 56-0 opening round playoff rout of visiting Castle Rock.
The Beavers will host No. 11 seed Freeman (7-2) on Friday night at 7 p.m.
Against the Rockets, Takari Hickle rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries while Dylan Spicer added 104 yards and two scores on 14 carries. Both Hickle, bound for Oregon State as a defensive end, and Spicer have eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing this season.
Freeman advanced with a 39-14 first round win over Cascade. The Scotties displayed a balanced offense with 212 yards passing and 195 rushing.
UNBEATEN NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN HOSTS SIX-MAN FINALS
Northwest Christian (6-0) hosts Lake Quinalt for the Coastal Six championship, most likely on Friday night. With their usual home field, Tenino, taken up with the Beavers’ 1A game, the Wolverines hope to play at South Sound Stadium, right around the corner from their Lacey campus.
Scoring on every offensive possession, Northwest walloped Washington School for the Deaf, 75-36 in the six-man semi-finals. Missing their offensive coordinator, the Wolverines turned play calling over to senior quarterback Adam Brooks, who passed for 156 yards and three touchdowns, all to Brandon Campbell, and also turned a pair of Terrier turnovers into touchdowns on defense. Freshman linebacker Joseph Meier led with eight tackles.
BEARS’ AERIAL EXPLOSION HIGHLIGHTS NON-PLAYOFF WEEK 10 GAMES
Junior quarterback Gabe Downing threw seven touchdown passes as Olympia (3-7) crushed host Kentlake to highlight local non-playoff Week 10 action.
Downing completed 16 of 24 passes without interception for 357 yards. Mason Juergens, also a junior, caught 12 of Downing’s throws for a school-record 287 yards and four touchdowns. Sophomore running back Cale Allen rushed for 160 yards on 19 carries.
Capital (2-8) lost 21-14 at Mount Tahoma while North Thurston dropped its final chance to avoid a winless season, 33-20, to host Stadium. Senior Kristopher Hernandez rushed for two Rams’ touchdowns and junior V.J. Ioane the other.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 5:00 AM.