The ball hasn’t bounced the way of the Kent-Meridian High football team for the last several years.
On Saturday, Oct. 2, however, the Royals finally had one go their way.
Defensive end Luke Barzie made the fourth-quarter strip of a Thomas Jefferson running back, and Brandon Harris swooped in for the recovery, helping the Royals secure a 38-34 victory over Thomas Jefferson in a South Puget Sound League North Division game.
The play not only sealed a win for the Royals (2-2 in league, 3-2 overall), but also helped them remain alive for a playoff berth. The play also assured that another big performance by quarterback David Jones stood up. Jones, who rushed for six touchdowns and threw another a week earlier in a victory over Mount Rainier, also torched the Raiders.
The fleet-footed senior quarterback rushed for 279 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries.
But without the big strip by Barzie and recovery from Harris, Jones’ performance would have gone for not.
“That was the critical play of the game,” Jones said. “I give credit to both of those guys.”
Of course, Jones deserves his share of credit as well. Especially in the fourth quarter, when the Royals trailed 34-31. It was at that point that Jones delivered his biggest play of the game, going 25 yards for what proved to be a game-winning touchdown.
Kent-Meridian running back B.J. Phillips also delivered another solid performance, rushing for 87 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
The win for the Royals sets up a pivotal game on Saturday, Oct. 9, when Kent-Meridian plays host to Tahoma (1-4, 1-4) at 7 p.m. at French Field. With league powers Kentwood, Kentlake and Auburn still on the horizon, a victory over the Bears is critical for the Royals. Kent-Meridian has beaten Tahoma just once (2007) since 1999.
“I would say we need (a win) a lot,” Jones said. “We need to be on that (winning) streak. K-M hasn’t had a (winning) streak in a while. Right now, we’re just taking it one game at a time.”
• Kentlake 33, Tahoma 21: The Falcons (5-0, 5-0) bolted out to a 19-0 lead early in the second quarter and never trailed against the Bears (0-4, 1-4).
Kentlake junior Stephon Vaifale rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries while Caleb Mathena added a pair of interceptions to help the Falcons remain unbeaten.
Junior Stephon Vaifale carried 15 times for 106 yards rushing and one touchdown and sophomore Caleb Mathena added two interceptions for the Falcons.
• Rogers 47, Kentridge 0: The Chargers (2-2, 2-3) had their two-game winning streak snapped by the Rams in a nonleague loss.
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