WHITE RIVER
The White River Hornets improved to 3-1 in South Puget Sound League 2A play with a 35-7 thrashing of an overwhelmed Washington High squad.
The Friday night Homecoming victory was set in motion when the Hornets scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the game. Devyn Hager did the honors from six yards out and Chris Dominguez tacked on the extra point.
The Patriots tried to answer, but their effort was thwarted when Hunter Smith tipped a pass that Luke Northam intercepted. From that point, the Hornets found a variety of ways to reach the end zone.
For example, wide receiver Jacob Selander took a pitch from quarterback TJ Stroschein and connected with Northam on a 73-yard scoring toss. Also, Cole Richey pounced on a Washington fumble in the end zone for another Hornet TD. More traditionally, Northam added to a stellar evening with a pair of short touchdown runs.
White River finished the night with 365 yards of offense, 205 of those coming on the ground.
ENUMCLAW
The Enumclaw Hornets won for the fourth time in five games, smashing Auburn High 29-7 during a Friday night game at Pete’s Pool.
With a 2-1 record in North Puget Sound League 4A play, the Hornets site in a three-way tie with Federal Way and Auburn. The picture will become a bit clearer this week, when Enumclaw and Federal Way square off in a rare Thursday night tilt. Game time is 7 p.m. in Federal Way.
Undefeated Auburn Riverside leads the league and will make the trek to Enumclaw Oct. 13, providing a quality test for the Hornets’ Homecoming.
SUMNER
A tough two-week stretch concluded with two losses for the highly-regarded Sumner Spartans, who fell 45-24 Friday night to visiting Puyallup.
The Spartans, ranked No. 5 in the state 4A ranks prior to facing the Vikings, had lost to Graham-Kapowsin a week earlier. Both Puyallup and G-K are undefeated and will square off this week.
Sumner now sits at 2-2 in South Puget Sound League 4A play and is 3-2 overall.
Special teams came up big for Puyallup, particularly in the first half. The Vikings’ Ethan Steward twice returned kickoffs for touchdowns and the Puyallup also blocked a Sumner punt to set up a TD.
Sumner received first-half touchdowns thanks to a completion from Luke Ross to Thane Birrer and, in the second quarter, a scoring burst by Ben Wilson. The Spartans had first hit the scoreboard with a Colin Hoover field goal.
From a 17-17 tie, Puyallup raced to a 31-17 lead by the time the teams hit halftime. That margin increased to 38-17 before Sumner’s Bryan Falk hauled in a TD pass from Ross to polish off the Spartan scoring.
BONNEY LAKE
In most disappointing fashion, the Bonney Lake Panthers fell 20-17 Friday night to Stadium High.
The Pierce County League 3A contest, staged at historic Stadium Bowl, saw the Panthers hold a 17-14 lead with than a minute showing on the game clock. A ground game led by Cody Coffey and quarterback Kaiden Hammond put Bonney Lake in position to score and Adam Fahsel twice did the honors, finding the end zone on a pair of short touchdown runs. A field goal broke a 14-14 tie with less than 60 seconds remaining put the Panthers in position to win.
The team’s hopes were quickly shattered when Stadium QB Hunter Wendling connected with Xavier Mason on a 40-yard, game-winning touchdown.
The loss dropped Bonney Lake to 1-4 for the season. The Panthers will be looking for a second victory Friday when they host the Wilson Rams at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner.
