Federal Way High School senior Trenton Pinson didn’t treat his old teammates very well Thursday night, to say the least.
Pinson broke the all-time South Puget Sound League single-game touchdown record by scoring an eye-popping seven times during the Eagles’ 69-21 blowout of the Thomas Jefferson Raiders (1-8) at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.
Making the record even more impressive, if that’s possible, is the fact that Pinson transferred to Federal Way last school year from Jefferson.
The Eagles (7-2) entered the postseason as the fourth seed from the SPSL North after finishing in a three-way tie for second with Kentwood and Kentridge. Kentwood earned the second seed and Kentridge snagged the third, thanks to the SPSL’s power-point tiebreaking system. Unbeaten Auburn won the North title.
As the fourth seed, the Eagles travelled to Gig Harbor Tuesday (after press time) to play a loser-out, pigtail game against the Tides. Gig Harbor is the fifth-place team from the Narrows League. The winner will travel to the Vancouver area Saturday to take on the champions of the Greater St. Helen’s League, Skyview, in the preliminary round of the 32-team state playoffs.
But Pinson was the story Thursday night at Federal Way Memorial Stadium. The 6-foot, 185-pounder scored on touchdown runs of 56, 1, 15, 9, 8, 5 and 4 yards, bringing his season total to 20. The previous SPSL record for TDs in a single game was five, which was held by 24 different players.
Pinson scored all seven of his touchdowns during the first half, when Federal Way rolled out to a 42-0 lead after the first quarter and 63-7 at halftime.
In total, Pinson carried the ball only 13 times for 177 yards.
Pinson has been on fire during the Eagles’ current six-game winning streak. The senior has scored 17 touchdowns during those six games and racked up 843 yards on the ground on just 103 carries.
Federal Way also got touchdowns from kicker Kelyn Rowe, who scored on a 28-yard run in the first quarter, Isiah Umipig on a 48-yard interception return in the first quarter and Wintson Havili, who tallied a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
The Raiders got a pair of touchdown catches from Scott Sanford on the night. The first came in the second quarter on an 18-yarder, and the second came in the fourth quarter from 20 yards out. Senior Michael Sallee also snared a 49-yard TD pass from K.W. Williams in the third quarter.
The Raiders’ season will conclude Thursday night when they take on the Decatur Gators in an SPSL crossover game at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.
Beamer 45, Decatur 0
The Titans had six different players score touchdowns during a 45-0 blowout of cross-district rival Decatur Friday night at Federal Way Memorial Stadium. The win moved Beamer to 3-5 in the SPSL South and 4-5 overall.
The Titans will end their season Thursday night when they travel to Tahoma High School in an SPSL crossover game against the Bears. Tahoma finished 3-5 in the SPSL North.
Against Decatur, the Titans got on the scoreboard with first-quarter touchdowns from Dominique Maxie and Nick Bod. Maxie’s was a 3-yard run and Bod caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Ben Draeger. Beamer added a safety, a field goal and a 12-yard touchdown pass from Draeger to Nicky Fualaau to give the Titans a 25-0 halftime lead.
Beamer’s three second-half touchdowns came on a 10-yard run from T.J. Esekielu, a 20-yard interception return by Willie Roach and a 21-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Sweeting to C.J. Simpson.
The loss was the Gators’ seventh in a row after starting the season 2-0 with wins over Emerald Ridge and Puyallup. Decatur (2-6, 2-7) has really struggled during the past four weeks, getting shutout twice and being outscored 205-25.
The Gators end their season Thursday with a crossover game against Jefferson (1-8) at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.
