Andre Barrington saw it coming on Friday night at Maxwell Stadium.
And in a flash, Federal Way’s do-it-all running back/defensive back did something about it, intercepting the errant pass from Tahoma quarterback Heyden Johnson and turning it into a 66-yard touchdown.
It was that kind of night for the Bears, who came into the South Puget Sound League North Division showdown against Federal Way unbeaten, and left battered, bruised and with a 35-3 humbling hanging around their necks.
Wherever Tahoma turned on Friday, Barrington seemed to be there, ready to make the big play. Federal Way’s Washington State University-bound star racked up 257 total yards, scored twice, collected the one interception and added a fumble recovery.
But the key to the game, Barrington admits, was the 66-yard interception returned for a touchdown midway through the second quarter, putting the Eagles on top, 14-3. The play stole the momentum Tahoma had gained one play earlier on a fumble recovery by linebacker Tyler Hubbard, and sucked the wind out of the Bears’ sails.
“I’d been watching (for) it the whole game,” Barrington said of Tahoma’s signature out pattern in the flat. “They hadn’t run it, hadn’t run it … and, finally, it came and I was like, ‘Yes, this is finally happening.’ My eyes just lit up and I did what I had to do.”
The play summed up the night for Tahoma, which remained close early, but couldn’t get into any sort of offensive rhythm against a physical Federal Way team and eventually succumbed to the blowout. The Bears turned the ball over four times, were penalized at critical junctures leading to prime field position for Federal Way and muffed a punt in the second quarter, giving the Eagles the ball at their own 9-yard line.
“You give a really good team a bunch of opportunities like we did, and they’ll take advantage of them,” Tahoma coach Tony Davis said. “That’s what they’ve been doing all year.”
Then there was Barrington, who capped the night with a 49-yard touchdown run down the left sideline.
“He’s impressive,” Davis said. “He’s strong, fast, athletic. That’s why he’s (going to be) a Pac-10 football player.”
It was Federal Way’s fourth straight win since opening the season with a loss to Auburn without Barrington and several other starters. The Eagles (3-1, 4-1) play host to Auburn Riverside on Saturday night at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.
With the loss, Tahoma (4-1 in league, 4-1 overall) fell into second place in the North behind Auburn (5-0) and will travel to French Field on Saturday to play Kentridge (1-3, 2-3).
“There were a lot of penalties that cost us, a lot of fumbles that cost us the game,” said Tahoma running back Chris Marangon, who came into the game with nine touchdowns this season. “We pretty much handed that one to them.”
Other than a solid drive on their first possession, which resulted in a 31-yard field goal by Britton Jolley and an instant 3-0 lead, Tahoma didn’t resemble in any way the team that steamrolled to a 4-0 league record.
Federal Way went on to rip off 35 unanswered points and hold Marangon, who came into the night averaging 92.5 yards per game, to eight yards on six carries. In addition, Tahoma came into the night averaging 37 points and 369 yards of total offense per game. Federal Way held the Bears to just three points and 173 yards of total offense, nearly 100 yards less than Barrington himself.
“We’re rolling, no question about it,” Federal Way coach John Meagher said. “(It was) a big win on the road against an undefeated team.
“We were having fun tonight.”
In other action:
Curtis 67, Beamer 0
The Curtis Vikings kept the Titans winless on the season with a 67-0 victory Friday at Federal Way Memorial Stadium. Curtis (4-1 in the SPSL South) racked up over 450 yards on the ground and Beamer couldn’t get anything going.
Curtis’ Richard Southern had 200 yards and three touchdowns on only seven carries and Charlie Gilmur added 116 yards.
Beamer has been shut out in three of their five games this season and have been outscored 117-0 in their last two games, which also included a 50-0 loss to Puyallup last week. The Titans were also beaten 46-0 by Graham-Kapowsin earlier in the season.
Auburn Riverside 44, Jefferson 22
The Auburn Riverside Ravens rolled out to a 30-0 lead and cruised to the SPSL North victory Saturday at Auburn Memorial Stadium. The loss drops TJ to 0-5 on the season.
Auburn Riverside (3-2, 2-2) was led by senior running backs Jake Pele and Corey Carson, who had two touchdown runs each.
Quarterback Kama Frank had two touchdown passes for the Raiders in the second half, including a 29-yarder to Nikaso Gasologa and a 10-yarder to Jun Park. Frank also had a 14-yard touchdown run.
Bethel 27, Decatur 26
The Decatur Gators barely missed getting their first win of the season Saturday night against the Bethel Braves. Decatur missed a 32-yard field goal as time expired at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.
Down 21-20 in the fourth quarter, the Gators (0-5, 0-5) scored on a 22-yard run by junior Clark Colvin, but missed the two-point conversion to take a 26-21 lead.
Bethel (2-3, 2-2) came back to score on a 1-yard run from senior quarterback Mike Cepeda with two and a half minutes remaining. The two-point conversion failed, making it 27-26.
But Decatur fought back and drove the ball all the way down to the Bethel 14-yard line with three seconds remaining. The big play came on a hook-and-ladder play. Gator quarterback John Duncan threw the ball to Conner McFaul, who lateralled to Jordan Flowers. Flowers ran the ball to the 15-yard line, setting up the game-winning, field-goal attempt.
Bethel junior running back Anthony Meray had 221 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Decatur’s Duncan, rushed for 110 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown running and passing.
The Gators also got touchdowns from Cary Carver and Flowers. Carver scored on a 27-yard pass from Duncan and Flowers had a 10-yard touchdown run.
Sports editor Casey Olson: 925-5565, sports@fedwaymirror.com
