By Terry Mosher
Editor, Sports Paper
BREMERTON – Olympic High School reached down to Fairview Junior High Friday night at Silverdale Stadium to keep itself in the Olympic League football race and beat Central Kitsap School District rival Klahowya.
Ninth-graders in the district this year are allowed to compete at the high school level, although they still go to school at their respective junior highs. It turned out to be a good thing for the Olympic Trojans last night because when star running back Keshun McGee fumbled on the first series in the opening quarter he soon found himself out of the game in favor of freshman Logan Madison.
Madison, who as an eighth-grader last year, helped lead the Fairview Falcons to an undefeated season and the junior high Olympic League championship, was just what the doctor ordered. He scored twice in the second quarter and by halftime had rushed for 93 yards on 15 carries while jump-starting the Trojans en route to a 27-0 victory.
The five-foot-eight, 150-pound Madison would wind up with a game-high 161 yards on 26 carries before heading to the sidelines in the fourth quarter to take his back-up spot to McGee, who showed while he is the first-unit running back by running for 29 yards in the period and scoring once on a 11-run that capped off the night’s scoring.
“He just seems to find the right hole, and he holds the ball,” said Olympic first-year head coach Sal Quitevis said of Madison. “That is something we had to make sure happened tonight. McGee fumbled, and he’s had a couple issues in games, so we decided to go with the freshman.
“He had a heck of a year last year at Fairview. He’s a pretty good freshman, that’s for sure.”
Quitevis said Madison runs in the 4.8 range for the 40, which he said was pretty good for a freshman.
“The thing about him is he’s shifty and he gets to the right spot when we need him there,” Quitevis said. “And he’s really battled. He’s a wrestler too, so he’s just a tough kid.”
McGee scored twice last week in a 28-12 victory at Sequim on runs of 70 and 80 yards while piling up a career-high 247 rushing yards. But he left the game in the third quarter after being injured and Madison scored the last two TDs for the Trojans.
The Trojans’ victory over Klahowya pushed their league record to 3-1 and their overall mark to 4-2. Klahowya fell to 1-3 in league and 3-3 overall.
Thanks to Madison and a stiff defense, the Trojans out-gained Klahowya 312 to 92 in total offense.
Klahowya had a chance to maybe get the momentum on its side early. The Eagles recovered a fumble by McGee and drove in 14 plays down to the Olympic four on their first series of the game. But the Eagles tried a little trickery, and it didn’t pass the magician smell test. On fourth down they tried a fake field goal, but a pass that would have found its mark for a score was knocked down at the last second by a leaping Treu Shride.
The Trojans second offensive series resulted in another fumble lost, but the Trojans could not take advantage of it. A Makaleb McInnis 41-yard pass to Chris Campana was the dagger that allowed the Trojans to get their first score, a one-yard run by Madison with 6:17 in the first half.
A 39-yard run by Madison that was a thing of beauty (he cut back left and went down the sidelines) put the Trojans in shape to score their second TD, again by Madison on a four-yard run, just before the half.
The Eagles looked to gain momentum in the third period and almost accomplished it. But a sack by Umu Timateo on QB Konner Langholff resulting in a lost fumble killed one drive attempt and a Langholff pass intercepted by Joel Gesicki stopped another drive on the Trojan 15.
And when McInnis threw a 13-yard TD strike to Kameron Clark on a crossing route early in the fourth quarter the game was all but over.
If Madison was the hero on offense for the Trojans, the entire Trojan defense was the hero on that side of the ball. Guys like Alberto Castorena, Timateo, Joey Murphy and many others played lights out on the Eagles’ defense.
“We said it all year long, solid defense led by a couple seniors at linebacker (Brandon Guerrero and Randy Johnston), they fly to the ball and swarm and get the tackle for us,” said Quitevis. “They (Guerrero and Johnston) do a great job and lead our defense.
It’s a defense that put a lot of pressure up front on the Trojans. It produced quite a few tackles for losses.
“Murphy, Castorena, and (Geordyn) Shinard, they fly to the ball,” added Quitevis, who is sitting in a good position not just this season but in the future with a lot of good, young players like Madison, and Castorena and Shinard, who are sophomores. “There are a few of them – sophomore and freshman ‑ that came from that Fairview team that was undefeated that are definitely good players and will have a bright future here.”
In short, what happened here last night may be just a peak at what could be in store for the Olympic Trojans in the next few years.
“We have a bright future here,” Quitevis said. “These young kids are starting to figure out how to play high school football, and it’s fun to watch.”
Olympic Trojans 27, Klahowya Eagles 0
Klahowya 0 0 0 0 – 0
Olympic 0 14 0 13 27
Scoring Plays
Second Quarter
Oly – Logan Madison 1 run (Makaleb McInnis kick)
Oly ‑ Madison 4 run (McInnis kick)
Fourth Quarter
Oly – Kameron Clark 13 pass from McInnis (kick failed)
Oly – Keshun McGee 11 run (McInnis kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing – K: Latrell Simpson 16-56; Konner Langholff 10-24; Jon Harris 2 (-7); George Harris 1 (-11). O: Madison 26-161; McGee 10-41; Tyree Johnson 9-31; McInnis 3-16; Brandon Guerrero 3-10.
Passing – K: Konner Langholff 12-4-2-35; James Chargoenmak 1-0-0-0; Harris 1-1-(-5)-0. O: McInnis 3-2-0-53.
Receiving – K: Connor Schnuit 1-14; Kaler Rodgers 1-11; Ben Zimny 1-9; Charoenmak 1-1; Keigen Langholff 1 (-5). O: Chris Campana 1-41; Tommy Secrest 1-12.