South Kitsap’s problems extend beyond the scoreboard.
In addition to the Wolves’ 48-7 setback Friday night against Gig Harbor in Class 4A Narrows League play at Joe Knowles Field, they lost senior starting quarterback Cooper Canton.
Canton did not return after he absorbed a hard hit to the chest during the second quarter on an incomplete pass with South trailing 21-0.
“I think there’s talk of a broken finger and liver contusion,” South coach Eric Canton said. “He just got killed.”
The younger Canton was replaced by sophomore Jerrit Chenier. He was not the Wolves’ only offensive starter to leave with an injury as senior running back Marshaud DeWalt returned from halftime in street clothes.
“Marshaud was more precautionary,” Eric Canton said.
Even when DeWalt was in the game, the Tides made a point of containing him. DeWalt finished with 37 yards on 14 carries. Gig Harbor stopped DeWalt on second- and third-and-goal from its 5-yard line and then stuffed him for no gain on fourth down.
“Our mentality is to swarm to the ball,” Gig Harbor coach Aaron Chantler said. “The kids have grown up with Marshaud. They have played him for the last two or three years now, so they know what he’s capable of doing.
“Our game plan coming in was to stop Marshaud. We kind of had a strategy of the first guy there needs to fit him up square. If you watch the other teams on film they’re trying to go off to the side on him and he’s just shucking the tackles.”
Without Canton and DeWalt, South (2-3 overall, 1-2 league) could not sustain the short-term success it built after halftime. Freshman Dustin Garcia, who caught the game-winning touchdown Sept. 26 at Yelm, returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. Junior Cole Craner then recovered an onside kick that gave the Wolves possession at midfield. But three plays later, Chenier was intercepted.
And South’s comeback hopes ended there.
Junior quarterback Davis Alexander, who completed 15 of 23 passes for 255 yards and five touchdowns, guided the Tides (4-1, 2-0) to scores on three of their final four drives of the third quarter. Alexander threw touchdown passes to three different receivers, including 16- and 15-yard touchdown passes to senior Bobby Blaser during the third period.
“Our mentality is to have bigger guys on the outside and faster guys on the inside,” Chantler said. “It gives us mismatch problems on both directions — taller guys on smaller corners and faster guys on linebackers. It’s a pretty dynamic group. We’re about six or seven deep out there. We haven’t really opened it up until tonight because we’ve beaten two teams with running clocks pretty early in the game.”
Gig Harbor’s final touchdown came on a 6-yard run by junior Adrian Valona with 1:25 in the third quarter. That started the running clock and Chantler inserted his reserves after that.
The Tides also scored on four of their final five possessions to end the first half. Their first came on a 10-play drive that culminated with an 11-yard run by Valona.
Gig Harbor displayed its explosiveness on its final three touchdown drives during the first half. The Tides needed just a dozen plays to score on those drives as wide receivers Noah Samsen and Santana Johnson caught 53- and 52-yard touchdown passes, respectively. Alexander’s third touchdown pass then came on a 5-yard throw to Johnson with 1:32 remaining in the first half.
South was outgained 252-92 during the first half, but also missed some opportunities to close its deficit.
“The tough part is we’re inside the 20 three times in the first half,” Canton said. “It’s just not being able to finish for one thing or another.
“We’re playing hard. It’s not lack of effort. One thing we said from the beginning is we’re young and we’re inexperienced. Part of the process with these young guys is learning how to fight and overcome things.”
It won’t get any easier for the Wolves, who play three of their next four games on the road, including Friday at Bellarmine Prep (4-1, 2-0), which is tied with the Tides for first place in 4A Narrows.
“We’re going to keep coaching,” Canton said. “The teams we’re gonna play don’t care if we’re beat up. They don’t care if we’re not playing well. Their job is to go out and win.”
Gig Harbor 48, at South Kitsap 7
Gig Harbor 14 14 20 0 – 48
South Kitsap 0 0 7 0 – 7
First Quarter
GH-Adrian Valona 11 run (Garrett Wenrich kick)
GH-Noah Samsen 53 pass from Davis Alexander (Wenrich kick)
Second Quarter
GH-Santana Johnson 52 pass from Alexander (Wenrich kick)
GH-Johnson 5 pass from Alexander (Wenrich kick)
Third Quarter
SK-Dustin Garcia 90 kickoff return (Kees Metselaar kick)
GH-Bobby Blaser 16 pass from Alexander (Wenrich kick)
GH-Blaser 15 pass from Alexander (Wenrich kick)
GH-Valona 6 run (kick blocked)
Individual statistics
Passing-Alexander (GH) 15-23-0-255, Cooper Canton (SK) 11-19-0-84, Jerrit Chenier (SK) 3-7-2–5.
Rushing-Valona (GH) 7-54, Cory Condon (GH) 3-20, Max Batanian (GH) 6-56, Alexander (GH) 10-61, Samsen (GH) 1-8, Marshaud DeWalt (SK) 14-37, Canton (SK) 2-3, Ricky Jones (SK) 7–6, Chenier (SK) 3–20, Team (SK) 2–29.
Receiving-Santana Johnson (GH) 7-127, Blaser (GH) 3-39, Samsen (GH) 4-72, Dylan Lindmark (GH) 1-15, Miles Huff (SK) 5-13, Jacob Lewis (SK) 2-37, Dustin Garcia (SK) 4-38, DeWalt (SK) 1–6, Izaijha Byrd (SK) 2–3.
