Gig Harbor’s big second-half leads to first win of season

Kickoff return sparks Tides’ 31-10 victory over CK

Marques Hunter

of the Gateway

Three weeks into the season, hometown supporters finally saw what Gig Harbor football is about.

The Tides (1-2 Class 4A Narrows League and overall) reversed nearly every mistake they made the previous two weeks on Thursday and beat the Central Kitsap Cougars 31-10 at Roy Anderson Field.

It was a psychological victory to keep from starting the season 0-3. And it was a shift to solid football after the Tides had nine combined turnovers going into the game.

Gig Harbor played nearly error-free to beat Central Kitsap, which was ranked in the top 10 to begin the season. Instead of committing miscues, the Tides forced three and converted them for 14 points.

Gig Harbor junior tight end/wide receiver Austin Seferian-Jenkins scored a 13-yard touchdown after an interception by junior linebacker Nick Dahl with 1:33 remaining in the third quarter. It gave the Tides a 24-3 lead and seemingly closed the door.

“Today’s game was a representation of what Gig Harbor football is about,” Jenkins said. “We won in all three phases. If we don’t turn the ball over, you better watch out.”

The Cougars’ offense piled up 42 points in a big win over Bellarmine Prep. But against the Tides, Central Kitsap was limited to one touchdown, which came with 1:41 left in the fourth quarter.

After a muddy first half during which both teams exchanged field goals, Gig Harbor junior Spencer Manjarrez sprang a 90-yard kickoff to begin the third quarter.

Tides junior Troy Castle said that, from that point on, the team fed off that play.

“Spencer breaking open the opening kickoff (of the second half) gave us a lot of intensity,” said Castle, a slot receiver and cornerback. “Now we’re on track. We’re just going to take it one game at time. We got our first win. Now we want to just keep rolling with it.”

Tides head coach Darren McKay wanted to keep Castle fresh for the offense, but he didn’t want to see his secondary get burned like it did against South Kitsap.

So Castle started on both sides of the ball, giving Gig Harbor some much-needed experience against the Cougars’ receiver corps that included 6-foot-4 Christian Wesley.

The Tides limited Wesley to two catches for 23 yards.

After Gig Harbor’s Sean Dennis picked off a pass, Castle took a motion sweep for a 77-yard score. He finished with 147 yards of total offense.

“The guys just opened a hole so big a truck could drive through it, and I just saw daylight and ran,” Castle said of his career-long run.

Gig Harbor senior quarterback Barrett Schmitdke ran more than he passed. He finished with 80 yards on the ground and capped a 15-play drive on Gig Harbor’s first possession of the second half by taking the snap from the shotgun and falling forward for a 5-yard touchdown.

McKay said taking care of the ball was the very first part to winning the game.

“I felt a lot better this week than I have the last two weeks,” McKay said. “We were opportunistic (after forcing a turnover) and made the other team pay.”

Gig Harbor junior Nick Dahl said the defense played much better, too.

“Our corners didn’t get beat deep,” Dahl said. “And we had no turnovers on offense. That really helped us out.”

Tides travel to Bellarmine

The Gig Harbor Tides (1-2 overall and league) will continue Class 4A Narrows League play at 7 p.m. Friday when they travel to Tacoma to play the Bellarmine Prep Lions (2-1, 1-1 league).

Reach sports reporter Marques Hunter at 253-853-9246 or by e-mail at marques.hunter@gateline.com.