The heartbeat of the Federal Way Eagles’ playoff hopes is still going.
It’s faint, but it’s there.
The Eagles kept themselves in contention for the fifth and final playoff spot in the 4A North Puget Sound League Olympic Division with a 42-7 blowout win over the Thomas Jefferson Raiders on Thursday at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.
“We’re still here,” Federal Way coach John Meagher yelled over and over during the team’s postgame huddle at midfield.
Federal Way (5-4, 3-4) surged to victory behind a dominant run game that produced 269 rushing yards with six different running backs. That was in addition to a near-perfect game from the Eagles defense, which produced two Thomas Jefferson (2-7, 1-6) turnovers and forced six punts.
After Federal Way’s tough loss to Auburn Riverside the week before, Meagher simply said Thursday’s game against the Raiders was a must-win. He challenged his team, asking who among them would step up during the short week leading up to the Jefferson game.
“We’ve had a sense of desperation for the last five weeks,” Meagher said. “That’s just the way it’s been. I’d like to say that we somehow changed our preparation for this one, but we didn’t. Short week this week, short week last week. We just stuck to it.”
While all the Federal Way players answered the call, it was senior running back Kelen Blackshire who early on found the weak spot in the Raider defense: the outside edge. Through the first half – bouncing to the outside, both directions, play after play – Blackshire ripped off yards in chunks at a time.
His first two carries in the opening quarter netted him 26 yards. The second of those put the Eagles inside the Jefferson red zone.
Sophomore running back Tama Maaloma finished off the four-play Eagle drive with a 14-yard touchdown run, giving the Eagles the 7-0 lead after one quarter.
With the ball back in Blackshire’s hand to start the second, the 6-foot-tall halfback took a toss from Eagles quarterback Gabe Togia up the right side for a 22-yard gain, the largest of the game, setting Federal Way up with first-and-goal inside the 5 yard line.
“We had to execute – we just had to execute,” Blackshire said. “We had the perfect blocking. Our line, our lead blockers, they’re dangerous. League needs to watch out for them.”
Alphonzo Tuputala finished off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. Two minutes later, after Blackshire placed the ball inside the 30 after bursting for a 15-yard gain, it was 21-0 after just a two-play drive from the Eagles that was capped by a perfectly thrown ball from Togia to receiver KJ Ridders for the 28-yard touchdown.
Federal Way went into halftime up 21-0, led by Blackshire’s 75 rushing yards.
After patiently waiting and setting up his teammates for three first-half touchdowns, Blackshire finally got his own to open the third quarter. Like he had all night, the senior took the handoff from his quarterback and bounced outside to the left.
But this time, Blackshire saw nothing but an open gap and green turf in front of him, and he promptly took the ball 20 yards for the score for a 28-0 Eagles lead.
“Coach keeps telling us we have to finish and finish and finish,” Blackshire said of his touchdown run. “Been working on it in practice, and that’s what we do.”
Blackshire finished the night with 110 yards on 9 carries and one touchdown.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Federal Way had a commanding 35-0 lead. Togia, who struggled throwing completions throughout the night, found redemption by rushing from the goal line for a touchdown with 7 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the game.
With the win over the Raiders, the Eagles did their part to stay in the hunt for the final playoff spot. Now they need some help.
In order for Federal Way to secure the final playoff spot, Auburn Riverside has to beat Auburn on Friday. If Auburn wins, it takes the final playoff spot over the Eagles.
While all Federal Way players can do is sit and watch its playoff fate unfold, Meagher said the coaches don’t plan to sit idly. Instead, they’re going back to work – scouting potential playoff opponents.
“We’ve still got a chance. We’ve got another game that’s got to go our way,” Meagher said. “Then we’ve got chance to continue our season in the playoffs. We’ll be scouting our opponents, but we’ll be getting updates on the Auburn game.”
