High school football roundup: Kennedy Catholic bests Auburn Riverside in 4A/3A NPSL clash

The Kennedy Catholic High School Lancers collected another convincing victory Thursday night at Auburn Memorial Stadium.

The Lancers, winners of their past six games, piled up 470 yards of offense and reached the end zone six times on the road against Auburn Riverside, eventually running away with a 47-17 nonleague win.

Kennedy Catholic coach Sheldon Cross knew when this season’s schedule was released this matchup of last season’s Class 4A and 3A North Puget Sound League champions would be tough.

The two programs — both of which still remain undefeated in league play, the Lancers in the 4A NPSL, and the Ravens in the 3A NPSL — traded the lead back and forth in the first half before the Lancers eventually pulled away.

“This was a good win,” Cross said. “This was a good team.”

Kennedy Catholic needed four plays to score the game’s opening touchdown on a 52-yard pass from Devon Forehand to Maclane Watkins and take an early lead.

Auburn Riverside responded with an 11-play scoring drive which Jonathan Epperson completed with a 2-yard touchdown run, though the Lancers maintained a one-point advantage.

Early in the second quarter, the Ravens found the end zone again, when quarterback Andrew Wold connected with Carter Rhooms for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 14-8.

But, that was the last time Auburn Riverside crossed the goal line. The Lancers answered with two scoring drives late in the half.

The first was an eight-play scoring drive capped by an Indy Jones 2-yard touchdown run. The second was a 57-yard pass from Forehand to Mason Hayes on the first play of Kennedy Catholic’s next drive, giving the Lancers a 10-point lead with less than two minutes to go before halftime.

Auburn Riverside responded with a 22-yard field goal from David Perez with seven seconds to play in the second quarter, but the Lancers took a 24-17 lead into the break, and extended it further in the second half.

“I’m proud of the way we responded to adversity,” Cross said. “They got up, 14-8, and we stayed the course.”

Kennedy Catholic added a 13-yard touchdown run from Xe’ree Alexander midway through the third, and a 26-yard connection between Forehand and Watkins later in the quarter to take a three-possession lead.

Hayes added the Lancers’ final touchdown of the game on a 97-yard keeper seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 47-17.

Hayes, who contributes in all three phases for Kennedy Catholic, led the Lancers with 100 rushing yards on two carries and 118 receiving yards on three catches, and scored the two total touchdowns.

“I love playing the game of football,” he said. “I love playing offense, defense, punting, kicking — everything.”

Forehand completed 12-of-18 passes for 248 yards and the three touchdowns for the Lancers, while Watkins had 102 yards and two touchdowns on five catches and Alexander added 59 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

The Lancers’ defense shut out the Ravens in the second half. Three of Auburn Riverside’s drives after the break ended in punts, another in a turnover on downs at the Kennedy Catholic 3-yard line — which led to Hayes’ long touchdown run on the next play — and another with a Geron White interception.

“We really settled in as the game went on, and we were stingy on defense,” Cross said.

Auburn Riverside finished with 225 yards of total offense. Thyrou Umi-Tuato’o led the Ravens in rushing, with 84 yards on 13 carries, while Rhooms hauled in six catches for 72 yards and the one touchdown to lead Auburn Riverside’s receivers.

Kennedy Catholic has outscored its last six opponents, 280-58, following a 12-point loss to 3A power Eastside Catholic in its season-opener the first week of September. What has worked for the Lancers?

“Our offense and defense,” Hayes said. “Our defense has been amazing. Our linebackers have been shutting down that run, our secondary, we’re getting picks. … Offense, we’re just going to do what we do every single time. We’re going to go score.”

Both Kennedy Catholic (6-1) and Auburn Riverside (4-3) resume league schedules next week. The Lancers travel to play Tahoma, while the Ravens will return to Auburn Memorial Stadium as the visiting team against Auburn Mountainview.

FRIDAY’S GAMES (October 14th)

PUYALLUP 17, BETHEL 6

On a night where offense came at a premium, the Viking special teams came up big for the first score of the game.

Lined up deep in the Bison’s side of the field, coach Brian Grout called for a play that would send his players to block the forthcoming punt. Puyallup succeeded in blocking the punt and senior Elijah Norris came up with it in the endzone.

“We called the block and the guy we thought would get there blocked the ball,” Grout said. “Norris came up with it in the endzone. We value all three phases of the game. We get really excited when we draw up a play and execute it really well. It got us pumped for the kids who put their bodies on the line out there.”

The defense was also crucial to the Vikings’ success on the night. With Bethel trying to get past midfield, junior defensive back Malachi Durant intercepted a pass. That set up the Puyallup drive that ended with sophomore running back Ty Balzarini getting the three-yard score.

Puyallup’s final score came from a junior kicker Luke Faccone 21-yard field goal. Although the Bison would get a touchdown back, they could not get past the Viking defense.

Now Puyallup sits at 6-1 on the season, and is still fighting for the top spot in the 4A South Puget Sound League. Their next test will come against Bellarmine Prep at 7 p.m., Saturday, October 22 at Bellarmine Preparatory High School.

P: 14-0-3-0--17

B: 0-0-6-0--6

SUMNER 37, OLYMPIA 14

The Spartans opened up the scoring early against the Bears, as they took an opening kickoff to the house. However, that kick was called back after a penalty.

But it didn’t take long for Sumner to get on the board for real as junior running back Matthew Spurbeck took the ball for 72 yards on their second play of their opening drive.

After a defensive stop, the Spartans again went to work and scored off a senior quarterback Kayde Bodine touchdown pass to senior receiver Jay Mentink to go up 14-0.

“After an early second quarter field goal, we didn’t score again until there was about a minute left in the half,” said coach Keth Ross. “That was a long time since our offense didn’t get any points. But, we held them out of the endzone in the second half. They throw every play, and it makes you stressed out the whole game. We are pleased we got out of there with a solid victory. Our defense gave up short balls, but we got two picks. One was on the goal line, and it stopped a scoring drive.”

One of those interceptions fell into the arms of Mentink midway through the third quarter. As the Bears were driving and found themselves inside the Sumner five-yard line, a tipped ball landed in Mentink’s possession and gave the Spartans the ball back at a critical juncture.

From there, the score remained 24-14 until just over three minutes left in the game. Sumner would then put the game out of reach on a Spurbeck 30 yard run to go up 30-14 after a blocked PAT attempt.

Their final score came from an interception returned for a touchdown by sophomore defensive back Che Molina, putting the Spartans up 37-14 with less than a minute to go.

The win puts Sumner at 6-1 on the year and fighting for a share of the 4A South Puget Sound crown. Their next matchup will be against Bethel at 7 p.m. Thursday, October 20 at Sumner High School.

S: 14-10-0-13--37

O: 7-7-0-0--14

ENUMCLAW 49, ORTING 13

The Hornets had their work cut out for them as they wracked up penalties whenever the ball was thrown through the air. Although the stats say junior quarterback Gunnar Trachte threw for 44 yards, he had three touchdown passes called back.

So what does coach Mark Gunderson do to combat this? He relied on a steady dose of senior running back Emmit Otero.

“We rushed for over 340 yards tonight. We were forced to be on the ground. There were over 100 yards in penalties, easy,” Gunderson said. “We know this is a good offensive line unit that we have, whether it’s run or pass. We were handcuffed though tonight, we wanted to be more balanced. But Emmit was being Emmit tonight. It was a night where we rode the hot hand, and he was it.”

Otero was easily the most productive Hornet on the field as he came away with 215 rushing yards against the Cardinals.

The Enumclaw offense got off to a fast start as well. They built up a 14-0 lead from scoring twice within the first three minutes of the game. After that, they tightened up and spread out the scoring.

As for the defense, they held Orting to 13 points on 100 yards of rushing and 100 yards in the air. The win improves the Hornets’ record to 7-0 on the season and they have a clear hold on the 2A South Puget Sound League.

Their next game will be against Clover Park at 7 p.m. Thursday, October 20 at Enumclaw High School.