Tides drown Seahawks

GH puts up 21 points in second quarter, shuts out Peninsula

Marques Hunter

of the Gateway

Scoring points was the Peninsula Seahawks’ mantra going into the 30th annual Fish Bowl football game against the Gig Harbor Tides.

Peninsula had averaged 33 points, but that number was reversed Friday night as Gig Harbor shut out Peninsula 33-0 at Roy Anderson Field.

Considered to be an emotional win, Tides senior Louis Lanza said he didn’t want to be the one to lose the Fish Bowl in his final year.

“It’s big, it’s fun and it’s exciting,” he said. “We love it.”

Lanza helped the Tides (4-1 overall, 3-1 Class 4A Narrows League) blow the game open during their 21-point second quarter when he caught a 59-yard bomb from senior quarterback Chet Thompson with 30 seconds left in the half.

Peninsula (3-2 overall, 3-1 3A SPSL) blew its coverage on an unbalanced trips formation on the play.

The Seahawks had a hard time putting together consecutive first downs, but Gig Harbor didn’t, scoring its first touchdown on a nine-play drive that concluded when Thompson scored on a 15-yard run from the shotgun formation.

Gig Harbor scored on six of 11 possessions — three in the first half.

Thompson rushed for a second score, a 29-yard off-tackle burst that buckled the Peninsula secondary when he cut back across the field.

The second score took just 30 seconds, primarily because Peninsula punted the ball from its own end zone and left Gig Harbor with a short field to work with.

The Tides put 21 points on the board in the last six minutes of the second quarter.

“We know we missed some opportunities,” Peninsula coach Ross Filkins said. “We played on a short field the entire first half, particularly in the second quarter.”

Gig Harbor limited Peninsula to 169 total yards — 61 rushing, 108 passing — the fewest of the season for the Seahawks.

Three first-half punts netted just 41 yards and the blown coverage didn’t help, either.

“If we play a non-league game that doesn’t present as much of a challenge, then we don’t have as much to learn,” Filkins said.

Gig Harbor’s senior-laden defense kept Peninsula’s offense unproductive in the second half. Tides senior safety Tanner Davis snagged two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown but was called back because of a holding penalty.

Thompson completed just four passes, but two of them went for touchdowns. He finished with 63 yards passing and one interception.

As a team, Gig Harbor rushed for 283 yards, with senior running back Nico Youngren a major contributor.

Davis said the defense’s goal was to shut down Peninsula’s passing attack. They were successful, as Seahawks sophomore quarterback JR Grosshans completed 15 passes for 108 yards.

“Because we haven’t had a shutout all year, we really wanted to get a shutout against Peninsula,” Davis said. “Not letting them score makes a statement about how we played the game.”

Davis’ two-interception game was the third of his career. He also had two last year against Lincoln and two against Timberline during his sophomore season.

The Tides, who won their fourth straight, are averaging 24.4 points per game and are allowing just 11 per game on defense.

“It’s really good to pick up the four wins, but we still have the second half of our season to work on,” Lanza said.

Gig Harbor returns to Narrows League play this week against Foss (3-1 league).

Tides coach Darren McKay said the defense is continuing to build momentum.

“We feel like we’re getting better each week as far as continuing to see the point totals (defensively) go down,” McKay said.

On Friday, Peninsula will host Bonney Lake (3-1 league), which is tied with the Seahawks for second place.