Week 1: What we learned from the start of high school football season in the South Sound
The first week of high school football in the South Sound provided statement wins, big individual performances and close contests that set the stage for what should be a thrilling fall season.
Here’s what we learned in Week 1:
Yelm makes statement with win over 4A power Camas
Yelm sent a message to the rest of the state with a season-opening rout of perennial 4A state power Camas on Friday night.
Beware the Tornados this fall.
In perhaps the most anticipated Week 1 game in Washington, Yelm, which is expected to challenge for a title in the 3A ranks this fall, delivered a dominant performance against the visiting Papermakers on the way to a convincing 44-14 victory.
Yelm never trailed, scoring on the game’s opening drive on a 14-yard touchdown run by four-star junior Brayden Platt.
Platt, who holds nine offers from Power Five schools, finished with 16 carries for 178 yards and four touchdowns, also scoring from 1, 11 and 85 yards in the second half.
Tornados junior quarterback Damian Aalona completed 15-of-22 passes for 223 yards and one 48-yard touchdown pass to Portland State commit Kyler Ronquillo in the fourth in his first career start.
Camas kept it close early, scoring on a 3-yard run by Reid Tennant in the first quarter, but the Tornados responded with William Carreto’s 3-yard touchdown to take a 14-7 lead into halftime.
The Papermakers tied the game in the third on a 14-yard pass from Taylor Ioane to Trenton Swanson, but it was all Yelm from there.
Yelm has made three consecutive trips to the state playoffs, including matching a program best by advancing to the quarterfinals last fall, and appears poised to make another run this season.
Will the Tornados chase down their first championship?
Friday’s performance against a Papermakers program that has advanced to 10 of the past 11 state brackets at the 4A level — including winning undefeated titles as recently as 2016 and 2019 — offered a promising early look.
The 4A SPSL is going to be a slugfest
Last year, there was a clear pecking order in the 4A South Puget Sound League.
Upsets simply didn’t happen, with Graham-Kapowsin running the table, second-place Sumner losing only to G-K, third-place Puyallup losing only to G-K and Sumner, fourth-place Bellarmine Prep losing to G-K, Sumner and Puyallup and beating the rest of the teams in the league.
It was all very neat and tidy, the kind of thing that made it easy to make predictions and look smart. But, where’s the fun in that?
This fall, it looks like some chaos and unpredictability is coming to the league.
Graham-Kapowsin, while eventually cruising to a 56-0 rout of Rogers on Thursday night at Art Crate Field in Spanaway, got out to a bit of a slow start in the first quarter. Last year’s team was historically dominant. This year’s team looks impressive, too, but no one would expect the Eagles to be as unstoppable as a season ago.
Sumner got all it could handle from Bellarmine, which led 16-7 at halftime, before the Spartans pitched a second half shutout and scored 15 unanswered points to win, 22-16, Friday night at Sunset Chev Stadium.
Emerald Ridge was on cruise control against rival Puyallup on Friday night at Sparks Stadium, leading 26-8 at the break, before Puyallup mounted a furious comeback to win, 29-28.
Olympia and Curtis, both playoff hopefuls, played another close game Friday night at Ingersoll Stadium, with Curtis picking up a win on the road, 35-34.
For fans, the increased parity should be welcome. Wins and losses will depend less on pure talent gaps and more on matchups, gameplans and staying healthy.
This is one of the deepest leagues in the state, and teams will have to bring their A-game nearly every week to find themselves in the win column.
3A PCL sweeps contests against NPSL opponents
Week 1 featured three matchups between 3A Pierce County League programs and North Puget Sound League programs.
The 3A PCL swept.
Defending 3A PCL champion Lincoln hosted defending 3A NPSL winner Auburn Riverside on Friday night in Tacoma. The Abes built an early lead and held off a late comeback bid to secure a 28-21 win at Lincoln Bowl.
Missouri commit Gabarri Johnson, the state’s top-ranked quarterback, finished 8-of-13 for 123 yards and a touchdown, and added 86 rushing yards on 18 carries to lead the Abes offense.
Lincoln never trailed and scored on back-to-back drives to open the game on an 8-yard touchdown run by John John Nelson and 2-yard run by Navarre Dixon.
The Abes added another score on Johnson’s 48-yard toss to Drake Granberry to take a 20-7 lead into halftime, and a final touchdown early in the fourth on Kelly Sio-Fetaui’s 5-yard scoring run.
Auburn Riverside cut the lead back to one possession three times during the contest: on a 3-yard run in the second by Thyrou Umi-Tuato’o, a 47-yard catch by Jace Villers in the third, and a 16-yard connection between Andrew Wold and Kyree Wright with 3:32 left in the game, but couldn’t get closer.
Granberry intercepted a pass to end Auburn Riverside’s final drive inside the final minute and seal the win for the Abes.
Further north in Kent, Lakes scored early and often, and the Lancers’ defense kept 4A NPSL contender Kentwood out of reach on the way to a convincing 50-23 win.
BYU commit Leo Pulalasi scored four touchdowns and Ki’marree Washington added two scores and a game-high 155 rushing yards on 13 carries to pace Lakes on offense.
The Lancers piled up more than 300 yards of offense — including 245 on the ground — and six touchdowns.
Their defense forced two turnovers, scored twice — on a safety on their first defensive snap, then later in the first half on a pick-six — and consistently stopped the Conquerors behind the line of scrimmage in the win.
Bonney Lake also picked up a road win up north, upending 4A NPSL member Tahoma, 25-21, in Maple Valley.
Win over Peninsula cements Enumclaw’s status as 2A SPSL favorite
It was an impressive road win for the Hornets over reigning 3A South Sound Conference co-champion Peninsula on Thursday night at Roy Anderson Field.
Enumclaw quarterback Gunnar Trachte tossed a pair of touchdowns to senior wideout Austin Paulson, and running back Emmit Otero added two more scores on the ground.
Peninsula rallied in the final minutes, but failed to convert what would have been the game-tying two-point conversion, and Enumclaw hung on for a 29-27 win.
In our preview of the 2A South Puget Sound League, we wrote that Enumclaw was the favorite to win the league this fall. That notion was cemented with Enumclaw’s win over the Seahawks on Thursday night.
It’s a win that should do wonders for Enumclaw’s confidence when the postseason rolls around, too. A win over one of the South Sound’s most consistent 3A programs should tell the Hornets they can make some noise in the 2A state bracket this fall.
Staff writer Tyler Wicke and contributing writers Doug Drowley and Dave Weber contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 5, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Week 1: What we learned from the start of high school football season in the South Sound."
