The fall sports season has entered its late stages with Plateau teams still competing in football, soccer and volleyball.
The past week brought a conclusion to the swim and dive season and other fall sports had wrapped up earlier.
Here’s a look at where things stand this week for teams from both Enumclaw and White River high schools.
Celebrating a second-half touchdown reception is Karson Holt, getting a boost from linemen Zeke Luchi (67) and Will Harper (55). Photo by Kevin Hanson
ENUMCLAW FOOTBALL
The Enumclaw Hornets have steamrolled their way to 11 consecutive victories and now find themselves as one of just eight teams still in contention for a Class 2A state championship.
The Hornets opened the state playoffs last Friday, Nov. 11, with a home-field annihilation of Olympic High. Under the lights at the Enumclaw Expo Center, EHS scored early and often and ran to a 55-0 decision.
Abundant scoring has become synonymous with this year’s Enumclaw football team. The squad has put 568 points on the scoreboard while running to an undefeated record, averaging a bit more than 51 points per outing. The defense has been stout along the way, giving up about a dozen points per game.
Enumclaw’s Elite Eight pairing is against the Othello Huskies of the Central Washington Athletic Conference. As the higher-seeded team, the Hornets will host the encounter; kickoff time has been set for 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19.
Othello will travel to the Expo Center with an overall record of 9-1, having finished its league season with a perfect 6-0 mark.
Last week’s state playoff opener quickly went the way of the Hornets, who scored less than five minutes into the game when quarterback Gunnar Trachte zipped a touchdown pass to Bo Dods. EHS eventually scored on all four of its first-half possessions and took a 28-0 lead into halftime. The second half produced a similar story as Enumclaw’s lead continued to grow.
Olympic High’s offense was handed the ball nine times and never mounted much of a threat. The Trojans punted on three occasions and lost the ball on downs three times, all while losing a fumble and giving up two interceptions to a tenacious Hornet defense.
Enumclaw received two rushing touchdowns from Emmit Otero, two more from Seamus Twohey and one each by Louis Chevalier and Anthony Mills. Trachte added a second TD pass late in the game, connecting with Karson Holt.
ENUMCLAW SOCCER
Only four teams remain in the hunt for a Class 2A state soccer championship and the Enumclaw High Hornets find themselves firmly in the midst of the playoff action.
The EHS squad advanced to soccer’s Final Four with victories in the first two rounds of the state 2A tournament.
Enumclaw’s semifinal contest will be against the Sehome Mariners of the Northwest Conference. The game begins at 7 p.m. this Friday, Nov. 18, at Shoreline Stadium. Enumclaw will head north with a season record of 16-5-1 while the Mariners boast an overall mark of 18-2-1.
The winner will play the following day in the state finale, again at Shoreline, against the winner of a semifinal tilt between Columbia River and Tumwater. Game time for the state 2A championship is 5 p.m.
Friday’s losers will square off at 1 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium to decide third and fourth place.
Enumclaw charged into the Final Four with a 2-1 victory over Hockinson. The game was played Nov. 12 at Battle Ground District Stadium. The Hornets hit the scoreboard in the 10th minute on a goal by Gabi Martel and added the game winner, by Heidi Sholseth, in the closing moments of the first half.
The Hornets had advanced to the state 2A’s Elite Eight with a 2-1 victory on Nov. 8. On the Longview Memorial Stadium pitch, Enumclaw captured a 2-1 victory over R.A. Long High.
The opening-round contest whittled the 2A field from the initial 16 teams to those in the quarterfinals.
The host Lumberjacks, who play in the Greater St. Helens League, cracked the scoreboard first with a goal in the 23rd minute. In the 36th minute they were guilty of an “own goal,” handing the Hornets the tying tally.
Enumclaw blanked the Longview team for the entire second half and earned the victory when Charlee Torgison scored in the 65th minute, courtesy of a Sutton Kelsey assist.
ENUMCLAW VOLLEYBALL
Under the guidance of veteran coach Jackie Carel, the Enumclaw High girls will spend the weekend at the Yakima Valley SunDome, home of the Class 2A state volleyball tournament.
The Hornets will open state play at 10:45 a.m. Friday, Nov. 18, against North Kitsap. In a state field of 16 teams, EHS enters as the No. 7 seed and takes on the No. 10 Vikings. A first-round victory would bring an 8:45 contest that night against the winner of an earlier match between Columbia River (No. 2) and Ephrata (No. 15). A first-round loss would send EHS into a loser-out contest at 5:45 Friday against the Columbia River/Ephrata loser.
The Enumclaw squad advanced to the state tourney by virtue of their showing at last week’s District 2/3 tournament.
On Nov. 12, in a battle for third and fourth place in the district tourney, Enumclaw took a 3-2 decision against Plateau neighbor White River. Both schools had already locked up a berth in the state tournament.
The EHS girls had secured their state trip with a Nov. 11 victory in the opening round of district play.
Competing at Franklin Pierce High School, Enumclaw (the tourney’s No. 6 seed) knocked off No. 3 Sammamish. In the best-of-five format, final scores went 25-12, 20-25, 25-16 and 25-18 in favor of the Hornets.
WHITE RIVER VOLLEYBALL
The White River High volleyball program heads to the Yakima Valley SunDome this weekend as one of just 16 teams still in the running for a Class 2A state championship.
The Hornets, under coach Gressa Dolan, will play twice on Friday, Nov. 18, and a single victory will bring Saturday action as well.
White River opens tourney play at 10:45 a.m. Friday morning against Pullman High. The Hornets are the No. 8 seed into the state tourney and the Greyhounds are No. 9. A victory would move the Hornets to a match against the winner of a battle between No. 1 Lynden and No. 16 Black Hills. A loss in the opener would bring a 7:15 p.m. contest on Friday against the Lynden/Black Hills loser.
White River earned its state berth with a fourth-place showing at last week’s District 2/3 tournament. The Hornets opened district play on Nov. 11 with a 3-0 victory over Sequim before falling the next day in the semifinal round to the Fife Trojans. Finally, in a contest for third and fourth place, White River dropped a 3-2 match to Plateau rival Enumclaw.
Plateau divers were a force at last week’s state swim and dive meet in Federal Way. Pictured here, from left, are coach Steve Bannerot; Enumclaw’s Naomi Prince, who won the state championship; Enumclaw’s Ashley Dickerson, third place; and White River’s Trista Turgeon, sixth place. Submitted photo
SWIM & DIVE
The three-day Class 2A state swim and dive meet opened on the highest of notes for the Plateau participants.
Day 1 of the Nov. 8-10 event was dedicated to diving, where EHS senior Naomi Prince emerged as the state champion. Adding to the honor roll, her senior teammate Ashley Dickerson claimed third place in the state field and WRHS freshmanTrista Turgeon took sixth-place honors.
Prince sat in second place after preliminaries and the semifinals, then overtook Seema Borgmann of Sammamish High in the final round of the one-meter competition.
Diving, like the state swimming events, was contested at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
After three full days of pool action, the Enumclaw team – which included four swimmers along with the pair of divers – placed third among the 42 teams represented in Federal Way. White River High, which had two swimmers reaching Saturday’s finals, placed 27th.
Leading the way for Enumclaw was Kate Perlot, who placed second in the 500-yard freestyle and third in the 200 freestyle. She also joined teammates Alexandra Levesh, Tori Massey and Ella Hoyne to place third in the 200-yard freestyle relay and fourth in the 200-yard medley relay.
Individually, Hoyne was fourth in the 100 butterfly and seventh in the 100 breaststroke; Levesh placed seventh in the 100 butterfly and 10th in the 200 individual medley; and Massey wound up 12th in the 100 backstroke and 16th in the 200 individual medley.
In swimming events, White River’s Cheyenne Fessler placed 14th in the 50-yard freestyle and 15th in the 100 freestyle.
White River’s Haley Weisheyer had qualified for the state meet in the 50 freestyle and swam in the preliminary round but did not advance to Saturday’s finals. The same was true for the WRHS 200-yard freestyle relay team of Fessler, Weisheyer, Turgeon and Samantha Sapp.
