Tofaeono shines as Titans run over Rams at Federal Way Memorial Stadium

Published 9:13 am Thursday, October 1, 2015

Almost everything seemed to click for Todd Beamer in their 42-14 win over Mount Rainier on Saturday night.

Four different running backs scored for Beamer on the night, but it was senior running back Andrew Tofaeono who was the star for the Titans as he ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries.

“Keeping him fresh is the key for him,” Todd Beamer head coach Darren McKay said. “He also starts on defense for us at linebacker. So having him and Isaiah [Lard] both running like that keeps them from going empty.”

Lard scored the first touchdown in the game late in the first quarter on a one-yard run.

The defense stopped Mount Rainier’s next drive, but Lard fumbled on the punt return giving the Rams the ball near midfield. They drove down to the Titans’ 19-yard line before Beamer’s Jessie Williams ended the drive with an interception.

It was the closest the Rams’ offense would get to the endzone all night.

Following the interception, Tofaeono raced down the sidelines, taking the Titans from their own 21 yard-line to Mount Rainier’s 20. Kingsten Sua finished off the drive with a three-yard touchdown run, giving the Titans a 14-0 lead.

Beamer picked up a 15-yard penalty after Sua’s touchdown run that forced them to kickoff from the 25-yard line. The short field, combined with a kick-coverage breakdown, led to a lot of space for Mount Rainier’s Edwin Armstead as he took the kick 76 yards for a touchdown.

It was nearly all Beamer from there. The Titans answered back with a long drive capped off with a 15-yard Tofaeono touchdown.

They stuffed Mount Rainier again on their next drive. As the half closed, they missed a 39-yard field goal after penalties messed up their opportunity to get into the endzone one last time. Beamer took a 21-7 lead into the half.

The second half saw the Rams struggle to make even one first down on drives. Beamer defenders nearly picked off a pass on the first play and pushed the Rams back on the next two.

Lard returned the ensuing punt to Mount Rainier’s 28-yard line. A few plays later, Tofaeono scored his second touchdown on the night from five yards out, to give the Titans a 28-7 lead.

Tofaeono spun his way to another touchdown early in the fourth quarter. His final touchdown was a 17-yard run, to give the Titans a 35-7 lead.

The following Rams drive ended with their punt blocked and recovered by Beamer on the Mount Rainier 17-yard line. The next play saw Kiere McCoy run over a defender and gain 13 yards for the Titans. Two plays later, Fa’amaoni Solaita scored the final Titan touchdown.

Mount Rainier ended the game on their highest note since the second quarter when Dylan McDonald picked up a Beamer fumble and ran 72 yards for the touchdown.

The win gives Beamer an early leg up over all of the other South Puget Sound League Northwest schools, except for Thomas Jefferson who defeated Federal Way on Friday.

Last week, the Titans were penalized numerous times on offense for false starts and illegal procedures before the play even began. Only one of their errors came before an offensive snap in this game.

“I felt better about the penalties tonight,” McKay said. “I don’t know that we had a false start. We had one procedural penalty, but the rest were physical penalties and we understand those. It’s the ones where you’re beating yourself up you really want to eliminate.”

“I felt like we had some momentum coming in,” McKay said. “If you want to win, it’s conference games you need to win. Right now, we’re all still within one game of each other, but you always want to start well with these games.”

Todd Beamer (3-1, 1-0) finishes off its non-league games this week when they travel to face Kentlake (2-2, 0-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3 at French Field.