TUMWATER – It was a special run, but the Squalicum season ended after losing to the top-ranked Thunderbirds of Tumwater 14-3 at Tumwater District Stadium on Saturday night.
After losing their first two conference games, the Storm were basically playing loser-out games since the beginning of October, and ended up going further in the state playoffs than any other team in school history.
Squalicum outgained Tumwater by 106 yards, but turnovers did the Storm in.
A mix up in the secondary resulted in the first touchdown of the game, as the Thunderbirds completed a 19-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter.
Squalicum senior kicker Sebastian Smith punched in a 25-yard field goal, which was set up by a 57-yard run by senior quarterback Leyton Smithson. Tumwater was then able to score on a 1-yard touchdown run with seconds remaining in the first half.
Both defenses held in the entire second half, as all the scoring happened in the second quarter alone.
The Storm defense was led by senior nose tackle Jaymeson Thompson who had seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a strip sack.
Senior outside linebackers Djouvensky Schlenbaker and Bryson Lamb each had big games to finish their careers as well. Schlenbaker totaled 8.5 tackles and two tackles for loss, while Lamb collected 7.5 tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack.
Smithson had another big game offensively, with 156 yards rushing and 77 yards passing.
The Storm finished the season with a 7-3 record.
Squalicum 3 Tumwater 14 SQU 0 3 0 0 - 3 TUM 0 14 0 0 - 14 TUM - 19 yard touchdown pass (kick good) SQU - Smith 25 FG TUM - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good)
SQU TUM 36-231 Rush Att-Yards 42-125 8-20-1 Comp-Att-Int 8-15-0 77 Passing Yards 77 Individual Leaders RUSHING - SQU: Smithson 14-156, Schlenbaker 19-64, Hawkinson 2-18, Richardson 1-(-7). TUM: N/A. PASSING - SQU: Smithson 8-19-1-77, Richardson 0-1-0-0. TUM: N/A. RECEIVING - SQU: Hawkinson 4-70, Schlenbaker 3-(-1), Posey 1-8. TUM: N/A.
