The 4A SPSL has been a wide open league through the first 5 weeks of the season, with 4 teams tied for 1st place in the SPSL entering this week, including 4-1 Emerald Ridge and 4-1 Bethel who face off on Friday to stay in first place in the SPSL. ER started the season with a heart breaking loss to Puyallup 28-27 in a rivalry game that the Jaguars lead almost all the way, but since then the Jaguars have ran through the SPSL, all the way to a #2 ranking in AP poll this week. They have impressive wins over Olympia, Curtis, Sumner and South Kitsap. The Jaguars offense is averaging 34 points per game lead by star quarterback Jake Schakel, a 3-star recruit who has D-1 offers from Nevada, Florida Atlantic and Colorado State has thrown for 1273 yards, 16 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
Last week he completed 14-of-19 passes for 273 yards and two touchdown strikes of 65 and 20 yards and added four carries for 14 yards in a 40-12 win over South Kitsap.
The Jaguars also have a dangerous receiving duo in juniors Tony Harste and Gio Kafenzis, Harste has 5 touchdowns and 271 yards receiving, while Kafenzis has 6 touchdowns and 591 yards receiving.
As good as the Emerald Ridge offense has been, their defense maybe even more impressive, allowing 19 points per game, lead by Senior defensive end and Jacob Lane. The University of Washington commit had 5 tackles, 2 for loss and a sac against South Kitsap last week.
For Bethel, defense has been the name of the game for first year Head Coach Fred Tremaine and the Bison as they have allowed just 62 points in 5 games, for an average of 12.4 points per game. That stat line is even more impressive if you consider that they allowed 42 to Curtis in their only loss, meaning they have allowed 20 points total in their 4 wins. The Bison started off the season with 6-0 and 7-0 shutouts of South Kitsap and Bellarmine, and since the 42-0 loss to Curtis have bounced back with 44-7 and 21-13 wins over Rogers and Olympia. In their 4 wins they have allowed an average of 5 points per game, and defense like that will obviously give you a chance to win any game. A big key to their success has been the emergence of Sophomore linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale who leads the team with 5.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.
If you look at the Bison schedule coming up, these next 4 games are brutally tough against 4 teams that have all been ranked in the AP 4A top 10,, with Emerald Ridge this week followed by Puyallup, Sumner and Graham Kapowsin to end the regular season.
Offensively, Bethel plays a physical brand of football predicated on running the ball, as 9 players have runs this season for the Bison, lead Senior Jovan Willis, who had 80 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns in the win over Olympia last week. Willis has 5 rushing TDs on the season and 256 yards in just 3 games played. Elijah Pula, Moe Filimaua, Roy Lockley, David Ware all have scored touchdowns and have over 100 rushing yards on the season. As a team, Bethel has run for over 1000 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 6.5 yards per carry. They have not thrown the ball much, with Freshman Evan Barnes completing 8 of 20 passes for 194 yards and 2 touchdowns and 2 INTS.
Pre-game show begins at 6:45 and kickoff is at 7, from Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. Watch the game live on the Eli Sports Network and NFHS using the link below.
