Thaddeus Umi-Tuato’o was just as surprised as anyone when the football quickly bounced his way.<\/p>\n
Kentridge, looking to cut into a three-touchdown deficit, opened the second half with a onside kick that Umi-Tuato’o instinctively reacted with quick hands and feet. Auburn Riverside’s 5-foot-7, 150-pound sophomore – one of the smallest players on the team – played big by scooping up the ball and returning it 54 yards for a breakaway touchdown.<\/p>\n
The play ignited a 28-point third quarter, enabling the Ravens to knock down the Chargers 55-14 in a bruising North Puget Sound League Valley Division game at Auburn Memorial Stadium on Friday night.<\/p>\n
Given the opportunity, Umi-Tuato’o responded.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t see that coming,” he said of the onside kick. “Matter of fact, I was going to go (run) deep, but once I saw it I decided to just take it and go.”<\/p>\n
Kentridge was able to pull within 28-7 early in the third quarter before the Ravens pulled away behind a punishing ground game.<\/p>\n
The Ravens picked up a vital Valley win, improving to 1-1 in the division race, a game back of Federal Way, and 5-1 overall. The Chargers dropped to 2-1 and 3-3.<\/p>\n
Arthur Tauiliili ran for three touchdowns, Javon Forward rushed for 137 yards and two TDs and wideouts Umi-Tuato’o and Andrew Butler each swept in for six as Auburn Riverside’s spread attack covered 342 of its 358 yards of offense on the ground.<\/p>\n
Umi-Tuato’o, who also played safety, wound up with a team-leading seven tackles.<\/p>\n
The Ravens came ready to pick up their first NPSL win in the two seasons of the league’s three-tiered division alignment.<\/p>\n
“Our kids had a hunger in them,” said Ravens coach Marcus Yzaguirre. “We haven’t had a league win in two years. … I just told them to go out and get it.”<\/p>\n
A Forward interception immediately set up the Ravens’ first score – Tauiliili’s 14-yard blast up the middle at 8:49.<\/p>\n
Kentridge came up short on fourth down plays in its next two possessions, and Auburn Riverside cashed in. Out of a rare wishbone look in the backfield, Forward plowed in from the 5 for a score, and Umi-Tuato’o took an inside-handoff jet sweep 12 yards for a TD and a 21-0 lead with 3:15 left in the half.<\/p>\n
The Chargers – buoyed by quarterback Chance Guadiz’ 46-yard completion to Michael Faber – drove to the Ravens’ 6. But on fourth-and-goal, Cade Foster sacked Guadiz for a 10-yard loss with 4:33 left in the half.<\/p>\n
Kentridge was undone by untimely penalties, third- and fourth-down conversion woes and four turnovers. What might have been a tighter game by halftime eventually got out of reach.<\/p>\n
“They really did take it to us. They made some plays that caused us to make mistakes,” said Kentridge coach Brett Ogata. “It could have been a different game, but we didn’t play up to where I’m used to seeing our guys play. At the same time … they made us that way.<\/p>\n
“We have to take this game and learn from this because they came out and smacked us in the mouth a little bit,” Ogata said. “We didn’t know how to respond to that. … We have to learn how to respond to this.”<\/p>\n
The Ravens held the Chargers to 240 yards in offense, 67 of which came from the run. Auburn Riverside made the Chargers’ Payton Thomas, a ground-churning tailback, a priority.<\/p>\n
“He was for sure a tough guy to (bring) down,” Foster said of Thomas. “Our game plan was to gang tackle. … You can’t let them run through arm tackles.”<\/p>\n
Yzaguirre added: “Our kids were just locked in. We knew coming in (Thomas) was going to be good. He’s going to make a couple of big plays. We had to contain him.”<\/p>\n
Early in the third quarter, with his team down 28-0, Thomas found the end zone from 1 yard out. But the Ravens went on a spree, adding Forward’s 33-yard TD run and Tauiliili’s scoring runs from 1 and 9 yards out.<\/p>\n
In the fourth quarter, Butler, a sophomore, raced 51 yards for a touchdown.<\/p>\n
Kentridge’s second TD came on George Strunk’s 20-yard pass to Paul Lam with 2:16 left to play.<\/p>\n
Auburn Riverside plays winless Kentlake in division play at 7 p.m. Thursday at French Field. Kentridge (1-5) is at Auburn next Friday in an interdivisional game. Kickoff is 7 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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