State semifinals notes: Defending 4A champion Graham-Kapowsin set for Lake Stevens rematch

Ready for a rematch?

The high school football state semifinals are set for Saturday around Washington, and one matchup will feature the two programs that went head-to-head for the Class 4A championship last fall.

Last December, the Graham-Kapowsin Eagles completed a decisive run through the state with a 44-7 rout of the Lake Stevens Vikings at Mount Tahoma Stadium in Tacoma to secure the first championship in school history.

Saturday evening in Lake Stevens, the two will meet again — this time with a return trip to the title game on the line.

“Definitely excited,” Graham-Kapowsin two-way senior standout Jalen Davenport said. “I know how important this game is. I know what we’ve got to do to win ... and how much preparation goes into this week.”

This will also be the fifth time the two 4A powers have met in the state playoffs in the past eight years. The series is currently even at 2-2.

“We’ve seen quite a bit of them,” Eagles coach Jeff Logan said. “In my nine years here, this will be the fifth time playing them. So, it’s become a little bit of a playoff rivalry.”

The two programs first met in the state bracket in 2015, with Lake Stevens ending Graham-Kapowsin’s season in the quarterfinals with a 49-14 win.

Two years later, the Eagles upended the Vikings in the opening round with a 38-31 victory in 2017.

But, the following year, Lake Stevens won another quarterfinals meeting with Graham-Kapowsin, 45-29, to end the Eagles’ 2018 season.

Then came the Eagles’ undefeated title run last fall, which included the state championship, a bowl game win over a nationally-ranked opponent in Las Vegas and a perfect 15-0 record.

Graham-Kapowsin graduated many of the playmakers that keyed that run, but the Eagles have spent the past three months proving they would still be a contender when the playoffs arrived.

“A lot of people were doubting us and counting us out,” Davenport said. “But the team knew, as a group, as a whole that we were going to make it back this far as long as we kept buying in each week and fighting to make it back to where we were last year.”

Five weeks into the season, the Eagles were 3-2, and looking to regroup from early losses to Puyallup and Sumner in a loaded 4A SPSL.

From there, Graham-Kapowsin continued to focus on improving each week, and has made impressive strides since.

“We knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight,” Logan said. “So, it was every day — what can we get better at? How much closer can we get each week? ... Sure enough, we got closer every week and we started seeing the results of our hard work.”

Graham-Kapowsin hasn’t lost since that Week 5 contest against Sumner, and has already picked up postseason wins over Mount Si in the district round, Skyview in the state first round and Sumner in a rematch in last week’s quarterfinals.

“I feel like each win has just fueled and motivated us more,” Graham-Kapowsin junior Jabez Woods said.

Now on a seven-game winning streak, the Eagles have plenty of momentum heading into this meeting with a Lake Stevens group that also hasn’t lost a game since September.

“I feel like the way that we’ve been locked in over the past couple weeks, I feel like we’ve got it and we can stop anything,” Woods said.

FIRST TIME IN SEMIFINALS

Three of the five South Sound teams still playing are headed to the semifinals for the first time in program history.

Emerald Ridge, which is in the state playoffs for the first time, upset top-seeded Chiawana in Pasco, 40-37, in last weekend’s quarterfinals to keep its historic season rolling.

Yelm, the top-seeded team in 3A, remained undefeated with a 36-27 win over Kennewick to secure its first trip.

The Tornados are in the state bracket for the fifth time in their history, and have advanced to the semifinals after previously having their season end in the quarterfinals three of those seasons.

Enumclaw also made program history last week, earning a trip to the semifinals for the first time with a 20-17 win over visiting Othello.

This is the school’s ninth appearance in the state playoffs, but until this season, the team had only advanced as far as the quarterfinals, reaching that round four times.

Kennedy Catholic is back in the semifinals for the first time since 2006, when the program played in 3A, and is making its seventh appearance in the round overall.

Graham-Kapowsin is making its second consecutive trip to the semifinals, and third in school history.

STILL UNDEFEATED

There are nine programs in the state across four classifications that are still undefeated — and two of them are South Sound teams.

Yelm and Enumclaw both enter the week with perfect 12-0 records, and looking to advance to state championship weekend for the first time.

The Tornados have piled up 648 points this season, which is more than any 11-man program in the state, and also lead 3A in fewest points allowed at 110.

The Hornets have outscored opponents, 589-152, this fall, and their total points scored this season are more than any other 2A program.

Elsewhere in the state, Eastside Catholic also remains undefeated in 3A and Lynden in 2A. In 2B, Napavine and Okanogan are still unbeated, and Odessa, Neah Bay and Liberty Christian remain undefeated in 1B.

SCHEDULE

Here is the full schedule for the five South Sound teams playing in the state semifinals this weekend:

CLASS 4A

No. 6 Graham-Kapowsin (10-2) vs. No. 2 Lake Stevens (10-2)

4 p.m. Saturday, Lake Stevens High School, Lake Stevens

No. 4 Kennedy Catholic (11-1) vs. No. 8 Emerald Ridge (10-2)

1 p.m. Saturday, Sparks Stadium, Puyallup

CLASS 3A

No. 5 Bellevue (9-2) vs. No. 1 Yelm (12-0)

1 p.m. Saturday, Art Crate Field, Spanaway

CLASS 2A

No. 4 Enumclaw (12-0) vs. No. 1 Lynden (11-0)

5 p.m. Saturday, Civic Stadium, Bellingham