SEATTLE — Keith Ross tried to call off the fake punt. Tied 24-24 against the top-seeded Camas Papermakers in the Class 4A state high school football championship game at Husky Stadium on Saturday night, Sumner’s longtime coach was having second thoughts.
It was fourth down at Sumner’s own 37-yard line. If the fake backfired, Camas had a good shot to win the game. But when Ross called out to call off the play, no one heard him, so Aaron Black took the direct snap and ran it up the gut. First down.
Sumner, beat two-time state champion Lake Stevens at home in overtime in the season-opener, took the momentum and ran with it, marching down the field until a few plays later, Austin Ferencz lined up for a 21-yard field goal to win the game.
The kick sailed through the uprights as time expired and Sumner won, 27-24. The Spartans are 4A state champions.
“I thought, ‘I’m either gonna be a hero or a goat and I’ll take it,’” Ross said after the game about the fake punt call. “It was a big call.”
Steele Isaacs rushed for 170 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Spartans (13-1). Quarterback Nate Donovan pushed the ball downfield at critical moments, completing 18-of-29 passes for 254 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Kainoa Grounds came up big time and time again, racking up 148 yards on four receptions.
Camas, which knocked off Arlington in a state quarterfinal, finished 13-1.
2A Championship: Anacortes denies No. 1 Tumwater
WR Rylin Lang posted 107 receiving yards and two touchdowns, RB Brock Beaner erupted for a 66-yard score in the third, and No. 2 Anacortes knocked off No. 1 Tumwater, 20-10, in Saturday’s 2A state football championship at Husky Stadium.
Anacortes which suffered its lone loss to Archbishop Murphy, finished the season 13-1. Tumwater, which knocked off Archbishop Murphy in a semifinal, lost for the first time this season after winning its first 13 games.
“I told them, just keep (trophy’s) the spot warm, we’ll be right back,” Anacortes head coach Justin Portz laughed. “I’m glad I could hold that true.”
After a rematch of last year’s 2A championship on the very same field, Anacortes can celebrate a repeat. It wasn’t a shootout reminiscent of the Seahawks’ 60-30 win in 2023, but it featured the same standouts on a defense that held the T-Birds mostly at bay — again.
3A Championship
No. 2 O’Dea 38, No. 1 Bellevue 15
1A Championship
No. 1 Royal 61, No. 2 Seton Catholic 28
2B Championship
No. 1 Okanogan 52, No. 3 Napavine 21
1B Championship
No. 2 Wilbur-Creston-Keller 42, No. 1 Liberty Christian 34
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