HS Football: Graham-Kapowsin Wraps Up SPSL South With Shutout of Olympia

10/18/24

Graham Kapowsin 34, Olympia 0

(Olympia, WA) With everything out in front of them, the Graham Kapowsin Eagles and Olympia Bears entered their Friday night showdown in control of their own destinies. A win on Friday night and Graham Kapowsin would clinch the SPSL 4A South division title. For Olympia, they would need to take down the Eagles and then earn a win at Yelm next week and they would be crowned division champs. With the rain coming down and the wind picking up as the game went on, Olympia would have an uphill battle to try to earn a big senior night victory.

Olympia came out on offense and immediately moved the chains. However, the Eagle defense then came up with a big play on an interception by a lineman gave the Eagles the ball at the one-yard line. It took no time at all for the Eagle offense to capitalize on the opportunity as Caleb Braithwaite punched it in for the one-yard score. In less than 90 seconds, Graham Kapowsin was on the board with a 7-0 lead.

A three-and-out kept the momentum in favor of Graham Kapowsin but a 40-yard bomb from AJ Tuivaiave to Khris Norris wasn’t enough fuel to put up points on the drive. Another three-and-out forced by the Eagles resulted in a tipped punt which gave GK the ball in Olympia territory. Freshman quarterback Tuivaiave would then take a shot down field to Kase Betz. The sophomore receiver made a great adjustment on the ball and came back to it to make the catch and trot his way into the endzone. The 32-yard touchdown pass extended the Graham Kapowsin lead to 14-0 after a quarter of play.

Olympia’s offense began to look a little better with big tailback Carson Godfrey earning some hard-fought yardage, but the Bears still couldn’t find another first down. The wind would knock down an Olympia punt and again gave the Eagles the ball on Olympia’s side of the field. This drive was more ground and pound from the Eagles as Blake Pearson got more involved in the offense along with Gavin Deaton. GK moved the ball inside the 10-yard line but three stops in a row by Olympia’s defense brought up 4th and goal from the 1. Coach Logan would call Tuivaiave’s number and he earned the yard on a QB sneak for a score to extend Graham Kapowsin’s lead to 20-0.

In the final drive before halftime, Olympia began to find success. Godfrey ran the ball well while Tucker Downing completed a couple of passes to Blake Peterson and Harper Hejtmanek for a total of 16 yards. Olympia would try to sneak in a draw play, but Graham Kapowsin was all over it for a four-yard loss, making it 3rd and long. Downing would pick up six on a scramble but an incomplete pass on 4th down ended the drive and the half with GK on top 20-0.

Getting the ball to begin the second half, Graham Kapowsin was all about the rushing attack as they tried to set the tone for the final 24 minutes of the game. Blake Pearson and Gavin Deaton ran the ball right down the field and into Olympia territory. GK only threw the ball once on the drive and a perfectly called and executed play would cap off the drive. An end-around to Jayce Halasz would give the receiver all sorts of open space around the left side of the field. Halasz cut up and easily found the path to the endzone. The drive lasted 5:03 and continued to grow the Eagles lead up to 27-0.

Meanwhile the Olympia Bears continued to struggle moving the football. They gave it back to GK and a long 46-yard pass from AJ Tuivaiave to Noah Flores set up Graham Kapowsin at the one-yard line. Deaton would then get to be the fifth Eagle to find the endzone with the short one-yard score. Olympia’s defense would force a fumble to prevent Graham Kapowsin from adding on, but the Eagle defense put the finishing touches on this one. No points would be scored in the 4th quarter and it was Graham Kapowsin locking up the SPSL South division title with a 34-0 shutout over Olympia.

The win bumps Graham Kapowsin up to 5-2 on the season and a perfect 4-0 in SPSL play. GK will try to complete that perfect league campaign next week when they host Spanaway Lake on Friday night at 7pm. Olympia drops to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in league play after back-to-back losses. The Bears will look to snap that skid on Thursday when they visit the Yelm Tornados at 7pm.

Our Elisportsnetwork.com MVP of the game went to the entire Graham Kapowsin defense. Now, we normally don’t give out group awards like this but the GK defense was spectacular all the war around. The Eagles only allowed 49 total yards on defense while forcing an interception and blocking a punt. GK shutdown the usually potent screen game of Olympia and forced the Bears to throw the ball deep or run it between the tackles and both were shutdown by the Eagles. From the d-line to the linebackers to the secondary, there was no way to just choose one group on the Graham Kapowsin defense.

On offense for Graham Kapowsin, it was a nice balance with AJ Tuivaiave leading the way, going 8-12 passing for 144 yards and a touchdown while running the ball three times for 11 yards and a score. Blake Pearson was the featured back with 15 carries for 69 yards with Gavin Deaton mixing in six carries for 30 yards and a score. Jayce Halasz would have a 23-yard touchdown run, Noah Flores had a three-yard carry, and Caleb Braithwaite added a one-yard touchdown run. Receiving wise, Kase Betz led the way with four catches for 52 yards and a touchdown while Noah Flores had two catches for 51 yards. Khris Norris had a 40-yard catch and Mazaia Roberson added a one-yard reception.

For Olympia, Carson Godfrey was the most effective runners with eight carries for 16 yards while Canon Betts had four carries. Harper Hejtmanek would carry the ball once for three yards but caught four passes for 24 yards. Tucker Downing would go 8-19 through the air for 28 yards while running the ball once for six yards. Blake Peterson had a four-yard catch while Drake Hughes has two catches and Canon Betts had one.

Link to watch the full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)