Steffin Church felt the jitters more than a day in advance of his varsity debut at quarterback.
Those jitters, however, quickly disappeared for the Kentlake High junior Friday night at French Field. Church, who was filling in for the ill Caleb Saulo, completed 8 of 9 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown — all in the first 18 minutes of play — sparking the Falcons past Kentridge 30-22 in a South Puget Sound League North Division game.
“I always have my jitters,” admitted Church. “I was worrying about it all day long and last night (Thursday).”
Church got the start for Saulo, a second-team all-leaguer a year ago and one of the league’s top-returning quarterbacks. Church dazzled well into the second quarter, when he was drilled in the ribs by a pair of Kentridge defenders en route to completing a 62-yard bomb to wide receiver Andre Marticio with 6:02 left in the half. The big completion led to a 30-yard field goal by kicker Mitchell Habryle, which gave the Falcons a 17-16 lead they would not relinquish.
Church’s night, however, was done.
“I got hit from both sides,” said Church, who noted after the game that he was just fine. “It was a good hit. (But) I was begging to go back in.”
Saulo, who was sidelined with an illness, was forced into action when Church went down.
Kentlake’s air assault continued as Saulo completed 10 of 18 passes for 141 yards. Church had been rotating as Kentlake’s No. 2 quarterback with Breton Medina during the season’s first two weeks. Called into action, he didn’t disappoint, particularly with his pinpoint accuracy.
“That’s what he does well,” said Kentlake coach Chris Paulson.
Church and Saulo, however, weren’t the only ones airing it out on this night in a league that has long been known more for rushing than passing. Kentridge quarterback John Hamilton completed 16 of 29 passes for 160 yards before leaving with a shoulder injury late in the game. Kentridge backup Jahkari Singh filled in admirably, completing 4 of 4 passes for 51 yards in the final minutes, including an 8-yard touchdown strike to Reggie Collins that got the Chargers to within eight points.
Kentridge’s offense is an evolving process, coach Marty Osborn said.
“We’re still in progress. We did a lot of good things,” said Osborn, who relinquished his offensive coordinating duties in the offseason to Jeff Shumake. “After two weeks, we have not perfected (the offense).”
Many of the good things happened early Friday night for the Chargers.
Kentlake took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, when Church connected with star Austin Pernell down the left sideline for a 65-yard touchdown. Church uncorked a 40-yard bolt to Pernell, who cruised the final 25 yards to the end zone.
“He came out on point,” Pernell said of Church.
Pernell finished with six receptions for 153 yards, including the one touchdown. He also had a 58-yard interception return for a touchdown with 11:10 remaining in the third quarter that gave the Falcons a 30-16 lead.
After Church connected with Pernell, the Chargers quickly struck back — twice.
Hamilton started the comeback with a 3-yard touchdown run with 2:19 left in the first quarter. Kentridge took an 8-7 lead after Alec McKenzie ran in the 2-point conversion. Seconds later, Kentridge’s Austin Berry recovered a Kentlake fumble that resulted in a Hamilton to Kaid Tipton 28-yard touchdown 19 seconds later, giving the Chargers a 16-7 first-quarter lead.
Kentlake (2-0 in league, 2-0 overall) proceeded to rip off 23 straight points between the second and third quarters to take control of the game. Minutes after Habryle gave Kentlake a 17-16 lead with a field goal, running back Caleb Mathena went in from 7 yards out as the Falcons’ lead ballooned to 24-16 at the half.
Mathena did a little bit of everything for the Falcons, collecting 5 receptions for 78 yards to go along with 25 yards on the ground. He also added a fumble recovery.
The loss drops Kentridge to 0-2 in league play. The Chargers lost to Auburn last week, 32-20.
“That’s two weeks in a row that we’ve gone down to the wire,” Osborn said.
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