Olympia High rides running of Scott Gunther to 41-7 victory over Capital in Spaghetti Bowl

Nothing — not even the referees — could stop Scott Gunther in the Spaghetti Bowl at Ingersoll Stadium on Friday as Olympia High School cruised to a 41-7 victory over Capital.

On his third rush of the evening, Gunther powered through an opening in the middle of the line and knocked down a referee.

“There was a Capital guy on each side of him,” Gunther said. “I just went straight, and he happened to be there, and I knocked him over.”

No one got in Gunther’s way after that.

Olympia’s junior running back rushed for 216 yards on 21 carries and had three touchdowns. His final — and longest — touchdown run went for 85 yards and gave Olympia a 27-0 lead at the end of the first half.

“The linemen were making huge holes, anyone could have run through that,” Gunther said.

The Bears bring the Spaghetti Bowl trophy back to Olympia with the win in the 39th meeting of the two programs. Olympia cuts Capital’s all-time series lead to 21-18.

Following Gunther’s opening 26-yard touchdown run, the Cougars bobbled the kickoff, which Olympia recovered.

On the first play of the drive, quarterback Jack Bell lobbed a deep ball that was tipped by Gavin Armitage. David Woodward caught it and turned it into a 27-yard touchdown — Olympia’s second touchdown in 12 seconds.

Woodward also caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from Bell in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark produced Olympia’s sixth and final touchdown on a 57-yard run with less than four minutes to play.

Bell finished 5 of 10 for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Before Capital’s third-quarter touchdown, the Bears had played six consecutive quarters of shutout football, including last week’s 42-0 win against Ferris.

“Our defense played a great football game, pursued hard, and came after them,” Olympia coach Bill Beattie said.

Paired with Olympia’s strong defensive showing, injuries proved taxing for Capital.

Cougars quarterback Carson Bertelli exited the game with a broken arm in the first quarter after a late hit — regular starting quarterback Cody Jenkins was already sidelined due to an injury to his right index finger sustained last week. Capital used two underclassmen to finish the game.

Armitage and Chris Schnellman also left in the first quarter with injuries for the Cougars.

Capital’s only score came in the third quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Willie Broxton — who exited the game on the next series with a leg cramp. Broxton’s touchdown run capped off a nine-play, 37-yard drive. Broxton carried the ball in eight of the nine plays and led Capital with 101 yards on 25 carries.

“They played better in the second half and didn’t stop fighting,” Capital coach J.D. Johnson said.

Capital (0-2) travels to Lincoln next week, while Olympia (2-0) hosts South Kitsap. Both games are Friday at 7 p.m.

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Olympia High rides running of Scott Gunther to 41-7 victory over Capital in Spaghetti Bowl."