HS Football: Mount Tahoma's Defense Lead T-Bird to PSL 3A Title

10/31/25

(Tacoma, WA) While the pressure was off for the Lakes Lancers and Mount Tahoma Thunderbirds, the two teams still had a ton to play for on a rainy Halloween night in Tacoma. The Puget Sound League 3A title was on the line while both teams were safely into the Round of 32 next weekend. Both also entered with identical 8-0 records meaning that one would get to the playoffs unbeaten while one would head to the postseason on a loss.

Lakes rolled through the PSL Nisqually division outscoring their opponents 220-33 in the five league games. Mount Tahoma also dominated in their five PSL Narrows division games, outscoring their opponents 182-47. The stormy weather would definitely affect the passing attacks as well as ball security in this game, adding a wrinkle into one of the best games in Washington state in week 9.

Mount Tahoma 28, Lakes 7

Lakes would receive the opening kick-off and looked like it would be a quick and empty drive as they faced a fourth and one early in the game. Head coach Dave Miller decided to leave his offense on the field, but a holding penalty negated a first down run and forced the Lancers to punt the ball away. The punt would be very short and gave Mount Tahoma the ball at the Lakes 37-yard line. Mount Tahoma was all about the ground game behind Nezie White but a false start made it fourth and nine. Mikkah Cordero found Elijah Durr for a 17-yard pick up to keep the drive alive. A handful of plays later and Nezie White was into the endzone on a seven-yard score to give Mount Tahoma a 7-0 lead.

Teaven Jones and Kemarjae Davis ended the next Lakes drive with a sack each to force another three-and-out. Lakes would come up with a nice defensive effort to force a punt but the Lancers could not get anything going on offense. A third three-and-out gave Mount Tahoma great field position yet again at the Lancers 35 to begin the 2nd quarter. It was a lot more ground and pound from the T-Birds with the short pass plays mixed in as well. Mount Tahoma pushed the ball down to the one for a third and goal as Mikkah Cordero plunged his way into the endzone for a short touchdown run. The Thunderbirds had opened their lead up a little bit to 14-0.

Junior Contreras-Barragan had a big play on the following kick-off. He dropped a perfect kick into the soft spot of the Lancer return team and the ball took a great bounce right back to the T-Birds. They would recover the ball to steal a possession and all the momentum was on the side of the home team. Lakes needed a big play and as Mount Tahoma looked to take a shot deep, Darwin Peters gave the Lancers a boost. An interception by Peters immediately got the ball back to Lakes without the deficit growing. Lakes would pick up their first first down of the night but still had to punt. Neither team could put together a drive with rain making it impossible to throw the ball and the game went to halftime with Mount Tahoma leading 14-0.

It would be T-Bird football to start the second half and the three-headed rushing attack continued to wear down the Lakes defense. They kept it on the ground to kill time and they could not be stopped as Nezie White, Keshawn Hines, and Felix Diaz all ate away down the field on a long, grueling drive. A drive that lasted four minutes and 42 seconds would end as Felix Diaz broke loose for a 21-yard score to follow his 22-yard pick up. A dream start to the second half saw Mount Tahoma’s lead grow to 21-0.

Lakes would finally get a strong drive themselves behind Jadis Lefono, Toetu Moliga, and Korben Reed. They too had to keep the ball on the ground in the nasty weather but they would get some short passes to Lee Snyder and Moliga. The Lancers would methodically make their way down the field in an attempt to avoid the shutout and would face a fourth and one in T-Bird territory. A handoff to Moliga would be stuffed at the line as the T-Bird defense stood strong to force a turnover on downs and send the game to the 4th with Mount Tahoma leading 21-0 after a long drive for Lakes ended in no points.

One more time would the T-Birds get the ball and went right back to just running in every single play. The drive ended a little sooner than head coach Keith Terry anticipated but it was for a good reason for the T-Birds. Felix Diaz broke free for a 56-yard touchdown run and his second score of the game. Lakes would have one last drive and Toetu Moliga broke a 32-yard run to give them a chance to avoid the shutout. Korben Reed did just that with a two-yard score with under a minute left. An onside kick recovery put the game away officially for Mount Tahoma. The T-Birds didn’t throw the ball a single time in a second half where each team had just two drives as Mount Tahoma defeated Lakes 28-7 to secure the Puget Sound League title.

Stats and MVP

Our Sumner Holiday Inn Express MVP of the game went to Felix Diaz for Mount Tahoma. A part of the very fast and dominant front seven, Diaz had a great night on defense with a number of tackles and a big pass break-up on 4th down. Then he got going on the ground in the second half and finished with 10 carries for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Those two touchdowns both came in the second half and allowed the T-Birds to build a lead while their defense, led in part by Diaz to finish off the win.

Elsewhere for the Mount Tahoma offense, Nezie White was the featured running back with 15 carries for 62 yards and a score while Keshawn Hines had eight carries for 24 yards. Mikkah Cordero added two carries for three yards and a touchdown and went 4/9 for 33 yards through the air without a single pass attempt coming in the second half. Elijah Durr caught one pass for 17 yards while Kane Roy had two catches for nine yards and Anthony Quintanilla Jr. had two catches for seven yards. Kamarjae Davis and Teaven Jones each had a sack on defense while Jones also registered an additional tackle for a loss. Junior Contreras-Barragan went 4-4 on his extra point attempts.

For the Lakes Lancers, Toetu Moliga was the main man with 12 carries for 78 yards and had one catch for eight yards while also having a busy day at linebacker. Korben Reed carried the ball eight times for 25 yards and a touchdown while Romeice Taviuni had three carries for 11 yards. Lee Snyder tallied one carry for 12 yards and had three catches for 30 yards. Jadis Lefono went 6/13 passing for 25 yards and had eight carries for 18 yards on the ground. Darwin Peters also had an interception on defense while Jude Grape hit his lone extra point.

Mount Tahoma finishes their regular season a perfect 9-0 as Puget Sound League champions. The Thunderbirds now turn their attention to the playoffs when they will host the Prairie Falcons in the Round of 32 on Friday night at 7pm. Lakes finishes their season at 8-1 and will also move on to the Round of 32. The Lancers will host the Decatur Golden Gators at a time and date TBD.

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