HS Football: Sumner rolls to SPSL North Title triggered by record Pick 6

10/26/2024

Sumner 38, Emerald Ridge 6

(Sumner, WA) Talk about a huge night, could Sumner pile anymore onto their showdown with Emerald Ridge? First and most important was this match-up for the SPSL 4A North Championship. The Spartans and Jags came in both at 4-0 in league play and the winner would move on to face the South division champ Graham-Kapowsin next week for the overall SPSL League Championship.

Big Night in Sumner

Then add on it was Sumner’s Homecoming game and with their tradition of a Homecoming parade through downtown Sumner to Sunset Chev stadium in the afternoon, the extended halftime break and ceremonies. It was also Senior night and of course King 5 sports Chris Egan was there with his weekly High School Football game of the week to top it all off.

King 5’s Chris Egan in the middle of the Spartan faithful

On a side note big thanks to Chris Egan, his assistant Milt who helped us get on the air, without their assistance we would not have been able to get on the air. Thanks King 5!

Would all the “outside noise” distract the Spartans and actually give Emerald Ridge an advantage? Early on the Jaguars would certainly show they would be tough to get by and at the end of the 1st half it was Sumner holding a slim 10-6 lead but Ridge would begin the 2nd half with the 1st possession.

Sumner’s defense was engaged right from the start with a big stop after the Jags drove down inside the Spartan 25 but ended up turning the ball over on downs and the drive stalled. The Spartans answered with a 7 play drive that also stalled by a tough red zone defense by Ridge but Sumner’s Austin Ferencz knocked through a 32 yard field goal for an early 3-0 lead with 1:56 to go in the opening quarter.

Limited scoring in 1st half

After a quick 3 and out, Sumner got the ball back and marched down inside the 30 when the Jaguars Logan Lipscomb picked off the Sparts Nate Donavan at the 25 and sprinted up the far sideline for the touchdown. The PAT failed but E-R took the lead 6-3 with 3-seconds to play in the 1st.

Sumner answered quickly with a 2 play drive after Wyatt Plyler returned the ball to the 33. On the 1st play the Spartans went to their bag of tricks with a halfback pass from Pono Borden to Kainoa Grounds for 32 yards. The pass floated high and Grounds made a brilliant play to come back and get it for the big pick-up. On the next play Israel Nabors busted off a 29 yard touchdown run over the left side, Ferencz added the PAT to re-take the lead 10-6 with 11:35 to play in the half.

The 2 teams would exchange possessions but neither defense would give in and that is how they would go to the break and the Jags would get the ball to begin the 3rd quarter.

Huge momentum shift to begin 2nd half

When all the hoopla of halftime was over and it was time to get back to football the opening drive for the Jags was a huge chance to show they weren’t going anywhere and could re-take the lead. It looked like that’s what they would do with QB Ben Druckman hitting receivers Robert Lutz and Lipscomb on shorter crossing routes and mixing in the running of Malcolm Akuffo and Josh Moultrie. Druckman then found Lipscomb on a big play for 52 yards down to the Sumner 5 yard line.

E-R is 5 yards from re-taking the lead of at least 2 and maybe as many as 4. On 1st and goal they ran the ball to the 3. Then the play of the game may have been a mistake by the Jags as they were called for a false start and moved them back to the 8 yard line. On 2nd and goal from the 8 Druckman tried to hit Lutz in single coverage and just missed with tight defensive coverage by Elias Isaacs for Sumner. On 3rd and goal the Jags flooded the right side with Hunter Rusler sneaking out to the left and had a step on the defender who then fell but Druckman led him just a bit too far just missing the go-ahead TD for the 2nd play in a row.

This set up a huge 4th and goal from the 8 and as Druckman dropped back Lipscomb and Rusler lined up on the left with Rusler cutting underneath and ended up wide open in the endzone while Lipscomb went to the far corner of the endzone. Druckman was under tremndous pressure and had to get rid of the ball before Rusler made his cut and threw it to where he knew Lipscomb would be and hoped he could go up and get the ball.

Instead, Israel Nabors broke on the ball underneath about 9 yards deep in the endzone and picked it off. Nabors then made a bee line straight up the field and only had to get by Rusler who was coming at an angle. Rusler dove for his only chance to get him right at the 35 yard line in front of the Sumner bench and Nabors high stepped out of the potential ankle tackle and went the distance to the house for a massive momentum change and just like that the Spartans went from trailing in the game to a 17-6 lead.

Spartans pull out the dagger

The question had momentum truly shifted or did E-R feel like they could answer the big play with a scoring drive of their own? That question was answered quickly on 2nd and 10 from their own 20, Druckman dropped back to pass and again the Spartan pressure coming and as Druckman tried to zip the ball to Mason Rodriguez, the ball was perfectly defended by Mason Thayer and Taylor Rebar as the duo converged on Rodriguez punching the ball out and defensive tackle Sean Ponce was there to grab it for an interception on the 27. Ponce then circled back around the 30 yard line before getting turned around and headed for the endzone returning it to the 20 and Sumner was in business again.

The Spartans wasted little time in turning this into points as on the 1st snap Donavan handed the ball to Steele Isaacs and he sprinted through a big hole and in for the score. Ferencz added the PAT and it was suddenly 24-6 with 5:23 to play in the 3rd. So, in just 54-seconds the Jaguars went from taking the lead by as many as 4 points and no less than a 2 were now trailing by 18.

It was simply too much for E-R to overcome and an inspired Sumner squad, especially the defense was not about to allow them to get back in the game. Isaacs would add a 1-yard TD run with 6:44 to play and back-up freshman QB Brennan Abbott threw a TD pass to Grounds and the final score was 38-6.

Standings and What’s Next?

Sumner is now 5-0 in league and 7-1 overall while Emerald Ridge drops to 4-1 and 5-3. Sumner remains #2 in the RPI behind Camas while E-R slips to #20. Next Friday Sumner will host Graham-Kapowsin at 7pm for the league Championship. Emerald Ridge will host a TBD opponent next week likely on Saturday.

Stats and Numbers

Emerald Ridge struggled on offense putting up 180 total yards but only 37 total rushing yards. The Jags never got the running game rolling and really limited what they could ultimately do trying to score and keep the Sumner offense off the field. They had a total of 143 yards through the air with Druckman going 14 for 25 and 2 picks. Logan Lipscomb led the receivers with 5 catches for 92 yards, he also had an interception that he returned for 75 yards and a TD. Mason Rodrigues was next with 4 catches for 24, Robert Lutz 3 for 23 and Malcolm Akuffo 2 for 4 yards. Akuffo also led the rushers with 11 carries for 26 yards.

Sumner racked up 317 yards of offense with a run heavier approach than usual with Steele Isaacs carrying the ball 14 times for 77 yards and 2 touchdowns. Israel Nabors had 2 carries for 33 yards and a score to lead the attack and that little 109 yard interception return for 6. Nate Donavan did not throw a TD pass in this one but was 11 for 16 for 137 yards and the one pick. In late relief, Brennan Abbott was 2 for 3 for 77 yards and a touchdown. Kainoa Grounds led the receivers with 5 grabs for 83 yards and a score. Devin Caminong had 2 catches for 42 yards, Braylon Pope 2 catches for 19 and Pono Borden 2 for 14 but Borden also had 1 pass completion for 32 yards.

Eli Sports Network dot com MVP

This was pretty easy, a 29 yard touchdown run and a 109 yard pick 6 and for his all-around game Israel Nabors shined bright and was our clear MVP. Others that were in the conversation included Kainoa Grounds, Mason Thayer and Steele Isaacs. For Emerald Ridge Logan Lipscomb stood out with Elijah Wallace and Amosa Mananiai.