This week in the SPSL 4A North, September 19th, 2011...

Friday night the Jefferson Raiders topped the Auburn Trojans 8-7, meaning with a win on Saturday the Kentlake Falcons would take sole posession of first place in the SPSL 4A North Division. The Falcons would not only win, but they would do so convincing fashion over Mt. Rainer 55-0.

This week the Kentlake Falcons will travel to Federal Way Memorial Stadium to take on the Jefferson Raiders. I hope to do a preview of this game, although I will not be attending. The Falcons are 3-0 and have outscored opponents 134-29 to this point. They have big wins over Auburn Riverside and Mr Rainer and an eight point win over Kentridge. Jefferson will enter the game 2-1 with a loss to Tahoma in week one followed by wins at home vs Kentwood and at Auburn. If Jefferson is for real, this could be a HUGE game.

The the middle of the pack in the SPSL has some very good teams. Kentwood, Auburn and Auburn Riverside are all 2-1 with Kentridge and Tahoma at 1-2.

This week the Kentwood Conquerors play their non-leauge game at home vs Puyallup (2-1). The Conks pounded Mt. Rainer, lost to Jefferson and held off Tahoma. The running game is what gets the Conks going. They really have a three headed monster with Matt Hubbard, Chance Kalua-Fuimaono and Dane Manio. Manio is the QB and doesn't run much, but is a capable runner.

The next two weeks are big for the Auburn Trojans as they travel to Tahoma before coming home to face off against Kentwood. After that they will play their non-league game at home vs the Curtis Vikings (2-1) before traveling to Kentlake. The Trojans were held to just 7 points last week against Jefferson. The key for Auburn in their running game. Next week I hope to preview the game against Kentwood.

The Auburn Riverside Ravens will head to French Field this week to take on the Kentridge Chargers. Both teams are coming off wins, Riverside over Beamer and Kentridge over Kent-Meridian. Should Kentridge lose it was almost certainly end their chance at a North Division Title. Auburn Riverside started the season with a big loss at Kentlake. If the Ravens can get a win this week they could easily move to 3-1 as they play Mt. Rainer the following week.

The Tahoma Bears are an interesting team. I personally think they are one of the better 1-2 teams in the state. They didn't start very well against Kentwood, but were clearly the better team in the second half. They are the only team to knock off Jefferson so far. This week they are home vs Auburn before heading to play at Kentlake. The Bears are only 1-1 in league play as their first loss of the season was to South Kitsap. Should they get a win out of the next two weeks they could have a good shot at the playoffs as they finish the season with four game against teams with three combined wins.

The SPSL North has two teams that have yet to win a game, those two teams meet this week when the Kent-Meridian Royals travel to take on the Mt. Rainer Rams. One team will get a league win and the other will be looking at the possibility of a winless season.

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I hope to begin doing a weekly look at the SPSL North. The stats for my blog clearly show that I need to be giving the SPSL more time. In just barely over 24 hours the post I made from the Tahoma/Kentwood game became my most viewed post. Hours after that the week 2 look at the SPSL surpassed it.

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Kentlake runs away from Auburn Riverside...

On a beautiful night at French Field in Kent, the Auburn Riverside Ravens traveled to take on the Kentlake Falcons in the opening night of SPSL North action. The Falcons are looking to build on a 7-3 record from 2010 that ended with a disappointing 56-6 loss at the hands of the Newport Knights in the preliminary round of the WIAA State Playoffs. The Ravens on the other hand were needing for a good start to a season with hopes of getting to the playoffs after finishing last season on the outside looking in with a 5-5 record.

Riverside decided to start the season with a bit of a trick as kicker Joe Miles would try an onside kick. Although unsuccessful, it showed that Riverside(0-1) was holding nothing back, unfortunately it also gave Kentlake(1-0) great field position. Kentlake grinded out nine plays that would end with senior WR Austin Pernell taking an option pitch around the right side for 12 yards and a 7-0 lead.

After a Riverside fumble, on just their second offensive play, the Falcons would go 30 yards before having a field goal attempt blocked by Ravens senior defensive back Kayonte Scott. Unfortunately for the Ravens they were unable to capitalize on the change in momentum and were forced to punt after just three plays. This time though it was Kentlake who would turn the ball over as they would fumble on their first play.

The Ravens had their best non-scoring drive of the night haulted in the redzone when Austin Pernell would come up with his first of two interceptions on the evening, returning the ball to his own 34. One play later it was senior WR Breton Medina recieving the pitch on the option and bursting through the Riverside defense for 66 yards and the touchdown.

With 8:48 left in the 2nd quarter, Auburn Riverside QB Josh Latta hit Kameron Broadway on a broken play for 44 yards to cut the Kentlake lead to just seven. That is as close as the Ravens could get though as they would turn the ball over six times on the night.

Kentlake would score three more times in the final 5 minutes of the first half, twice off Riverside turnovers. Caleb Saulo barreled into the endzone from 5 yards out and tossed touchdown passes of 13 yards to Austin Pernell and 49 yards to Trevor Baldwin. Saulo would also be injured on the final play of the first half when he was sacked after moving out of the pocket. He would not return at QB for the Falcons.

The third quarter went scoreless as Kentlake was content with running the football and eating up the clock. Riverside would do much of the same as QB Latta would run the ball on eight of the Ravens fifteen plays. At the end of the third quarter, Ravens sophomore RB Joey Galeno would leave the game with what appeard to be a serious injury to his right leg, he would not return.

The Falcons would run three offensive plays in the fourth quarter, scoring twice. First, sophomore RB Riley Higgins would jet through the defense almost untouched for 65 yards. Seniore RB Jordan Seffens would finish the scoring with a 57 yard run of his own.

Final Score, Kentlake 49 - Auburn Riverside 7.

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Scoring Plays:

1st Quarter.

KL: 7:50 Austin Pernell, 12 yard run.(PAT Good)

2nd Quarter.

KL: 11:37 Breton Medina, 66 yard run.(PAT Good)
AR: 8:48 Kameron Broadway, 44 yard pass from Josh Latta.(PAT Good)
KL: 5:00 Caleb Saulo, 5 yard run.(Conv Good)
KL: 2:30 Austin Pernell, 13 yard pass from Caleb Saulo.(PAT Good)
KL: :53 Trevor Baldwin, 49 yard pass from Caled Saulo.(Conv No Good)

3rd Quarter.

No Scoring

4th Quarter.

KL: 9:22 Riley Higgins, 65 yard run.(PAT Good)
KL: 5:17 Jordan Seffens, 57 yard run.(PAT Good)

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Notes:

- Riverside Quarterback, Josh Latta finished 9/15 for 81 yards, 1 TD and 3 INT's. Latta also rushed for 39 yards on 12 carries.

- Riverside Wide Reciever, Kameron Broadway ended the night with 7 catches for 77 yards and 1 TD.

- Kentlake was penalized 11 times for 80 yards. Riverside, 3 times for 32 yards.

- Kentlake Running Back, Tanner Lucas finished with 84 yards on 12 carries. I really like the way he runs the ball.

- Kentlake Quarterback, Caleb Saulo 5/10 for 106 yards and 2 TD's. He also rushed for 37 yards on 7 carries and a TD before being injured.

- Kentlake only ran 10 offensive plays in the second half, all running plays, three for negative yards.

- In glancing through the program I noticed that Kentlake only plays away from French Field one time this season, Sept. 23rd @ Jefferson. They will be the "Visiting" team three times this season at Frech Field, Sept. 9th @ Kentridge, Oct. 7th @ Kentwood and Oct. 27th @ Kent-Meridian. I can't imagine any team in the state can do better than that.

- The stats posted above are not official. I kept stats during the game, but may have missed a few things here and there.

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Up Next:

Auburn Riverside vs. Kent-Meridian, Sept. 9th @ Auburn Memorial Stadium.
Kentlake(V) vs. Kentridge(H), Sept. 9th @ French Field.

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I will not be attending a game friday as I am a Seahawks Season Ticket Holder. I can name a handful of games of high school games I would rather watch, but I can't justify giving away $142 worth of Seahawks tickets and I know I wouldn't be able to find a buyer.

I will be at the Emerald City Kickoff all day saturday and will be tweeting as the day goes along. Follow me on twitter @HSFootballWA.