Peninsula 31, Timberline 14 | Puget Sound League opener | South Sound Stadium, Lacey
Timberline came into Friday night 3-0 with a rolling offense and a defense that had been suffocating opponents. Peninsula showed up 1-2 but fresh off a 37-8 win over Gig Harbor in the Fish Bowl. When the two met to open league play, the Seahawks left with the win.
The Blazers started fast
Timberline focused their offense with a ground attack. Junior running back King Pridgon carried the offense moving the chains down the field. To balance the attack the Blazers went deep, but Logan Johnson picked it off giving Peninsula the ball at their own 2.
Two plays later Christian Duenas read a screen pass perfectly intercepting the ball and walking into the end zone. Timberline led 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
Peninsula answered
Senior QB Talen McDonnell kept the Seahawks moving with a patchwork backfield, since Brycen McAnally was out injured. A well-designed rub route freed up Landon Schultz for a 14-yard touchdown to make it 7-7 after one quarter.
The second quarter belonged to the Seahawks offense. Xavier Jones scored on runs of 4 and 3 yards, and McDonnell hit Malachi Peterson on a two-point conversion to make it 21-7.
The Blazers answered with a Pridgon 43-yard run; and Cooper Jones punching it in from 2 yards out to make it 21-14. McDonnell, who is also the kicker, then drilled a 44-yard field goal to send Peninsula into the half up 24-14.
The second half was a defensive fight
The third quarter was scoreless, and the Blazers had their chances:
- Champean Spearman picked off a pass early in the quarter.
- Timberline came up half a yard short on a fourth down.
- Cameron Vongdara connected with Davin Kirkwood for 39 yards on a big third-down conversion.
- Thomas Marzano knocked the ball loose on a big hit, and TJ Strilcov recovered it for Peninsula’s fourth takeaway.
In the fourth quarter, McDonnell found Schultz again, this time for a 31-yard touchdown that sealed it at 31-14. Peninsula’s defense then stopped Timberline on downs and ran out the clock.
By the numbers
Timberline
- King Pridgon: 34 carries, 266 yards
- Cooper Jones: 9 carries, 14 yards, 1 TD
- Cameron Vongdara: 4/13 passing, 52 yards
- Davin Kirkwood: 4 catches, 52 yards
- Christian Duenas: sack and pick-six
- Blake Layton: 2/2 on PATs
Peninsula
- Talen McDonnell: 12/24, 132 yards, 2 TDs, plus a 44-yard field goal
- Landon Schultz: 2 catches, 45 yards, 2 TDs
- Xavier Jones: 47 rushing yards, 2 TDs
- Logan Johnson: 2 interceptions
What’s next
Peninsula improves to 2-2 (1-0 in league) and hosts Capital next Friday at 7 p.m. Timberline drops to 3-1 (0-1 in league) and hosts crosstown rival North Thurston on Friday at 7 p.m. Pridgon’s 266 yards prove the run game works, and cleaning up the penalties will help even more against the Rams.
