Glance at turfed Tiger Stadium on Saturday afternoon and there was a clear one-sided matchup.
The front-five of the W.F. West High School football team – Carlos Vallejo, Andrew Snyder, Kage Homan, Peyton Santiago and Grady Oien – average weight is 206 pounds.
Olympic’s starting four on the defensive line all weighed over 245 pounds.
“They have hearts of champions and the bond those guys have up front is second-to-none,” Bearcats head coach Dan Hill stated. “They’re all smart kids and we gotta do certain things with being undersized. We understand it is not going to be perfect.”
Smarts outlasted strength.
Sixth-seeded W.F. West dominated the line of scrimmage from the opening drive to the final whistle, aided a ground game to 270 yards and played a major factor in beating 11th-seeded Olympic 33-7 in a Class 2A Round of 16 contest.
“It is underrated and they don’t get enough respect as they should,” Bearcats senior Tucker Land said of his blockers. “We got high expectations, but everyone is sleeping on them.”
It marks the second time in three years that W.F. West (10-1) will be in the final eight and will face third-seeded and unbeaten Franklin Pierce next week. Location and time is to be determined.
Since losing to Tumwater in Week 8, the Bearcats have allowed just 17 points and have hung at least 30 in their three-game winning streak.
“To be honest, that game, us coaches took a lot of ownership on that,” Hill said of their lone loss of the fall. “Sometimes you gotta get punched in the mouth and decide who you want to be. These boys have decided they want to be champions and fight.”
Even though the offensive line was, on paper, not able to match the Trojans strength wise, it didn’t even factor into the game. Those five opened up lanes for Land and quarterback Gage Brumfield all day.
W.F. West ate up seven-plus minutes on its first drive, capped by a Land 23-yard touchdown run on a counter play that started with the 6-foot-2 tailback flanked behind tight end Grady Westlund.
“We did that a lot early in the year and we’re just now getting back to it,” Land admitted.
Then on its second drive, Brumfield scored on a 3-yard QB draw that was the finale of a 15-play, 71-yard drive that also chewed over seven minutes of clock.
The Bearcats accumulated 25 first downs, well over half of them on run plays. Coaches and players were checking the weather as the week unfolded.
Rain and cross wind changed the game script that featured counters, QB power runs and inside zone. Brumfield only attempted 15 passes and completed seven of them.
“It was kind of how we wanted to present it,” Hill said. “Speaks to the diversity of what our team is.”
Brumfield tallied four total touchdowns, delivering two daggers in the fourth quarter on passes to Ross Kelley and Land from 17 and 31 yards, respectively.
The Eastern Washington commit finished with over 200 yards of total offense and also snared an interception on defense. Land recorded 100 yards on the ground and 56 as a pass catcher.
“We can do anything on the fly,” Land said. “Our team is mentally strong and smart. We know we can get it done; have a lot of trust in everyone.”
Defensively, Graysen Serl delivered a pair of big hits and Grady Westlund was a fixture in Olympic’s backfield. Kelley recovered one of four fumbles W.F. West forced.
Franklin Pierce’s offense is led by former Tenino head coach Cary Nagel and he’s brought the Power-T to Tacoma and have the SPSL 2A league champs on a roll.
Yet after the showcase the Bearcats put on in front of a packed crowd in Centralia, Hill and Land believe they are ready for whatever comes next.
“This team was a top-eight team, hands down, from the beginning,” Hill said. “If you win, you gotta play well.”
