HS Football: Gig Harbor Rushing Attack Leads Tides to Fish Bowl Three-Peat

9/6/25

(Tacoma, WA) With a rivalry too big for Roy Anderson Field, the Gig Harbor Tides and Peninsula Seahawks met in the annual Fish Bowl to begin the 2025 season at George Nordi Field at Mount Tahoma High School on Saturday evening. For the second year in a row, the entire town of Gig Harbor made their way across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to showcase their school pride in one of the best rivalries in the state of Washington.

After losing seven straight in the series, the Gig Harbor Tides have turned things back in their favor in the last couple of years. Two consecutive second half comebacks gave the Tides back-to-back wins in 2023 and 2024 to even up the all-time series at 23-23. However, Peninsula would look to shift things back in their favor under first year head coach Clay Mauro who would battle with fellow first year Fish Bowl head coach Jeff Scoma for the Tides.

Gig Harbor 35, Peninsula 21

Gig Harbor would begin the game with the ball but a penalty ended their drive with a quick three-and-out. On the punt, the snap would go through the punters hands and Peninsulas ended up getting tremendous starting field position at the Tides 16-yard line. It only took three plays for the Seahawks to strike as Talen McDonnell dumped a screen pass to Jacob Martin who made his way into the endzone for a 15-yard score. In the blink of an eye, Peninsula had grabbed a 7-0 lead.

The Tides would then march down the field with a long, grueling drive with the rushing attack. Gig Harbor made their way inside the 10-yard line before two penalties backed them up to the 29. They would settle for a 40-yard field goal attempt, but it was no good and Peninsulas got the ball back. A fumble however would be recovered by Gig Harbor who would open the second quarter with a 23-yard touchdown run by Ian Shearer as the Tides tied it up at 7-7.

The 2nd quarter was dominated by Gig Harbor in this one. A bad snap stopped the following Peninsula drive before it could get started. Gig Harbor would take over at their own 25 and slowly but steadily made their way down the field. A 14-play drive that lasted 7 minutes and 51 seconds and it ended on a high note. Wilson West ran in a six-yard touchdown to give Gig Harbor their first lead late in the half, 14-7.

Peninsula would have time left to try to double dip and score to end the half before getting the ball to start the second half. Talen McDonnell tried to set up a screen but the ball was tipped by Peyton Howard and picked off by the Tides quarterback in Sawyer Hayes. Hayes ran it back to the four-yard line where after a brief delay, he finished it off with a QB sneak for a touchdown on the final play of the half. A 21-0 second quarter had Gig Harbor rolling into halftime with a 21-7 lead.

Defense continued to lead the way for the Tides as they forced a three-and-out to begin the second half. The Tides did not need to get away from the rushing attack because Ian Shearer was unstoppable behind a very strong offensive line. Shearer led the rushing attack down the field and found the endzone for the second time in the game with a three-yard score to make it 28-7.

After another three-and-out, things looked bleak for Peninsula. A fumbled snap by the Tides helped out the Seahawks and they found some momentum with their own rushing attack. Jacob Martin and Talen McDonnell pushed the offense down the field with a couple of passes mixed in. It would be McDonnell finishing off the drive with a two-yard QB keeper to keep the Seahawks in it, trailing 28-14.

Explosive plays on the ground just continued to pile up for Gig Harbor. A tremendous kick return by Taylor Carey set up the Tides at the Peninsula 40. Ian Shearer had one more in him with a nine-yard score to answer right back. A missed field goal by the Tides would allow Peninsula to put together a great drive with McDonnell finding Jacob Johnson for a 15-yard score. That was the last gasp however as the ensuing onside kick was recovered by Gig Harbor to put this one away. For the third straight season, Gig Harbor would take home the Fish Bowl with a 35-21 win over Peninsula.

Stats and MVP

Our Sumner Holiday Inn Express MVP of the game went to Gig Harbor running back Ian Shearer. The junior had 101 yards rushing at halftime. He finished the game with 192 yards on 28 carries. His 3 touchdowns were from 23, 3, and 9 yards.

The Tides did not have a pass attempt in the game but racked up 305 rushing yards as a team. While Shearer led the team in rushing his running mate Wilson West finished with 9 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Sawyer Hayes had 23 yards on 9 attempts and had an interception on defense. Johan Gerl had 3 rushes for 18 yards. Troy Arnold had 5 yards, Taylor Carey had 12 yards, and Max Schwab finished with 1 yard all had 2 carries. Michael Balsamo had 9 yards on his only carry. Gig Harbor didn’t attempt a pass; they did have 2 failed field goal attempts from 40 and 25 yards out. Colton Mathias and Jake Cuda combined for a sack.

Peninsula aired out the ball quite a bit especially in the 2nd half when they were down. Junior quarterback Talen McDonnell was 20 of 25 passing for 171 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. McDonnell also had a rushing TD but a high snap and a big sack by the tides had him finish with -28 yards rushing. Senior running back Jacob Martin had 71 yards on 13 carries and added 4 receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Lucas Wiseman brought in 4 passes for 8 yards. Jake Johnson had 3 catches for 46 yards and a touchdown. Trevor Bingham finished with 3 catches for 25 yards. Aiden Muilenburg had 3 receptions for 25 yards all in the second half. Three players had 1 catch each Jace Shanburn for 17 yards, Logan Johnson for 8 and Ethan Dietrich’s was 4 yards.

Gig Harbor (1-0) has another 5 pm Saturday away game next week they travel to 4A Eastlake (0-1). Peninsula (0-1) will have to bounce back quickly with a 7 pm game at 4A Curtis (1-0) on Thursday.

Click here for the link to the full game replay (Subscription Required)