HS Football: Graham-Kapowsin Earns Second Consecutive Shutout Victory

9/19/25

Graham-Kapowsin Eagles 14, Emerald Ridge Jaguars 0

(Elk Plain, WA) The Graham-Kapowsin Eagles start the year with three straight home games, and were looking for a perfect 3-0 start to the season after a thrilling win against O’Dea in week one and a shutout last week against Skyview. The Emerald Ridge Jaguars start the year with three straight Thursday games. The Jaguars were coming off a loss at Art Crate Field to Bethel last week, after starting the year 1-0 with a win over Kentwood. This SPSL crossover would showcase both how hard it is to win in the league and to score.

Graham-Kapowsin began the game with the ball and worked its way down the field. Quarterback AJ Tuivaiave hit Derick Manibusan for a big 21-yard gain to get the offense going. Later in the drive, the Eagles connected on back-to-back 17-yard plays. First, it was Jayce Halasz making a grab to move the chains on third down, then Keh’ano Corpuz had a catch and run to put Graham-Kapowsin at the two-yard line. On second and goal, Tuivaiave went back to pass, didn’t see anyone open, and took off for the end zone for a three-yard touchdown to give Graham-Kapowsin a 6-0 lead. The Eagles missed on the two-point conversion attempt. Emerald Ridge punted on their opening possession, and Graham-Kapowsin’s offense went back to work.

The Eagles marched down the field on a 14-play drive, which started with a penalty but overcame it with a 14-yard gain from Tuivaiave. After driving into Emerald Ridge territory, the Jaguars forced a turnover on downs to get the ball back. Emerald Ridge picked up a first down as freshman quarterback Avery Anderson hit Cody Dalton for a 10-yard gain. Graham-Kapowsin forced a punt but turned the ball over on downs on the ensuing drive. The defenses forced minimal offense in the second quarter, forcing the punting units for both sides to trade punts the entire quarter. Graham-Kapowsin took a 6-0 lead going into the halftime break.

With Emerald Ridge winning the coin toss and deferring, the Jaguars got the ball to open up the second half. Emerald Ridge moved the ball very nicely on the drive, with Tre Robinson running the ball for seven and 11 yards on the first two plays of the drive. On third and 14, Graham-Kapowsin was called for a 15-yard targeting penalty to keep the drive going for the Jaguars. Facing fourth and six, Anderson was flushed out of the pocket and scrambled towards the line to gain, dove and stretched the ball out just enough to get the first down right on the number. Facing fourth down again, Emerald Ridge picked up the first down with a run from Robinson for a fresh set of downs. Later on the drive, a 15-yard penalty backed up Emerald Ridge out of field goal range, and was forced to punt. The drive was a whopping 19 plays, took off seven and a half minutes, and Emerald Ridge called two timeouts on the drive, but couldn’t put points on the board.

Graham-Kapowsin responded with its longest drive of the night. The Eagles worked their way down the field with a nice balance of runs and passes, while spreading the ball to their many playmakers across the field. A key play was on third and eight, when Tuivaiave hit his target, Kase Betz, for a 14-yard first down, to put the Eagles inside the 20-yard line. Graham-Kapowsin capped off the drive with a six-yard run from Blake Pearson to make it 12-0. The Eagles went for two, and Tuivaiave flipped the ball to Pearson, who bulldozed into the end zone for the two-point conversion as the lead went up to 14-0. The Emerald Ridge offense moved the ball down the field again, but the Graham-Kapowsin defense forced another stop. After both teams punted, Emerald Ridge had the ball with three minutes left in the game with no timeouts left, but turned the ball over on downs, and Graham-Kapowsin ran the clock out for the 14-0 win.

With their second consecutive shutout win, Graham-Kapowsin improves to 3-0 on the season. Graham-Kapowsin has won 20 straight games at Art Crate Field and 19 straight home games. The Eagles will face Bonney Lake on the road next week on Thursday, for their first SPSL-South matchup.

Emerald Ridge drops down to 1-2 on the season but will host Puyallup next Friday in an SPSL-North battle.

The Sumner Holiday Inn Express Game MVP went to the entire Graham-Kapowsin defensive line. They played stoutly and cohesively to limit the Emerald Ridge offense despite typical starter Quinncey Ratteray, who suffered an injury and did not play in the game. Their effort from top to bottom set the tone from their first snap on the field and has helped lead the Eagles to eight straight quarters without allowing a single point. The defensive line consists of Adrien Tela, Joey Savusa, EJ Levaula, Jeremiah Leumuava, Nidahs Nomura, and Julius Hernandez-Avila.

Graham-Kapowsin had key contributions from Blake Pearson, AJ Tuivaiave, Gavin Deaton, Derick Manibusan, and Gunner Stinson. Pearson was effective running the ball, and Tuivaiave showcased his mobility many times, escaping the pass rush of the Jaguars. Manibusan, Deaton, and Stinson were fantastic at linebacker for the Eagles in slowing down the Emerald Ridge offense from finding a rhythm or a big play.

Emerald Ridge’s defensive line was led by a superb game from Elijah Wallace. Hunter Rusler and Joel Gonzalez were good in the secondary, not allowing G-K to have a big play. Tre Robinson was great running the ball, and Donald Robinson was another force on the Jaguars’ defensive front.

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