W.F. High School's Troy Yarter runs downfield for a good gain Friday night against Tumwater High School in Tumwater.
A W.F. High School player has his jersey yanked Friday night against Tumwater High School in Tumwater.
W.F. High School running back Jaiyden Camoza runs for yardage Friday night against Tumwater High School in Tumwater.
A bevy of W.F. High School defensive players unite to bring down a Tumwater High School running back Friday night in Tumwater.
W.F. High School quarterback Josiah Johnson, 3, passes for yardage in the first half Friday night against Tumwater High School in Tumwater.
TUMWATER — The Bearcats were able to keep things close here for three and a half quarters of 2A Evergreen Conference action but wound up unable to tame the mighty Thunderbirds in a 28-7 loss.
Trailing 14-0 at the half W.F. West was able to parlay a big goal line stand to start the second half into a scoring drive that was capped by an 11-yard touchdown pass from Josiah Johnson to Kaelin Hazen. That score cut the T-Birds lead in half and gave the Bearcats a breath of life in a notoriously unfriendly environment.
With around 7 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter W.F. West seemed poised to turn the tables on Tumwater as they held possession and momentum around midfield. That drive wound up fizzling out, though, and the Bearcats turned the ball over on downs when their fourth down play came up less than a yard short of the sticks.
“We were in a ballgame and our guys played really hard tonight,” W.F. West coach Dan Hill said. “I know we gave up 400 yards but it seems like everybody gives up 400 yards against these guys.”
With the Bearcats comeback stalled Tumwater went to work chalking up a little breathing room and added 14-unanswered points to close out the game.
“We had a chance and our guys played well but we just didn’t end up on the right side tonight,” said Hill.
While the Bearcats finished with -1 rushing yards they were able to gain 200 yards through the air. Quarterback Josiah Johnson was behind all of those yard as he connected on 15 of 35 passes while throwing just one interception.
“We wanted to try and be as balanced as possible but their front four are really good at stopping the run and our best bet tonight was trying to throw it,” explained Hill.
Carver Brennan led all W.F. West receivers with 80 yards on five receptions. Troy Yarter caught three passes for 62 yards and Leandre Gaines reeled in three passes for 26 yards.
“I want to give a lot of credit to our receivers tonight. They ran a lot of routes and made some good plays even on passes that might not have been the best thrown balls,” said Hill. “When you throw the ball 35 times your offensive line has to block 35 times and we were only sacked a couple of times.”
W.F. West (3-4, 1-2 league) will play at Centralia next Friday.
Tenino Falls to Elma
TENINO — The Beavers only had 17 players suited up here on Friday night, as Elma took full advantage in a 62-0 win in a 1A Evergreen League football game on senior night.
Elma scored 21 points in the first quarter and 28 points in the second quarter for a 49-0 lead at halftime.
Elma running back Taitum Brumfield led the Eagles with three touchdowns.
Tenino (0-7, 0-3) hosts Montesano on Friday in a league contest.
