By RayJaun Stelly, The Seattle Medium
With sunny weather and the Space Needle overlooking Seattle’s Memorial Stadium both Garfield and Rainier Beach had their sights set on earning not only bragging rights but more importantly another win.
With only two weeks left in the regular season and seeding being critical for teams going into playoffs, both the Bulldogs and Vikings knew what was at stake.
Garfield, who entered the game with a 5-1 record, has been dominant on both sides of the ball this season. Offensively, their ability to score points at a rapid rate has kept opponents out of reach, as the Bulldogs have averaged 40 points per game. Defensively, they’ve kept teams out of the endzone, only giving up 11 points per game.
Since losing to O’Dea, Rainier Beach, who also entered the game 5-1, was on a three-game win streak, where they have scored a combined 149 points. During their win streak, the Vikings have won by 28, 30, and 35 points. Defensively, the Vikings have been just as impressive, throughout six games they’ve only allowed 15 points per game.
The Bulldogs would receive possession first and in Garfield fashion they began establishing their running game. However, their opening drive was plagued with penalties, and a stingy Viking defense that forced an incompletion and ultimately a punt by the Bulldogs.
Rainier Beach began their opening drive behind the running of Montana State commit Scottre Humphrey who managed to move the chains every time he carried the ball. Humphrey would help the Vikings navigate down field and set up a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chance Guadiz to Oteko Mwamba to give the Vikings an early 7-0 lead.
While Garfield’s offense was having problems finding their rhythm, their defense would respond on Rainier Beach’s next drive as defensive back Henry Smidt intercepted a Guadiz pass to end the first quarter.
Starting the second quarter on defense, Rainier Beach continued to dictate the pace of the game and forced Garfield to a quick three-and-out. After getting the ball back from a punt, the Viking would need only one play to score, as Humphrey would score his first touchdown of the day on a 44-yard run.
With 1:30 left before halftime and facing a 14-0 deficit, the Bulldogs would put points on the board when quarterback EJ Caminong handed the ball off to Yemoni Howell for a two-yard touchdown run, and for the first time this season Garfield found themselves trailing at halftime.
Rainier Beach retained possession to begin the second half and three plays later Humphrey was off to the races on a 48-yard touchdown run, as the Viking extended their lead to 21-7 just one minute into the third quarter.
Due to both defenses forcing three-and-outs, the offenses would become stagnant for the remainder of the quarter.
Still trailing going into the fourth quarter, Garfield would find their way into the endzone courtesy of a quarterback sneak from Caminong cutting the lead to 21-13. But the Bulldogs would need to score a touchdown and complete a two-point conversion to tie.
Garfield’s defense would give them the boost they needed as they would block Rainier Beach’s punt attempt out of bounds in the endzone, which resulted in a safety. At the blink of an eye, the Bulldogs found themselves down by just a touchdown with an opportunity to take the lead and potentially win the game.
On their final drive of the game, Caminong would lead the Bulldogs downfield finding Reggie Witherspoon, III for 20 yards, Jason Finley, Jr. for 15 yards, and Jamaica Myers for 50 yards which put them in the red zone.
With one play left before time expired, Caminong would drop back and throw a pass towards the end zone but the Rainier Beach defenders would tip the pass away for a game-saving incompletion to walk away with a 21-15 win.
With the win, Rainier Beach had won their inner-city rivalry against Garfield for the second year in a row and improved to 6-1 on the season.
The Vikings will now take their four-game win streak on the road to face undefeated Eastside Catholic. While Garfield will look to regroup and end their two-game losing streak when they face O’Dea in their regular season finale.
