Tumwater Thunderbirds roll over Capital, 42-9, in teams’ 2A Evergreen Conference football opener
Griffin Shea had two touchdown runs called back Friday night at Ingersoll Stadium.
Not that it stopped him.
The senior wide receiver led the Thunderbirds with 168 yards on 15 carries, two touchdowns and one interception as No. 2 Tumwater rolled over Capital, 42-9.
“I knew we would score again,” Shea said. “It didn’t matter to us.”
Tumwater did score again — six times by four different players.
Shea — a first-team all-2A Evergreen Conference selection on offense last season — opened the floodgates for Tumwater on the T-Birds’ opening possession. After he had a 49-yard touchdown run recalled on a hold, Shea trotted 17 yards into the end zone later in the drive.
He scored again in the second quarter on a 34-yard pass from Spencer Dowers.
Tumwater scored at least one touchdown per quarter. Jarid Barrett matched Shea with two of his own and rushed for 109 yards. Jacob Crawford bobbled a punt reception before returning it for 65 yards, and Noah Andrews added the dagger on a 13-yard run to make it 42-9 with 6:31 to play in the fourth.
The trouble started early for Capital — before the game, even. Third-year quarterback Cody Jenkins didn’t start due to an injured right index finger he suffered earlier this week. He is questionable for the Spaghetti Bowl at Olympia next week.
Junior Carson Bertelli — normally a wide receiver — replaced Jenkins and was 8 for 16 with one touchdown and two interceptions.
The Thunderbirds’ defense controlled the Cougars early and didn’t let up, allowing only 189 yards — 144 rushing, 45 passing.
Capital couldn’t seem to catch a break, committing eight penalties for 60 yards — often in third-down situations.
“It was just a lot of different things,” Cougars coach J.D. Johnson said. “We’d have something called and set up, and then jump offsides. It’s just a lot of first-game stuff that’s got to get cleaned up.”
UW commit Van Soderberg scored Capital’s first points on a 27-yard field goal midway through the third quarter, igniting a 9-0 run for the Cougars. Bertelli came back on the next possession and tossed an 18-yard floater to Jack Collard for a touchdown to cut the lead to 28-9 — Tumwater blocked the extra point. The brief rally ended there.
Tumwater plays Timberline at home next Friday at 7 p.m.
This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 10:28 PM with the headline "Tumwater Thunderbirds roll over Capital, 42-9, in teams’ 2A Evergreen Conference football opener."