EHS, WRHS football continues to rack up wins

With five weeks of football in the record books, the North Puget Sound League 3A has proven itself to be something if a “have and have not” collection.

Leading the pack are the 5-0 (overall) teams from Enumclaw and White River, with the 3-2 Federal Way Eagles heavily in the mix.

Wedged into the middle of the nine-team league – all sitting at 2-2 in NPSL play – are Decatur, Kent-Meridian and Auburn Mountainview.

And anchored at the bottom are Kentlake, Thomas Jefferson and Todd Beamer; those three have combined for one victory and a combined record of 1-13.

The view at the top will come into clearer focus this week when White River hosts Federal Way. It’s a Thursday night game with kickoff at 7 p.m. at Arrow Lumber Stadium. The Hornets are 4-0 in NPSL 3A action; the Eagles are just a step behind at 3-1, their only loss being a 14-7 heartbreaker to the powerful Enumclaw bunch.

On paper, Enumclaw looks to have an easier week. The squad travels Friday to French Field for an unusual, 4 p.m. game against Kent-Meridian.

Here’s a look at how White River and Enumclaw improved to 5-0 last week. Most notably, it came in overwhelming fashion: the Plateau pair combined to outscore their opponents 129-14.

WHITE RIVER

With Homecoming spirit in the air, the Buckley bunch poured it on early, built a huge lead and then coasted to a league victory over Kentlake.

The scoreboard showed a 64-7 final score, the largest offensive output of the season for a team that averages more than 50 points per contest.

The first quarter of the home-field demolition belonged to Parker Fry, who opened things with a 90-yard kick return for a touchdown. He quickly added two more scores on pass receptions from Chaz Strickland, the first from 60 yards out and the second from 28 yards. The first-period fireworks also included Strickland TD passes to Ray Palmer and Mason Locke.

The second quarter saw Strickland toss two more touchdown passes, one to Derek Gonzalez and another to Fry. Blake Bargelt added a pair of rushing TDs to cap the Hornet scoring barrage.

Final numbers showed Strickland completing 13 of 18 throws for 331 yards. It was the second game in a row the junior tossed six TD passes. Bargelt averaged 15.3 yards on his four carries and Fry finished with 164 yards receiving.

The Hornet offense piled up a whopping 444 yards against the overwhelmed Falcons.

ENUMCLAW

The visitors from Thomas Jefferson provided little resistance to a Hornet crew that put two touchdowns on the board during the first quarter and added another a minute later.

Enumclaw wasted little time putting the visitors on their heels, scoring on the game’s second play when Cole Chiechi rumbled 48 yards to the end zone. Paxton Patterson added the second TD of the opening period when he ran for 28 yards.

The second quarter featured a pair of Maddox Hendrickson rushing TDs and a touchdown reception by Kage Kuro on the final play of the half. The Hornets picked up two points due to a bad snap on a punt attempt that was intentionally kicked through the end zone.

The third quarter opened with a plunge by quarterback Gavin Trachte and included rushing TDs by Caleb Swanson, Hunter Brown and Bo Bruhn.

The Hornets amassed 452 yards in total offense, an impressive 297 through the air and another 155 on the ground.