SPSL 4A Football | Kentridge QB powers Chargers over Tahoma

KENT — In leading Kentridge to a 20-13 South Puget Sound League 4A win over Tahoma on Friday night at French Field, 6-foot-4 senior quarterback Brandon Turner accounted for 183 yards passing, 122 yards rushing, two touchdown runs and one attention-getting halftime speech.

A lackluster first two quarters left the Chargers (2-1 overall, 1-0 North Division), still shaken by a 28-7 loss a week ago when they were the state's third-ranked team, trailing Tahoma (1-2, 0-1) 7-0 at halftime.

A shift in offensive strategy had left some players openly questioning the game plan, Turner said.

"The coaches had a talk with me," Turner said, "and I just told the players that we've got to believe in this offense. We've got to believe that it will work. And it worked [in the second half]. The defense was already doing great. We believed in the offense, and it worked."

The defense got Kentridge back in the game when Alex Ferguson picked off a Heyden Johnson pass and returned it 29 yards for a score during the first minute of the third quarter.

Johnson put the Bears back on top on a 35-yard TD pass to Kurt LaFranchi.

On a subsequent 11-play, 74-yard drive, Turner either passed or ran for all the yardage, capping it with a 1-yard scoring run with 2:52 left in the third to put the Chargers up 14-13.

Turner iced the game with a 31-yard scoring dash with 2:08 left in the game.

The big difference between halves? "We just started believing in each other," Turner said. "We started getting down on each other, pointing fingers [in the first]."

"At halftime, we said, 'Yo, we've got to calm down. We've been friends for forever. We've been playing the game for a long time. We can win this. This is revenge for three years [of Tahoma victories].' "

Other games

Puyallup 35, Beamer 21

At Federal Way Stadium, the No. 4 Vikings (3-0, 1-0) scored in all kinds on ways to beat the Titans (2-1, 0-1) in a South Division game. Puyallup had a 95-yard kickoff return from Justin Yeltung to start the game, a Joseph Leinweber 20-yard interception return for a score and a Joel Smith fumble recovery in the end zone. Also, Steven Matthews had a 3-yard scoring run and Alec Elliot ran one in from 10 yards. For Beamer, Christian Copper passed for 221 yards and two TDS, one a 60-yarder to Josh Waller and the other a 60-yarder to Travis Koch. Lamardray Fuller added 112 yards and a TD on 20 carries.

Emerald Ridge 20, Rogers 19

At Sparks Stadium in Puyallup, the Jaguars (3-0, 1-0) stopped Rogers quarterback Tyler Van Sligtenhorst (228 passing yards, two TDs) on a two-point-conversion try in the fourth quarter and went on to win a South Division game. Michael Giumond had two catches for 92 yards for Emerald Ridge, including an 85-yard TD reception from Logan Bushnell in the first quarter. Cameron Burdette recovered a fumble and returned it 73 yards for a TD in the third quarter to put the Jaguars up for good.

Graham-Kapowsin 39,

Spanaway Lake 0

At Art Crate Stadium in Spanaway, Marcel Smith had 256 yards and three TDs on 18 carries as the Eagles (2-1, 1-0) routed the Sentinels (1-2, 0-1) in a South Division game.