We’re just four weeks away from the much-anticipated return of Friday Night Lights in Thurston County.
On Sept. 4, a dozen high school football teams in the county will begin their march toward a deep run in the postseason and a trip to Husky Stadium in early December. With storylines galore, the 2026 campaign promises to bring loads of excitement.
Here are 10 of the best and most intriguing matchups in the 2026 high school football schedule.
The Northwest Christian Wolverines of the eight-man 1B ranks won’t have many tests leading up to this Week 7 blockbuster at home (Tenino’s Beaver Stadium) against Neah Bay.
Northwest Christian’s biggest test will be Week 5 at Crescent, a team that went 7-0 in 2025. But Neah Bay has long been one of the pillars of the 1B level with five consecutive trips to the state tournament.
Head coach Chris Pontius could earn a huge win for his program if his Wolverines, which return most of their young roster from a season ago, could stun the Red Devils. Junior running back Jacob Kearns has been an all-league talent each of his first two years and can take over an offense by himself.
This Week 2 matchup will be a test between two 2B state squads from a season ago. Rainier had a remarkable season in 2025 in which the Mountaineers rallied back from an 0-4 start to clinch their first state bid since 2019.
But Rainier’s roster will look a bit different than that magical campaign. Gone are all-league running back/linebacker Dorien Cano, running back/wide receiver/punter Jordan Pringle, and standout returner Jayden Alegarbes. Quarterback Jackson Stockdale also transferred to Mark Morris. But Rainier will be deep in the trenches, highlighted by Kaynen Barger, Thomas Roland and Blake Roberts.
The Mountaineers will have their hands full with a high-powered PWV offense led by running backs Lucas Lusk and Eddie Clements. A week after another test against state Route 507 rival Tenino, this game will give Rainier a good idea of what it’s made of just two weeks into the year. But even if the Mountaineers stumble out of the gates, you can’t count out Andy Bartell’s bunch.
These two Puget Sound League teams will have new identities when they square off at Ingersoll Stadium on Sept. 25.
Capital, which routed River Ridge 33-0 last October, graduated 21 seniors from a season ago and looks to be in a rebuild with very few returning starters on either side of the ball. The Cougars will have some playmakers on offense, led by senior quarterback Nolan Potts and running backs Nolen Rea and EJ Singleton.
River Ridge, meanwhile, is confident that a turnaround from its 2-7 season last fall is very possible with its new weapons. Ryzen Nunez, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound quarterback and defensive end, had his coaches raving with his performance earlier this summer, and brothers Ayden and Zay Rookwood will join Ozias Tinitali and Xavier Street in what should be an exciting offense.
Capital has won three of the last four matchups against River Ridge, and the 2026 chapter should have some fireworks.
These arch rivals from Lacey will meet in a stadium the two programs call home: South Sound Stadium. Timberline has prevailed in eight of the past nine meetings against North Thurston.
The Blazers may be one of the surprise teams in the Puget Sound League thanks to its physical defense that flies to the ball at all three levels. North Thurston, which scored 25 points all season in 2025, will have to find some offense to contend with Timberline. The Rams defense returns multiple all-league players, including sophomore linebacker Toa Tunai and senior linebacker Colton Ranes.
Tenino’s hopes of winning the Evergreen League will likely come down to its Week 9 contest against perennial 1A powerhouse Montesano.
The Beavers will welcome the Bulldogs to the Blacktop in a rematch of the 1A State Round of 12, where Montesano drubbed Tenino 49-7. Montesano also shut out Tenino 49-0 six weeks prior to that in Grays Harbor County.
Tenino’s defense is stout enough to be one of the best in 1A, but Montesano has often found a way to crack the Beavers’ egg. If Tenino can turn the tides and knock off the Bulldogs just before the postseason, the sky is the limit for Darren Tinnerstet’s group in November and December.
Olympia, led by new head coach Cary Nagel, won’t face a better team in the regular season than Graham-Kapowsin.
The Eagles are loaded with future Division I players, including highly touted junior quarterback AJ Tuivaiave, senior wide receiver Jayce Halasz, and Montana State commit Kase Betz, the reigning co-player of the year in the 4A SPSL. GK advanced to the 4A state semifinals and put up quite the fight in a wild battle against Lake Stevens.
Olympia’s new coaching staff vows to bring an elevated level of physicality to the program, which it will need to take down the mighty GK. Aden Carr and David Ukwu are two running backs who can make defensive coaches scratch their heads. An experienced secondary will also be key in defending a lights-out Eagles pass attack.
The last time Lakes and Timberline met on the gridiron, the Lancers jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead at South Sound Stadium and held on to defeat the Blazers 28-12.
This year, Timberline has a good chance to narrow that gap against the reigning Puget Sound League Nisqually Division champions. The Blazers have a caliber of talent that hasn’t been seen in the program in a while, but Lakes is still the top dog in the division.
PSL Nisqually MVP running back Toetu Moliga and offensive MVP quarterback Jadis Lefono are back for Lakes, but many of the Lancers defensive stars graduated.
Timberline will be headlined on defense by Washington commit and star defensive back Maurice Williams, who spent time at Yelm and Graham-Kapowsin before donning the green and gold. Oregon State pledge Kataferu Galoia is a monster in the trenches who was unstoppable this summer. A win at Harry Lang Stadium over Lakes would be potentially program-shifting for James Jones’ ballclub.
Tumwater doesn’t just have a chip on its shoulder. It has a whole bag.
The Thunderbirds have played the maximum number of games three years in a row but have come up empty in the state championship department, taking second place in the 2A in each of the last three seasons. In a new conference that saw the EvCo and the GSHL merge for football, one of the constants on the schedule for Tumwater is W.F. West. The T-Birds and Bearcats will clash in the regular season finale in Week 9, possibly with a league title on the line.
William Garrow’s team will be reloaded in 2026 despite the graduation of many stalwarts from the past three deep postseason runs. Jake Reid takes over as quarterback, and Ethan Bello is a turnover machine at defensive back. Case in point, Tumwater turned W.F. West over eight times in its 41-20 victory last fall, with three coming via Bello interceptions.
The Scatter Creek Showdown never disappoints. Well, almost never. Rochester thumped Tenino 46-0 in a muddy slugfest last October to get revenge on its rival. There’s never a shortage of motivation and hype surrounding this South Thurston County rivalry.
The Warriors are going to miss star running backs Ethan Rodriguez, a two-time Evergreen MVP, and Xander Peterman, along with standout linemen Wyatt Dahl and Stanton Smith. But Maddox Rodgers is back to carry the load, and the defense is sprinkled with some chiseled veterans like Owen Simpkins, Josh Long and Jackson Allman.
The Beavers will certainly come out of the gates with their behinds on fire after last season’s beatdown in which Rochester rushed for 429 yards and six touchdowns. Quarterback Mason Metcalf will now line up at running back, and Parker Minerich will be a bruiser at tailback and linebacker.
The Spaghetti Bowl antics already began well before Capital and Olympia put the pads on in Week 1, with players throwing jabs on social media.
Ingersoll Stadium is sure to be rocking for this crosstown rivalry, which the Cougars won 33-27 in a thriller in last season’s opener. Capital clawed back from a 27-16 deficit early in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime before Nolan Potts’ fourth rushing touchdown won the game in extra time.
A starting quarterback has scored the winning touchdown with his legs in each of the past two meetings, as Olympia’s Cameron Downing ran in the go-ahead score in the final moments in the 2024 season opener to cap off a 21-14 victory.
Capital leads the all-time series 22-21 in a rivalry that dates back to 1976.
