The Tumwater football team moved to 4-0 with a resounding 54-7 win over Centralia on Friday.
The Thunderbirds piled on early and often, scoring 35 points in the first quarter. After scoring two more touchdowns early in the second quarter to make it 48-0, the two teams agreed to let the clock run early.
It wasn’t just the offense that found the end zone, as the Thunderbirds also scored a defensive touchdowns and returned two punt returns to the house.
“The kids played really well early,” Tumwater coach William Garrow said. “They were pretty banged up on the other side. It was one of those games where it spiraled pretty quickly.”
While the Thunderbirds ended up running just 21 offensive plays, five different runners tallied 20 or more yards, led by Jaylin Nixon with 65 and Tyler Briscoe with 57. Kooper Clark also had 30 yards receiving on one catch.
“We tried to spread it around quite a bit today,” Garrow said.
The performance was reminiscent of Tumwater's 1993 state title team, which was honored prior to the game. The coach of that team, Sid Otton, also spoke to the team on Thursday.
“That was a neat deal for everybody,” Garrow said. “It was fun for our kids to be able to interact with those guys and play for them and get some history.”
For Centralia (0-4), Terrell Sanders finished 8 for 20 with 118 yards and a touchdown.
Landen Jenkins caught seven of those passes, tallying 111 yards and the touchdown. Dustin Ingles caught the other pass.
The Tigers’ struggles on the ground continued, as they ran for just 1.5 yards per carry on the night.
Next week, the Tigers will look to snap their winning streak when they host Rochester, while Tumwater will head to Chehalis to take on W.F. West.
