Sports
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TACOMAWEEKLY.com
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2013
The Sideline is Tacoma Weekly’s new sports-only blog, providing you with quick game recaps as well as some content that won’t appear in print! Check in for regular updates, and we hope you enjoy! http://www.tacomaweekly.com/sideline
SECTION A, PAGE 6
WILSON TOPS FOSS IN SHOWCASE OF STATE SWIMMERS Falcons’ Chard adds two more statequalifying times
LIFE CHRISTIAN ROLLS TO WIN OVER SHORTHANDED CRUSADERS Lincoln blasts Stadium, Bellarmine Prep gets late dramatics
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ith the recent problems of player turnout at Tacoma Baptist, head coach Mark Smith was already at a bit of a disadvantage heading into the Crusaders’ season opener – having cancelled a game against Charles Wright the week before. But in the end the bigger problem was the juggernaut Life Christian offense, which rolled to a 55-8 victory on Sept. 14 at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood. “We came back nicely after the La Conner loss (27-7 on Sept. 7) last week, and it gives us a bit of a boost when you look at our next two weeks with Charles Wright and Cascade Christian on the docket,” said first-year Life Christian coach Tim Kuykendall. Following Taylor Roelofs’ 60-yard touchdown run that started the scoring, Tacoma Baptist captured their only lead of the night at 8-7 after Elijah Kazarovich’s six-yard touchdown run. But the Eagles would make short work of the deficit when Roelofs completed a six-yard scoring pass to Chris Haley to give the Eagles the lead for good. Limited to just 30 players themselves, the Eagles took advantage of every opportunity given to them, and the multi-faceted talents of Roelofs took the Eagles to the easy win on the night. Roelofs, who went just 3-for-11 passing on the night, did the real damage with his feet as he carried 10 times for 111 yards and four touchdowns. “I can’t say enough about Taylor’s efforts tonight, he was incredible,” said Kuykendall. Knowing full well the advantage that he would have, Kuykendall decided he would take another approach in preparing his team for the game. “I wanted us to focus on just the strengths of our team and ultimately our own execution tonight,” said Kuykendall. The win for Life was also about the exploits of running back Lionel Hampton, who added a 60-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. “The defense set the tone right away and after giving up the early score they did a masterful job of shutting down the Baptist offense on the night,” Kuykendall said. Kuyendall’s next challenge will be a large one in the upcoming two weeks, as they will face Charles Wright and Cascade Christian back to back. “It will be tough for sure, but we’ll have to be up for the challenge in consecutive weeks X See FOOTBALL / page A9
PHOTOS BY ROCKY ROSS
DIVING IN. (Top) Wilson’s Karli
Stevenson and Foss’ Emma Chard dive in for the start of the 200-yard individual medley. (Middle) Wilson’s Madeleine Dodge swims during her win in the 100-yard butterfly. (Bottom) Wilson’s Hailey Viehmann completes a backflip during the diving competition. By Jeremy Helling jeremy@tacomaweekly.com
PHOTOS BY JIM PALLWITZ
EAGLES FLY. (Top) Life Christian’s Hunter Haley (4), Wyatt Dunlap (3) and Sam
Absten (2) combine for a tackle. (Middle) Eagles quarterback Taylor Roelofs (7) breaks free against the Crusaders, as he tallied four rushing touchdowns in the game. (Bottom) Wyatt Dunlap carries the ball downfield in the win over the Crusaders.
Both Wilson’s depth and Foss’ star power had their chances to shine when the two swim squads squared off at the Falcons’ pool on Sept. 17, as the Rams won seven of 12 events to pull out a 120-54 team win. But Foss’ senior duo of Emma Chard and Sarah Sachs continued to show why they are two of the better swimmers in the city, as they won two events apiece. It was Chard who stole the show most against the Falcons, notching a state qualifying time of 2:11.40 in winning the 200-yard individual medley and winning the 100-yard breaststroke in a state time of 1:09.26. “She’s definitely at another level right now,” said Foss head coach Matt Wood, noting that Chard has been getting plenty of college attention. “For her to be swimming so well right off the bat is fun to see.” It was the fifth and sixth statequalifying times notched by Chard in just two dual meets so far this year, after finishing second in the 100-yard breaststroke and third in the 100-yard freestyle at the 3A state meet last year. She qualified in the 50-, 100-, 200and 500-freestyles in the Falcons’ first dual meet against Mount Tahoma. “She’s way ahead of (where she was) this time last year,” Wood said. “She’s swimming times comparable to
X See SWIMMING / page A9