LACEY — All hail the King(s).
The Timberline Blazers celebrated four touchdowns against Bonney Lake Saturday afternoon, and three of them were scored by athletes with the first name King.
Junior King Pridgen pummeled the Panthers defense with two touchdowns and 180 yards on the ground, while senior King Spearman returned an interception for a touchdown for the second consecutive game as Timberline beat Bonney Lake 26-14.
Timberline’s revered defense forced three more turnovers after taking the ball away six times against Stadium last week. CJ Duenas also collected three of the Blazers’ five sacks against Bonney Lake.
“The defense is the heart of the team. When the offense makes a mistake, the defense stays keyed in,” Spearman said. “We come out there and we don’t let them do nothing, for the most part.”
The Blazers needed just five plays on their opening drive to find the end zone for their only non-King touchdown of the day. While no King was involved, the pass from Cam Vongdara to Davin Kirkwood had a royal flair to it, as the junior quarterback connected with his target in stride for a 22-yard strike less than five minutes into the contest.
After a Bonney Lake punt backed up the Blazers offense inside their own 5-yard line, Vongdara was sacked in his own end zone for a safety. Timberline forced three Panthers punts in the first quarter, the third of which was booted straight into the air and went no more than two yards, landing at the Panthers’ 18-yard line.
Pridgen marched the Blazers into the end zone with five consecutive run plays, extending Timberline’s lead to 13-2 with a 2-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.
Despite multiple penalties that gave Bonney Lake a pair of free first downs, Timberline’s defense continued to wreak havoc. Panthers bellcow running back Colt Miller couldn’t find much running room, and the front seven swarmed both Bonney Lake quarterbacks Aidan Samson and Austin Goodnight.
Late in the second half, however, a 14-play Bonney Lake drive was essentially extended as Vongdara and Pridgen mishandled their handoff exchange on the first play of their possession and gave the ball back to Bonney Lake. Two more Blazers defensive penalties aided the Panthers’ drive, which ended with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Samson to Isaac Russell to cut the Timberline lead to 13-8 just before halftime.
Timberline’s defense spent all but five snaps on the field in the second quarter and was required to step back onto the turf to start the third quarter. Junior Dalton Abbott stepped in front of a third-down pass by Samson for an interception, the first turnover of the night created by the Blazers.
Near the end of the first quarter, Timberline had a perfect opportunity to stretch its lead with a first-and-goal situation at the Panthers’ 1-yard line. Four plays later, the ball remained there. The first play in that scenario was the Blazers’ best chance, but Pridgen got caught by the turf monster and slipped with an open field in front of him.
Pridgen came to the sideline frustrated with himself, and his teammates picked him up, telling him he’d score on his next one.
They were right. Pridgen broke off a 49-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to give Timberline a 19-8 lead.
“King just runs hard. He’s a strong kid. He gives you everything he has, and then he lines up and does it again,” Timberline head coach James Jones said of Pridgen.
Midway through the fourth quarter, it was the defense’s turn to find the end zone. Spearman nabbed his second interception of the young season, taking the ball from the left side of the field to the opposite end for a 35-yard return and score.
“When King is in open space, it’s really tough. He uses his basketball skills and has a good eye for the ball, and when he gets it, he goes,” Jones said of Spearman. “He’s going to keep picking it off if they keep throwing it at him.”
Down 18, Bonney Lake managed to put together a touchdown drive and gash the Blazers defense with a 46-yard touchdown catch-and-run by Miller, but a Lome Fatilua interception on the ensuing Panthers drive shut down any further comeback efforts.
Timberline has started 2-0 for the second consecutive season and will travel south to face Prairie next Friday night.
