As the No. 1 seed in the 2A state tournament, the Tumwater football team did a proper job of setting the tone with a 58-point blowout of No. 16 Port Angeles. But the rest of the higher seeds filled in the pattern behind the Thunderbirds, in a one-sided roll of a first round.
The eight higher seeds last weekend went 8-0 collectively, with an average margin of victory of 38.5 points, and no game closer than 33-10.
The routs flew in stark contrast to last season’s bracket, which opened up with three true blowouts but also three games decided by single digits.
“It just so happens that some teams have really good groups of kids right now that happen to be there and are building off of it, and it just so happens that they’re a little bit better than the rest of the field,” Tumwater coach William Garrow said.
Now, this coming weekend will determine whether the 2A ranks are dominated by eight teams ready to hammer at each other, or if it’s fewer than that and another round of culling has to take place to get to the true competitions.
And after watching the film from No. 8 Clarkston’s 44-6 blowout of No. 9 Woodland, Garrow isn’t exactly sure himself of what the Bantams will bring to Tumwater District Stadium on Saturday.
“At least in my experience, when you watch a team that is clearly superior to another team, you have to throw some things out,” he said. “Some of the stuff you watch on film, you kind of put off to the side. Like tendencies. If you’re up by 35 points, odds are pretty good on third-and-long that they’re still running the ball just to keep the clock moving, rather than showing you their best pass concepts.”
On the other hand, though, Garrow said the film from the end of blowouts can be important as well, even if his coaches aren’t watching the stars on Clarkston’s roster they’re going to have to scheme to stop on Saturday.
“The things they install at the very beginning (is what) they’re going to run with their young kids,” he said. “So sometimes that can give you an idea of what they want to do as a program, what they want to hang their hat on.”
The T-Birds are no exception; after pulling their starters going into the fourth quarter of their win over Port Angeles, the backups and JV players ran the purest, simplest version of the Wing T attack — and it just happened to get two more touchdowns out of it to turn the rout truly ugly.
After all, that’s the type of run-first offense Tumwater has loved for decades now. And in the 2A EvCo, they’re not alone, facing a host of teams that make most of their hay in the trenches and on the ground.
But the Thunderbirds have a secondary as well, one that boasts two first-team all-leaguers in David Malroy and Tyler Criss and pulled in three interceptions last week.
Joining up with Derek Thompson and Payton LaGuerre, and with Brady Bryant set to return from injury, Garrow said his DBs are looking at a matchup against a Clarkston team that’s averaging 212 passing yards per game as a chance to prove they can do more than just come down hill and tackle.
“Hopefully those guys get an opportunity to make some plays,” he said. “Because when teams do put the ball in the air, they do a good job of getting it.”
