A new league, a new classification and, as usual, new names in starting roles – it all came together Friday night as Enumclaw High and White River launched their 2024 football seasons.

The sounds of celebration could be heard coming from Arrow Lumber Stadium in rural Buckley, where the White River crew demolished visiting Thomas Jefferson High 50-18. Emotions were justifiably more somber among the Enumclaw crew who faced a tough Decatur team and wound up on the losing end of a 14-7 decision.

The games came as both Plateau schools made their debut in the 3A North Puget Sound League. Due to growing district enrollment, both were bumped from their former home, the smaller-school South Puget Sound League 2A.

Here’s a look at how things went on opening night.

WHITE RIVER

Facing a clearly outmatched Jefferson crew, the White River squad registered a performance that was even more lopsided than the 32-point margin of victory indicated.

The Hornets posted their first touchdown just 94 seconds in the contest and, after allowing the Raiders a TD of their own, went on a scoring binge. The Hornets were ahead 22-6 by the end of the first quarter and pushed the advantage to 50-6 by halftime.

Coach Wyatt Evenson was able to substitute freely, eventually using three quarterbacks, and an uneventful second half saw the visitors from Federal Way complete a pair of TD passes in the final five minutes of the game.

White River’s rousing success featured a balanced attack. The Hornets finished with 345 yards of offense, 185 yards on 13 passing attempts and 160 yards on 21 running plays. Individually, starting quarterback Tristan Waterman completed eight of his 13 throws with Jacob Scheidt on the receiving end of four passes. Nine Hornets carried the ball and three (Luke Lisherness, Trevor King and Cole Symonds) averaged double-digit yardage on their attempts. The explosive Tate Bowen totaled 96 yards on just two catches, both resulting in touchdowns.

Also with receiving TDs were Gabe Crossley and Deshaun Stolz. Scoring on the ground were Lisherness, King and Chas Strickland.

Next up for WR: The only nonleague contest of the year is a Thursday night affair. The Hornets will travel to Fife High School Sept. 12 with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. The Fife Trojans also showed plenty of offense in their season opener, defeating Hockinson High 48-7 on the road.

ENUMCLAW

Friday’s season opener was anticipated to be quite a showdown and that’s exactly what was delivered. The Gators entered as a proven, respected commodity in the 3A NPSL and Enumclaw had shown themselves as one of the state’s best in the Class 2A ranks the past couple of seasons.

So, something had to give.

And, under the Friday night lights at Federal Way Memorial Stadium, it was the Gators who prevailed, holding the Hornet offense to a single touchdown.

EHS coach Mark Gunderson knew everyone would be interested in how his Hornets would fare in the new world of NPSL football.

“I’ve heard a lot about the 3A move,” he said, “and we were ready for it versus a good Decatur team. We had our chances and missed them.

“If we want to win league-championship type games, we need to play better in key moments. And we will.”

While the EHS offense was largely controlled, the Hornet defense met the challenge by holding Decatur to just 14 points. Leading the way was Seamus Twohey who was credited with 15 tackles, 11 of them solo stops. Fernando Reyes had eight solo tackles and assisted on another four while Porter Rodarte had eight solo stops and three assists.

The Hornet defense came up with a pair of turnovers. Marcell Lensegrav intercepted a Gator pass attempt and Colton Paulson recovered a fumble.

Next up for EHS: The Hornets will enjoy the home field advantage Friday night when they host Todd Beamer High. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Enumclaw Expo Center. Beamer is coming off a dominant Sept. 5 performance, a 37-0 triumph over the Kentlake Falcons.