OLYMPIA — South Kitsap players hoped it would serve as a statement game.
Instead, Olympia only reinforced that its top-10 ranking in every significant Class 4A state poll is legitimate.
The Bears racked up 462 yards of total offense en route to a 30-6 win against South in the 4A Narrows League opener for both schools at Ingersoll Stadium.
“We got exposed a little bit by a good football team,” South coach D.J. Sigurdson said.
Olympia (3-0 overall, 1-0 league) now has won 41 of its last 42 regular-season league contests dating back to 2004. The Bears’ only loss in that span was 10-6 against the Wolves on Sept. 25, 2009.
But South (2-1, 0-1) never threatened to win a second consecutive game at Ingersoll. The Bears opened with a 12-play drive that culminated with a 14-yard touchdown run by junior Casey Bond, who finished with a game-high 121 yards on 14 carries.
Unable to duplicate that on their first drive — the Wolves gained just one yard on their first three plays — senior punter Aaron La Deaux attempted to replicate a fake punt that his older brother, Leon, used to score an 82-yard touchdown two years ago at Olympia.
The younger La Deaux was stopped a yard short this time, though. He was hit on the play, suffered an injury to his right shoulder and did not return. Sigurdson, who said the fake punt was not called from the sideline, expects La Deaux to play Friday when the Wolves host Shelton.
“He has the option on every punt,” Sigurdson said. “The way we’re lining up on punts, we have to give him that option to run. It wasn’t a call … but if they don’t line up properly or they leave us the outside, you’ve got to take it. There’s one player he couldn’t outrun.”
The Bears took advantage of the fake punt as senior Brian Carpenter later connected on a 27-yard field goal to extend their lead to 10-0.
While South only had one first down, Olympia was able to extend its lead to 24-0 midway through the second quarter. The first touchdown of the period came on a fourth-and-2 when the Bears lined up in a wishbone formation. Quarterback Trevor Houser faked a handoff and found Kyle Alfonso open for a 29-yard touchdown pass.
“They were just a step ahead of us in everything they did,” South quarterback Eddie Meisner said. “That was the difference.”
The Bears then followed that with an 11-play drive that culminated with a 2-yard touchdown by Nathan Slosson. He finished with 89 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.
“We need to tackle better,” Sigurdson said. “We need to pursue, tackle and trust keys. We have a lot of work to do.”
But it was not just about defensive struggles. After averaging 33 points in their first two games, the Wolves did not advance past midfield until the third quarter. It happened on fourth-and-2 during their opening drive of the second half when Meisner, who completed 8 of 17 passes for 98 yards, found wide receiver Devon Newquist for an 8-yard completion. After a 2-yard run by Adam Gascoyne, Meisner connected with Newquist again for a 20-yard gain. But Newquist was hit and his fumble was recovered by Olympia.
Six plays later, the Bears increased their advantage to 30-0 on a 20-yard run by Slosson.
South managed to avoid the shutout on its ensuing possession when running back Dominic Boddie, who had 43 yards on 10 carries, scored on a 16-yard run.
But the Wolves never regained any offensive rhythm — they finished with just 188 yards of total offense — and did not produce a first down in the final quarter.
Olympia has held each of its first three opponents to just a touchdown.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy to get first downs, but we knew they were there to get,” Sigurdson said. “We were trying to do too much instead of staying within the system.”
South will attempt to recover against the Highclimbers (1-2, 0-1), who lost 53-14 on Friday against Central Kitsap. Sigurdson said he expects his team to respond positively.
“It’s a long season,” he said. “We’ve got a lot more games to go. One game doesn’t make a season.”
At Olympia 30, South Kitsap 6
South Kitsap 0 0 6 0 — 6
Olympia 10 14 6 0 — 30
First Quarter
O—Casey Bond 14 run (Brian Carpenter kick)
O—Carpenter 27 FG
Second Quarter
O—Kyle Alfonso 29 pass from Trevor Houser (Carpenter kick)
O—Nathan Slosson 2 run (Carpenter kick)
Third Quarter
O—Slosson 20 run
(pass failed)
SK—Dominic Boddie 16 run (kick failed)
Individual statistics
Passing—Eddie Meisner (SK) 8-17-0-98; Kevin Whatley (SK) 0-3-0-0; Trevor Houser (O) 13-23-0-185.
Rushing—Kaleb Nelson (SK) 4-7; Dominic Boddie (SK) 10-43; Bryce Broome (SK) 1-8; Chas Bauman (SK) 2-20; Adam Gascoyne (SK) 5-14; Meisner (SK) 1–11; Michael Gundrum (SK) 1-1; Casey Bond (O) 22-121; Nathan Slosson (O) 14-89; Austin Roth (O) 2-6; Ben Pendowski (O) 6-60; Mitchell Fettig (O) 2–2; Evan Hogan (O) 2-4; Caden Waggoner (O) 1–1.
Receiving—Devon Newquist (SK) 3-39; C.J. Douty (SK) 3-51; Broome (SK) 2-8; Slosson (O) 2-20; Brendan Jewell (O) 2-8; Alex Johnson (O) 6-91; Kyle Alfonso (O) 1-29; Bond (O) 1-4; Tyrone Sanderlin (O) 1-33.
