HS Football: Peninsula's Big 4th Quarter Pushes Seahawks by Lions

11/1/25

(Gig Harbor, WA) Playoff football started a little early in the Puget Sound League as an elimination game took place in Gig Harbor on Saturday afternoon. Last year, the Peninsula Seahawks second place finish in the Nisqually division would have moved them right into the Round of 32. However, with one less spot from the league moving on, they would have to host the #4 from the Narrows division in the Bellarmine Lions. Last season, Bellarmine was in the same loser out situation and pulled off a win over River Ridge. On a sunny but windy day one team’s season would come to an end while one would be Round of 32 bound.

Peninsula 33, Bellarmine 13

Bellarmine received the opening kick of the loser out game but it would be a quick three-and-out to begin the game for the Lions. A great punt by Eli Shaw would push the Seahawks back at their own 26. Jacob Martin would get the Peninsula offense off to a great start with a 33-yard run on the Seahawks first play from scrimmage to move the ball right into Lions territory. Bellarmine’s defense would then make a play in the backfield followed by a dropped pass to force a punt as both teams came away empty on their opening drives.

Nothing would happen on the next drive for Bellarmine as they punted the ball back to Peninsula and once again Martin started the drive with a big run. This time, the senior running back took a carry for 39 yards to once again put Peninsula in opposing territory. A 14-yard pick up for Martin moved Peninsula inside the 10 before Maddix Sojot made a play in the backfield for the Lions. A couple of plays later and Peninsula had to settle for a 30-yard field goal by Talen McDonnell which was good to give Peninsula a 3-0 lead.

Finally the Lions would get some positive momentum as Casey Gebauer made a great toe tap catch for a 19-yard completion from Birk Johnston. The Lions offense finally had some positive momentum and they looked to carry that through the rest of the drive but Nemo Grandorff had other plans. The Seahawk senior would rip the ball free and recover it for the first takeaway of the day. It looked like that drive would turn into nothing, but a fake punt would be completed by Talen McDonnell to Aidan Muilenberg for 11 yards and a first down. Penalties would then stall out the drive before a sack by Jack Hartley forced the ball out and it was recovered by the Lions. The teams traded turnovers as early in the 2nd quarter it was still 3-0 Peninsula.

The best Lions drive of the first half would then come as they slowly but surely moved the ball down the field after the takeaway. Luke Shaw would make a couple of nice catches on the drive as Birk Johnston started to build momentum throwing the football. Bellarmine had to roll the dice on fourth and 10 and Birk Johnston would be intercepted, but a roughing the passer negated that and kept the drive going for the Lions. They moved the ball down to the one before Johnston ran a QB dive for a score to give Bellarmine a 7-3 lead.

Peninsula still had plenty of time and got the ball at their own 40 to begin the drive trailing for the first time, but a three-and-out gave the ball back to Bellarmine. An intentional grounding stopped that drive before it could get going and a short punt gave the Seahawks the ball at the Lion 34. They didn’t have to go too far but a highlight would end the drive. Lucas Wiseman found Trevor Bingham for an 18-yard score as Bingham made a great adjustment to haul it in and give Peninsula a 10-7 lead.

Bellarmine could do nothing on their next drive and punted the ball to Peninsula late in the half. The Seahawks needed a big play and they got it through the air. Lucas Wiseman found Jake Johnson for a huge 46-yard gain to set-up the Seahawks. Lucas Wiseman would end up finding the endzone on a three-yard keeper and we went to halftime with Peninsula leading Bellarmine 17-7.

With a chance to triple dip, Peninsula began the second half with the ball but the Bellarmine defense did their part and forced a three-and-out to begin the half. A phenomenal punt by Talen McDonnell forced Bellarmine to start from their own nine-yard line. A three-and-out gave the ball back to the Seahawks at the Bellarmine 36. The Lion defense made a great play as Luke Shaw and Seth Coovert forced an incomplete pass on fourth down for a turnover on downs keeping it 17-7.

A crazy drive then ensued for the Lions. Birk Johnston would look for Ben Heisel but the ball bounced off of his hands to Luke Shaw who hauled it in for a 22-yard gain. On the very next play, Johnston took a shot to Shaw but the ball was pulled down by Logan Johnson. However, the ball wasn’t secured and Shaw ended up pulling the ball away from Johnson for a 30-yard gain. It was a crazy sequence of plays that made it feel like Bellarmine was destined to score on the drive and they would. Once again, Johnston plunged into the endzone for a short score as the Lions were back in it trailing 17-13.

That would be the score into the 4th quarter where the defenses and special teams made huge plays to not allow any more points. Peninsula would have a drive start from their own 20 and that is when they landed a haymaker. Lucas Wiseman threw one up to Jake Johnson who hauled in a tough catch and kept his feet and was gone. Johnson took it 80 yards for the score to give Peninsula late breathing room with a 23-13 lead with 5:52 to go.

A short kick would follow the 80-yard score and as the ball hit the turf it bounced right back to the Seahawks as Logan Johnson recovered the McDonnell kick. Talen McDonnell would then hit a 39-yard field goal but that was not quite the knockout blow. On the next Bellarmine drive, a pass was batted into the air and caught by Royal Charles and the defensive lineman took it in for the pick six. Peninsula scored 16 points in the final six minutes of the game to pull away from Bellarmine and keep their season alive with a 33-13 win.

Stats and MVP

Our Sumner Holiday Inn Express MVP went to Peninsula’s special teams ace in Talen McDonnell. The punter/kicker was a game changer, flipping field position with some fantastic punts and downed the Lions inside the 10-yard line twice. He also was a perfect 2-2 on his field goal attempts in the wind and completed a pass on a fake punt attempt that led to points thanks to the 4th down conversion. He also caught a pass for a yard.

Peninsula’s starting quarterback was right in the mix for MVP as well as Lucas Wiseman went 14/26 passing for 190 yards and two touchdowns while running the ball six times for a touchdown as well. Jacob Martin had a strong day on the ground with 17 carries for 119 yards while catching four passes for 35 yards as well. Thomas Marzano had five carries for seven yards to round out the rushing attack and caught two passes for four yards. Jake Johnson was the star receiver, hauling in four passes for 136 yards and a touchdown while Trevor Bingham had two catches for 21 yards and a score as well. Aiden Muilenberg caught one pass for 11 yards while Coby Jones caught a pass as an offensive lineman on a batted ball. On defense, Aidan Muilenberg had a fumble recovery as did Nemo Grandorff while Royal Jones had a pick six on the defensive line.

For the Bellarmine Lions, Birk Johnston was a busy man, going 23/48 passing for 214 yards and ran the ball four times for four yards and two touchdowns. Casey Gebauer struggled on the ground with just nine carries for nine yards while Ryder Reisbeck also had a carry. Luke Shaw caught nine passes for 111 yards and Hunter Goodsell had five catches for 47 yards as the leading receivers. Luke Heisel caught three passes for nine yards early while Jeremy Williams caught two passes for 16 yards and Seth Coovert caught one pass for seven yards.

Peninsula keeps their season alive as they move to 6-3 on the season and advance to the Round of 32. The Seahawks will visit the White River Hornets in a loser out game on Friday night at 7pm. The Bellarmine Lions have their season come to an end with a final record of 5-4.

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