Mistakes cost Squalicum in quarterfinal loss to Tumwater

Squalicum knew it would need a near flawless game in order to knock off No. 1-ranked, undefeated Tumwater.

Between turnovers, dropped passes and costly penalties, the Storm were far too imperfect during the Class 2A State Quarterfinals.

Squalicum made some offensive splash plays — a 17-yard reverse pass for touchdown from Josiah Westbrook to Noah Westerhoff and a 59-yard touchdown pass from Garrett Sorenson to Ben Peterson.

But the Storm’s offense wasn’t consistent enough to hang with the Thunderbirds, as Squalicum’s season came to an end with a 38-21 loss Saturday, Nov. 21, at Civic Stadium.

“We talk turnovers, turnovers,” Squalicum coach Nick Lucey said. “We talk it a lot, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen, but that is a huge one. In this type of a game, five turnovers would probably make a difference.”

The defeat marked the second straight season Squalicum (11-1) lost to Tumwater (12-0) in the state quarters.

Tumwater’s 38 points was the second fewest it scored all season, but behind the running back trio of Noah Andrews, Dominic Jones and Jarid Barrett, the Thunderbirds piled up 317 yards on 65 rushes.

Still, Squalicum’s defense, led by play-making Jack Wendling, put the Storm in position to contend.

“You don’t stop a team like Tumwater,” Lucey said. “They got a lot of weapons, and they attack you in a lot of different places. I thought for most of the game we slowed them down and we got some big stops at times and got some turnovers.”

But three Sorenson interceptions, one a pick-6, and two critical lost fumbles were too much to overcome. The junior QB completed 13 of 25 passes for 163 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. He also ran for a team-high 73 yards and a TD on nine carries.

Squalicum trailed early following a 28-yard touchdown pass from T-Birds QB Spencer Dowers to Jacob Crawford on Tumwater’s opening drive.

The Storm answered with an eight-play, 71-yard touchdown drive capped off by a Sorenson 3-yard TD run, but Tumwater responded with an Andrews 15-yard rushing score to give the T-Birds a 13-7 lead with 2:50 to go in the first.

Following a Sorenson interception and a Tumwater turnover on downs, Andrews jumped a pass intended for Westbrook and sprinted down the left side for a 48-yard TD to push the T-Birds' lead to 21-7.

But Squalicum got a much-needed touchdown when coach Nick Lucey went deep into the playbook, dialing up a wide receiver reverse pass late in the second quarter.

Josiah Westbrook took a handoff moving right to left before pulling up and tossing a ball toward the back of the end zone that found the hands of Noah Westerhoff, who made the catch behind a pair of Tumwater defenders to trim the T-Birds' advantage to 21-14 with 3:17 left in the half.

“That was nice,” Lucey said. “It kind of felt like last week where we get a little jolt right before halftime. These guys play hard no matter what the score and even toward the end.”

The seven-point deficit was the closest the Storm got.

Back-to-back fumbles on Squalicum’s first two second-half possessions translated to 10 Tumwater points, as the T-Birds extended their lead to 31-14 with 3:06 left in the third quarter.

Peterson gave the Storm a glimmer of hope after hauling in a 59-yard touchdown pass from Sorenson, cutting Tumwater’s lead to 31-21 with 7:38 left in the fourth quarter, but Tumwater ran the clock out to seal the win.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Lucey said, “a lot of accomplishments this year that are pretty special, as far as winning our league title, going undefeated during the regular season, and we just had some special moments.”

This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 12:19 AM with the headline "Mistakes cost Squalicum in quarterfinal loss to Tumwater."