Area prep football roundup: Tumwater posts 35 points in second half to beat Timberline, 48-10
What comes after 500?
“Five-hundred one,” Tumwater coach Sid Otton said.
Otten coached his 501st high school football game Friday night, as Tumwater improved to 2-0 with a 48-10 win over Timberline. Otton’s all-time record is now 373-128.
“We don’t think much about it,” Otton said. “We’ve got this one, and we get ready for the next one.”
But this one took a little while to get going.
Pegged with a few injuries, Tumwater had trouble finding offensive consistency in the first half.
It is still missing wide receiver Easton Trakel, who racked up 1,517 all-purpose yards and scored 15 touchdowns for the Thunderbirds last season. He has sat out the first two games with a hamstring injury.
Quarterback Noah Andrews is out with flu-like symptoms.
Griffin Shea — who led the Thunderbirds with 168 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns in last week’s 42-9 win over Capital — left Friday’s game in the first quarter with a mild concussion.
“The offense sputtered for awhile trying to get identity for the playmaking part,” Otton said.
Tumwater’s offensive production in the first half yielded two touchdowns by Cade Otton. Otton ran for eight yards to open scoring, and caught a four-yard pass from Spencer Dowers to break a 7-7 tie in the first quarter.
Savaauli Maae scored on the 29-yard run that tied it, but the Blazers never led. Maae led Timberline with 50 rushing yards on nine carries and one touchdown.
Justin Rivera also connected for a 33-yard field goal in the second quarter for Timberline to cut the lead to 13-10 entering the half.
But it was all Tumwater from there.
The Thunderbirds gained momentum after Trayten Rodriguez returned an 87-yard kickoff to open the second half. The offensive onslaught continued from there for four more touchdowns.
“I’m proud of how the kids adapted to adversity,” Otton said. “They’re not going to be a team that makes excuses. They went after it.”
Jarid Barrett broke out in the third quarter for three consecutive rushing touchdowns of one, seven and two yards. He led Tumwater with 100 yards on 19 carries.
Zach Jones added one more for the Thunderbirds in the fourth on a two-yard run.
Tumwater has outscored opponents, 90-19, in its first two outings.
For Otton, next comes game No. 502. The Thunderbirds travel to La Center (0-2) next Friday at 7 p.m.
River Ridge 19, North Thurston 13
The Hawks’ late close call against the Rams was reminiscent of last year’s 16-14 loss to Franklin Pierce — but in a good way.
“We reflected back on that after the game,” River Ridge coach Steve Schultz said. “I said, ‘Incredible win. The last time we were in this situation, we lost.’”
But Franklin Pierce’s nine unanswered points in the fourth quarter last season, which handed the Hawks their only loss, is a distant memory now.
The Hawks defense staved off a late fourth-quarter drive to edge North Thurston and improve to 2-0.
“The red zone defense came through,” Schultz said.
North Thurston reached River Ridge’s 17-yard line late in the fourth quarter only to have the Hawks defense shut down quarterback Jake Harn. The Hawks sacked Harn on second down, battered down a pass attempt on third and forced him to release the ball early on fourth. He overthrew Zach Sibley to turn it over with 1 minute, 15 seconds left.
River Ridge’s offense strung together three touchdowns to secure the win.
Brayden Anderson caught a two-yard pass from Koby Keys and Zachary Carter ran in a 3-yarder to give the Hawks a 13-0 halftime lead. Gustavo Diaz added one more in the third on a 1-yard run.
North Thurston scored all 13 of its points in the second half on touchdown runs by Anthony Salazar and Zion Kirk.
“There were no big, huge swings of momentum, just little ones back and forth,” Schultz said. “They’d make a play, we’d make a play.”
River Ridge hosts Franklin Pierce (0-2) at 7 p.m. next Friday at South Sound Stadium.
Rainier 34, Kittitas 6
The Mountaineers rushed for a combined 434 yards and four touchdowns Friday.
McKoy Bichler rushed for three of those — including a 45-yard run in the first quarter that gave Rainier a 7-0 lead it would never lose. Bichler also ran for a 1-yard touchdown in the second and a 7-yard touchdown in the third.
Rainier’s defense shut out Kittitas in every quarter but the third.
The Mountaineers have outscored opponents, 92-26, in their first two games and improve to 2-0 with the win.
Rainier travels to Raymond (2-0) next Friday at 7 p.m.
Yelm 41, Foss 8
The Tornadoes defense only gave up one touchdown in the fourth quarter as the offense rolled over the Falcons.
Kaleb Lunderville caught two touchdown passes from Daylon Matthews in the third quarter — one for 45 yards, one for 25 — to lead the Tornadoes.
Yelm running back Brandon Thompson opened scoring with a 55-yard punt return in the first quarter.
Yelm hosts Timberline (0-2) next Friday at 7 p.m.
Sumner 34, Shelton 3
The Highclimbers committed five turnovers — three interceptions, two fumbles — against the Spartans as they dropped to 1-1 on the season.
Shelton’s only points came on a 23-yard field goal in the first quarter. The Spartans shut out the Highclimbers in the final three quarters.
Shelton travels to Foss (0-2) next Friday at 7 p.m. to open Class 3A Narrows play.
This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 1:04 AM with the headline "Area prep football roundup: Tumwater posts 35 points in second half to beat Timberline, 48-10."