HS Football: Enumclaw slips past Peninsula in Grid Iron Opener

Enumclaw, 29 Peninsula, 27

By Alex Benzegala

Purdy, WA – In a battle between former 3A SPSL opponents, the 2022 high school football season kicked off with a bang at Roy Anderson Field in Purdy as Enumclaw earned a nail biting win over Peninsula. The Hornets marched down the field on their opening drive and hit a short field goal to take a 3-0 lead. Peninsula on the ensuing kick return for a touchdown for Isaac Smith for over 90 yards to take the 7-3 lead. Enumclaw continued to run the ball effectively with Senior All-League back Emmit Otero, and the Hornets retook the lead in the 1st quarter at 10-7.

Peninsula was driving down the field when Seahawks running back Connor Burton fumbled at the Hornets 2 yard line. Enumclaw then went on a 98 yard drive, set up by a Gunnar Trachte deep pass to Karson Holt who made an acrobatic catch. A fade pass from Trachte to tight end Austin Paulson in the right corner of the endzone increased the lead to 16-7 with the extra point missed.

Peninsula fumbled on their next drive, and it looked like Enumclaw would score to take control, but the Seahawks forced a fumble on the very next play.

The Seahawks then took advantage late in the half, with Gonzaga baseball commit Payton Knowles finding his rhythm, hitting Connor Burton on a perfect strike in between two defenders to cut the lead to 16-14 at the half.

The 3rd quarter was mostly a defensive affair, but another PHS turnover and another nice pass from Trachte to Paulson increased the lead to 22-14 after another missed extra point.

In the 4th, Knowles got intercepted by Westin Triplitt for the 4th turnover of the game, and Otero made them pay with a short run to push the tally to 29-14 Enumclaw. It looked like the Seahawks were dead, but they came alive midway through the 4th, with Knowles finding Dane Meddaugh for a score to cut the lead to 29-20. PHS executed a perfectly timed onside kick to get it back that brought the Seahawks sidelines to life with about 4 minutes left. Knowles continued to shine, and he found Meddaugh again in the endzone to cut the lead to 29-27, as the two point conversion failed. Peninsula tried another onside kick, but this time it failed. With less than a minute left, Enumclaw faced 4th and 1 inside the Seahawks territory and Otero dove forward to pick up the yard and seal the win.

Otero earned the Player of the Game honors for his performance but it was a really good team win for the Hornets. Enumclaw had over 200 yards rushing in the win, and forcing 4 turnovers was huge. Peninsula still showed that they are a good team that never quits, and nearly stole the game away when it looked bleak.

With the win, Enumclaw improved to 1-0 and will host Silas next week, while Peninsula will try to bounce back, hosting Kentwood next week.