High school football roundup: Pulalasi rushes for 5 TDs to send Lakes to postseason

The Lakes High School Lancers are on their way back to the postseason.

Following consecutive losses to Spanaway Lake and Lincoln the past two weeks, Lakes (6-2) regrouped with a 51-14 win over visiting Mount Tahoma on Thursday night at Harry E. Lang Stadium in Lakewood to secure the Class 3A Pierce County League’s third and final spot in next week’s district round.

“We all (brought) our best, knowing that this game determined if we had a spot in the playoffs,” Lakes two-way senior standout Leo Pulalasi said. “All of us came out with our best.”

Lakes took the lead eight seconds into the game and never lost it after Aslan Fraser returned the opening kickoff 70 yards for a score.

“That definitely set the tempo of the game,” Pulalasi said. “ … Everyone was just hyped after that, and then we just carried it on all the way to the end of the game.”

The Lancers added a second touchdown less than a minute later after Elijah Comoza recovered a fumble on Mount Tahoma’s first offensive play. Three plays later, Pulalasi extended the lead two possessions on a 1-yard run with 10:27 still remaining in the first quarter. Lakes led by at least two touchdowns the rest of the way.

“We came out on fire,” Lancers coach Dave Miller said. “ … Our guys had great energy. I really thought this was the first game that we played four quarters. We’ve been very inconsistent where at times we look great, and then we kind of let down, and we’re kind of half-and-half.

“I told them, hey guys, we have a young team in a lot of ways … and we’re growing. And all of this experience we got the last couple weeks, I think just helped us to where we are today, and we finally put it all together.”

The Lancers added two more touchdowns to take a 27-0 lead early in the second.

After forcing a punt on the T-Birds’ second drive, Pulalasi picked up 68 yards on the first play of the Lancers’ next possession. Ki’Marree Washington then completed the two-play drive with a 12-yard touchdown run seconds later.

Another Mount Tahoma punt led to Lakes’ fourth touchdown of the half on a 2-yard run from Pulalasi with 11:19 remaining in the second quarter.

Mount Tahoma (4-5) responded with touchdowns on its next two drives — quarterback Derrik McKinney connected with Josiah Maxey-Johnson for a 12-yard score midway through the quarter, and then added an 8-yard rushing touchdown with less than two minutes left after the T-Birds stopped the Lancers on a fake punt attempt — but Lakes eventually took a 35-14 lead into halftime.

The Lancers engineered a six-play scoring drive in the final 1:13, with Pulalasi scoring his third touchdown of the half on a 4-yard run with four seconds left before the buzzer.

Lakes held Mount Tahoma scoreless in the final two quarters, and added a safety on the opening drive of the third and two more touchdown runs from Pulalasi — a 21-yard run early in the third, and a 93-yard run late in the fourth — to close out the win and advance.

The Lancers piled up 424 yards of total offense — including 362 on the ground — paced by a career game from Pulalasi. The BYU commit finished with a career-best 232 rushing yards and the five touchdowns on 12 carries.

“I couldn’t have done it without my team,” Pulalasi said.

Washington added 73 yards and the one touchdown on nine carries for Lakes. Mount Tahoma finished with 290 yards of total offense, led by Zirus Loa, who rushed for 116 yards on 25 carries.

The Lancers now look ahead to Week 10 with some momentum following a convincing victory in their regular season finale.

“It’s a great win,” Miller said. “It’s always great to get into the postseason. It’s hard to get into the playoffs, and once you get in, it’s 0-0 (for) everybody, and then see what happens every week. But, I think we’ve got a team that can do some damage.”

“Our thought is going 1-0 every week now,” Pulalasi said.

YELM 50, GIG HARBOR 14

Gig Harbor offered an early test, but Yelm proved again what it had already clinched — the top-ranked Tornados are, and have been, the class of the 3A South Sound Conference.

Last week’s 58-14 rout of Peninsula secured the league crown, and Yelm stormed over the Tides six days later on Thursday night in similar fashion to complete an undefeated run through the league.

Quarterback Damian Aalona threw two touchdowns, Ray Wright and Kyler Ronquillo each added a pair of rushing scores, and the Tornados (9-0) quickly ran away with another win at Roy Anderson Field in Purdy.

The Tides (6-3) held a one-point lead after one quarter, but the advantage disappeared and turned into a four-score deficit by halftime.

Wright commenced the stampede in the second with a 19-yard rushing touchdown, and Ronquillo’s two-point try extended the Tornado lead to 14-7.

Three minutes later, Ronquillo found the end zone. His 1-yard rush suddenly pushed Yelm’s lead to three scores, and his second touchdown before halftime — a 17-yard scamper — built the lead to 28.

Gig Harbor opened second-half scoring when quarterback Will Landram found Gavin Nash for a 20-yard touchdown. It was the Tides’ second score, and their last.

Aalona completed 5-of-10 passes for 184 yards and the two touchdowns. Wright logged nine tackles and 1 1/2 sacks at linebacker, and free safety Jordan Lasher snagged a fourth-quarter interception.

Opponents have managed only 69 combined points against the Tornados this season. They’ve dealt back 511.

PENINSULA 24, TIMBERLINE 21 (OT)

If there is one word Peninsula coach Ross Filkins would use to describe the game between his Seahawks and the Blazers, it would be grit.

The Seahawks (7-2) have been a team mired with injuries the last three weeks. However, they fought their way back from a 21-13 deficit to not only force overtime against Timberline, but to win on a field goal by a kicker who had not practiced all week.

“Timberline is very aggressive and fast, they went with a lot of wildcat tonight which led to coverage breakdowns that led to big plays,” Filkins said. “Our defense made a huge stop in the fourth quarter to give us another chance, however.

“(Once we were in overtime), Timberline had the ball first on their opening possession. They went for it on a fourth down and was stopped, instead of putting up the three points. We were running the ball effectively, and after we got the stop on fourth down, we felt good about our offense.”

The Blazers’ first score was on a Cedric Ragland 35-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Brown, giving Timberline an early 7-0 lead.

Peninsula responded with touchdowns of 1 and 34 yards from Isaac Smith, and took a 13-7 lead into halftime.

Timberline (6-3) came out firing in the second half, though, and Ragland and Brown each scored again for the Blazers. Ragland connected with Jerrell Larkins for 35 yards for a score in the third quarter, and Brown had a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth to give Timberline a 21-13 lead.

But, Peninsula answered on a short rushing touchdown from Aiden Lester, and the Seahawks converted the two-point try that followed to force overtime.

Peninsula’s defense got a crucial fourth down stop in overtime, which allowed the Seahawks to set up the eventual 15-yard game-winning field goal from Frankie Cross.

EATONVILLE 42, HOQUIAM 7

No. 6 Eatonville (6-1) ran over Hoquiam on Thursday night, using six first-half rushing touchdowns to rout the visiting Grizzlies in a 1A Evergreen Conference regular season finale.

Eatonville’s six scores were distributed among four rushers. The flurry of touchdowns began early with quarterback Job Kralik’s 5-yard keeper.

Following a Hoquiam punt, Eatonville’s Ky Nation exploded for another a rushing score midway through the first quarter — a 34-yard burst that gave the Cruisers a two-score lead.

Dylan Norman’s 5-yard score shortly before the end of the first put Eatonville up 21.

Kralik punched in another keeper in the second from 4 yards out.

Walker Bruun scored the other pair of Cruisers touchdowns before intermission, on runs of 8 and 35 yards.

Hoquiam’s Zander Jump found receiver Owen McNeill for a 25-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter — the only score Eatonville allowed.

FRIDAY’S GAMES (OCT. 28)

SUMNER 56, SOUTH KITSAP 20

The Spartans rode to their second 4A SPSL championship since joining the league in 2016 on the back of junior running back Matthew Spurbeck.

After turning the ball over on downs on their first drive, the Sumner offense was quickly back on the field after senior defensive back Brayden Adcox. Spurbeck then became the workhorse as he took the ball down the field on every play thereafter.

“Matthew is our money man. We wanted to ride him, control the clock and it worked for us,” said coach Keith Ross. “Our strength is controlling the trenches, and our defense caused some quick scores. We saw South Kitsap’s Wing-T and we knew we had to stop the run. We have won six in a row since the Emerald Ridge game and we preached all week that we didn’t want a let down. We wanted to finish well and leave no doubt that we were the best team in the league. I’m proud of them, SPSL titles don’t come around for us.”

There was little doubt that the Spartans had the game in hand as they took a 42-6 lead into halftime. Spurbeck and the starting offense would come back out in the second half, and he would cross the goal line for the fourth time in the game.

Finishing the season 8-1, Sumner is looking like they will enjoy a top-four seeding in the coming district playoffs. Their week 10 opponent has yet to be announced, however.

ENUMCLAW 73, WHITE RIVER 21

Although nobody around town can recall when the last time Enumclaw went 9-0, they will remember this Battle of the Bridge as a lopsided affair.

And the scoring came from all over the place.

Offensively, senior running back Emmit Otero was a terror for the White River defense. He carried the ball 18 times and amassed 185 yards. Then there was senior receiver Austin Paulson, who caught five passes for 58 yards and two touchdowns as well.

Sophomore Seamus Twohey added to the offensive totals with five carries for 63 yards and three touchdowns.

“We had good field position all night. Our backups were in and had big success as well. And the defense had three scores. All of that contributed to our win,” said coach Mark Gunderson. “White River played tough and we knew they were going to give us their best. Any time you can finish the season without a loss, it’s something people talk about. The kids were resilient, and stayed the course. I’m really proud of our group.”

On the other side of the ball, Paulson recovered a fumble for 50 yards and scored, and had a pick-six that went for 92 yards as well.

Enumclaw finishes the season undefeated, and will more than likely earn the top seed in the 2A playoffs. Those brackets have yet to be determined.

TENINO 46, ROCHESTER 16

The Scatter Creek Showdown went the way of the Beavers this year as after a slow start in the first half led to an offensive explosion in the second half.

Senior running back Randy Marti scored on a run for Tenino’s only score in the first half, and junior quarterback Tate Quarnstrom connected with senior receiver Ashton Rodriguez for Rochester’s score as well.

After adjustments made by the Beaver coaching staff, and a sack in the endzone from senior defensive end Max Craig, the offense finally began to heat up.

Getting the ball with a 10-8 lead, senior quarterback Kysen Knox took over the game for the Beavers.

“Our coordinators and coaches made some great adjustments at half time. We found the creases, and capitalized on their mistakes,” said coach Cary Nagel. “Kysen Knox was a big factor for us. We were going to rest some guys, but since we were tied 8-8 at the half, some had to stay in there. Our o-line played really well and our defense showed up. The safety that opened the second half gave a jolt to the whole team. We took off from there.”

Knox scored twice to put Tenino up 24-8 until the fourth quarter. With the game firmly in their grasp, the Beavers added to their lead with three more scores; one added by senior running back Tristan Whitaker, and two from sophomore guard Mikey Vassar.

Tenino improves to 8-1 and shares the league title with Eatonville and Montesano. They will await their seeding for the 1A playoffs.

SATURDAY’S GAMES (OCT. 29)

KENNEDY CATHOLIC 52, MOUNT RAINIER 7

The Lancers are 4A NPSL champions.

Kennedy Catholic’s 52-7 rout over Mount Rainier Saturday secured a league title and capped a sparkling undefeated record versus league opponents.

By halftime, the Lancers had triggered the running clock. Mount Rainier’s deficit soon became insurmountable — Kennedy Catholic ripped off four touchdowns in the opening quarter alone.

Kennedy Catholic (8-1, 6-0) surrendered only 49 total points to 4A SPSL foes in the regular season, dishing back 294.

Mount Rainier’s 3-3 league record earned a third-place finish. Federal Way (7-2, 5-1) finished second.

CURTIS 48, PUYALLUP 14

In this battle for Nordic supremacy, it was Cutis who came out on top with their first win over Puyallup since 2014. And who else could help turn Curtis’ luck around other than junior quarterback Rocco Koch.

Koch was the focal point of the potent Curtis offense, as he went 13-for-22 for 157 yards and four touchdowns. The junior quarterback also ran for 160 yards against Puyallup’s defense, putting him over 1,000 yards this season.

“We were in a really good rhythm for the entire game. The play sequences were really good,” said coach Darren McKay. “Koch was seeing things on the field and not forcing the ball. The receivers also did a great job running their routes and getting open for him. Rocco [Koch] has 21 touchdowns to just five interceptions this season. And everyone knows he can run it, he has over 1,000 yards over the season, but he was able to get another 160 tonight. Our defense has had a constant improvement over the last month. We are catching fire and getting great momentum.”

Sophomore Parker Maby got the ball rolling with a one-yard rush to put Curtis on the board first. From there, the flood gates opened.

Senior linebacker Jalen Davenport intercepted the ball at the five-yard line to stop a Puyallup drive, and that turned into a senior receiver Lyndon Faiilagi Tanoa 16-yard run to go up 14-0.

The next four scoring drives for Curtis were all touchdown passes by Koch to Maby for 21 and 38 yards, and to senior running back Alika Alfiche for nine and 10 yards. Junior Kane Able punched in the last Curtis score on a four-yard rushing touchdown to cap the game.

The win puts Curtis into fourth place in the 4A SPSL and they will wait to see where they land for the 4A playoff hunt.