Tumwater Football Heads Back to State Championship Game

It’s one of the longest-standing traditions for the Tumwater High School football program. At the start of every fourth quarter, everyone on the sidelines – players, coaches, managers, and even cheerleaders – raise their arm and hold up four fingers.

It is a reminder to the team that the final quarter is where games are won. It’s during the last 12 minutes of play where the opposition grows tired and the Thunderbirds flourish.

This year things have been a little different. Sure, the fingers are held high, but every T-Birds game this season has been decided long before the fourth quarter rolls around. It’s been a year where 40-point blowouts and a second-half running clock have been the norm.

That is until the Class 2A state semifinals against undefeated Archbishop Murphy. When the horn sounded signaling the end of the third quarter, everyone’s arm once again went up. This time it meant a little more as it was the first time all season where Tumwater trailed entering the fourth quarter.

“Our motto in the playoffs this year is, ‘Finish the job,’” Tumwater senior quarterfinal Spencer Dowers said. “That’s how you finish a job.”

Dowers threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to junior Noah Andrews with 1 minute, 15 seconds to play, helping the T-Birds defeat the Wildcats 24-21 at the Tacoma Dome.

The win advances Tumwater (13-0) to the state championship game for the eighth time in school history. The T-Birds, looking to capture the program’s sixth state title, will play Prosser, a 33-21 winner over defending state champion Sedro-Woolley in the other semifinal, in the title game on Saturday, December 5. Kickoff is scheduled for 10:00 a.m.

”We’ve just preached so dang much this NGUNNGU, which means ‘Never give up never never give up,’ to this team. We brought Marc West in who has ALS and played for the Huskies. He talked about the 5,185 number of times he had been knocked down and got back up,” said Tumwater coach Sid Otton, who had the former UW football player talk to his team earlier this month. “We modeled that (never giving up) and the kids did a great job with that tonight.”

That never surrender attitude was on full display late in the contest with Archbishop Murphy (12-1) holding a 21-17 advantage and the ball with 1:42 left in the game.

With Tumwater down to just one timeout, the Wildcats only needed one more first down and they would have been able to run out the remaining time on the clock, putting an end to the T-Birds perfect season.

Cade Otton, Sid’s grandson, had other ideas.

The gifted junior linebacker knifed his way through the offensive line, perfectly timing the snap and colliding with the quarterback and running back right as the handoff was taking place to force a fumble which Devon Shedd Kirkland quickly pounced on, giving Tumwater new life.

Four plays later, Dowers hit Andrews for the game winner.

“Everyone knew what we needed to do to win,” said Cade Otton, who was dominant on both sides of the ball, pulling down four passes for 126 yards and a touchdown on offense and finishing with eight tackles and a sack on defense. “Everyone just did their part. It’s a great team win.”

Tumwater trailed 14-0 midway through the second quarter and 21-7 at the half as the Wildcats were able to find success through the air early on.

“We were all talking during the half,” said Andrews, who also scored on a 43-yard run to cut the T-Birds deficit in half at 14-7 and finished with 267 total yards of offense. “Our center Tommy Brassfield said, ‘Let’s not talk, let’s just go out there and do.’ That got into everyone’s head. We knew we had to come out strong in the second half.”

The T-Birds did just that. Dowers, who threw for 122 yards on 9-of-18 accuracy, hit Cade Otton on a 21-yard TD pass 4 minutes into the third quarter before a 29-yard field goal from Nathan Seaman got Tumwater within four points at 21-17.

“This is the year,” Dowers said. “We’ve been saying it since second grade. We’ve been waiting for this and now it’s here. Words cannot describe it. This is so amazing.”

Tumwater will play in the 2A state championship for a third time over the last four seasons. The T-Birds lost to Lynden in the title game in 2012 (41-7) and 2013 (38-28). They saw their undefeated season end last year in the semifinals, losing to Sedro-Woolley, 28-27.

“I am just so impressed with our kids,” Sid Otton said. “Our defense came up with plays. Our offense likewise. (Archbishop Murphy) is a very good football team. We know how they feel, getting beat in the semis in a tight one. We’re going to enjoy it for a couple hours and then get ready for the next one.”

Tumwater football state championship game appearances: