The Junior Hornets youth football franchise traveled to Tacoma Saturday to take on the NE Tigers at 100-year-old Stadium High School. Coming off a tough battle against Bellarmine the weekend before, the Junior Hornets got back on track with a sweep of the Northeast Tigers.

In the fourth-grade game, Keegan Sutter broke loose for two touchdown runs and Kaden Loop added a touchdown reception. Reliable extra-point kicker Tyler Feddema was a perfect four-for-four, capping off a 32-18 victory.

The fifth-grade team flexed their defensive muscle, posting the only shutout of the day, resulting in a 22-0 win.

Quarterback Zack Jones threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Ben Pozun. Aidan Carroll had a two-yard touchdown run and Nate Belcourt had multiple long runs, one reslting in a touchdown.

The sixth-grade Junior Hornets extended their season record to 5-1 and didn’t give up a first down to the Tigers in the entire first half. Jett VanHoof and Nick Harberts each scored a rushing touchdown and Henry Henken scored twice on tight-end reverse plays.

Ross Olson took the opening kickoff in the seventh-grade game 70 yards to the Tigers’ 3-yard line. Quarterback Matt Funkhouser punched the ball into the end zone to jump start the Hornets en route to a 45-12 win. Bear Kuro was on fire all day, scoring three times, one on an acrobatic 30-yard reception in the end zone and another on a 60-yard interception return for TD. Speedy Tanner Chase scored on a 40-yard sweep and Mason Fend capped off the game with a 60-yard off-tackle burst for a touchdown. Fend also kicked four extra points.

In search of a much-needed victory, the eighth-grade Junior Hornets entered the game missing several key players. Zak Carroll got the Hornets on the board early, but it was up to their team defense to establish a tough-minded identity to stave off the Tigers’ offense. Coming out at halftime trailing 8-7, the Hornets battled on both sides of the ball and finally broke open the game with a 30-yard bomb from QB Jake Revell to wide receiver Jake Treece, resulting in a 1st and goal from the 1-yard line. Revell muscled through the line of scrimmage for the go-ahead touchdown and then the Hornets’ D shut the door on the Tigers, resulting in a hard-earned 14-8 victory

– reported by Scott Eilertson

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