SEATTLE — Of course, Anacortes, which prides itself on a high-flying, explosive offense, would make history in more ways than one in its first-ever state title game appearance.
The No. 2-seeded Seahawks’ 60 points — including 34 unanswered in the first half — set a 2A state championship game record, and Anacortes defeated top-seeded Tumwater, 60-30, Dec. 2 at Husky Stadium.
The most points Tumwater (13-1) had previously given up in one game this season was 21 points in a 61-21 win over Tahoma on Oct. 27.
Anacortes (13-0) wrote the final page of its storybook season that put a stamp on an intensive five-year rebuild — going from the bottom of Class 2A — and unable to field a varsity football team — to the very top.
“It leaves me speechless, but the whole ride, it’s just been surreal,” said Anacortes senior quarterback Rex Larson, who finished 26-of-34 passing for 346 yards and four touchdowns. “This is the goal … to finally achieve that has been pretty surreal.”
Anacortes’ stars came to play, with a “most valuable player” nearly impossible to designate.
Junior running back Brock Beaner finished with four TDs, including one on defense, and 135 rushing yards on 21 carries. Senior wide receiver Rylin Lang totaled 143 yards receiving and two TDs on five receptions.
“We deserve this,” Lang said. “We worked our butts off all offseason … It feels so good to win it for our community. I’m so blessed to be a part of it. I manifested it, and it feels so good, man.”
Anacortes head coach Travis Anderson said he was proud of the way his players stood tall against a perennial superpower like Tumwater, which was playing in its 12th state championship in program history (6-6 overall record in championship games after the loss).
But the Seahawks dominated the game from wire to wire, outgaining previously undefeated Tumwater 552-283.
“There’s no feelings, there’s no words. It’s indescribable,” Anderson said. “The moment wasn’t too big for these kids. They’ve been in big moments all year, and when the big moments come, they play their best football.”
Tumwater set the tone early, as Peyton Davis rumbled down the right sideline for a 32-yard gain on the first play of the game.
Four plays later, the T-Birds were in the end zone via a 26-yard TD run by Cash Short on 4th-and-4. Tumwater, however, missed the extra point and took a 6-0 lead.
The Seahawks responded, getting a 36-yard chunk play on a pass from Larson to Brock Beaner and the latter capped off the 7-play, 65-yard drive a few plays later with a short TD run.
Anacortes took the lead for good, 7-6, with 7:15 left in the first quarter following the extra point. The remainder of the first half, from there, was anything but competitive.
Following its first possession, Tumwater picked up 65 yards of offense — 29 of which came on a run at the very end of the second quarter — and two first downs the remainder of the first half.
Anacortes, on the other hand, piled up 292 first-half yards and scored on all but one of its first-half possessions.
Brock Beaner put the Seahawks up 14-6 with 11:06 remaining in the second quarter on a 2-yard TD run, and he scored again — his third of the first half — when his twin brother, Brady Beaner, blocked a T-Birds punt that bounced right into Brock’s hands just a few yards out of the end zone.
After a missed extra point, Anacortes leaped out to a 20-6 lead with 9:14 left in the first half.
Larson, who had 209 yards passing in the first half alone, then had a pair of TD passes in the final four minutes of the second quarter — first on a 17-yard pass to senior wide receiver Landon Schafer and then on a 14-yarder to Lang.
Anacortes quickly ballooned its lead to 34-6 by halftime. The Seahawks went 5-of-6 on third downs in the first two quarters, while Tumwater was 1-of-7.
“We were ready for a barn burner, obviously,” Larson said. “Tumwater’s a great team … You keep putting scores on them, but you come over to the sideline and think, ‘Hey, there’s a lot of football left, we gotta keep driving those.’ It was never over in our eyes until about a minute [left].”
The final two quarters included just as much scoring, but it was from both sides. But Anacortes had an answer for every Tumwater TD, outscoring the T-Birds 26-24 over the final 24 minutes.
Brock Beaner put the icing on the cake with 1:53 left to play on a 26-yard TD run to give the Seahawks the scoring record.
“[Tumwater is] a great team and they’re here for a reason,” Larson added. “They could have come back real quick — they were making a little push. But, just being tougher than them, I think, is what it comes down to.”
Brady Beaner had 96 total yards from scrimmage and two TDs, while also leading the Seahawks defensively with nine total tackles. Schafer pulled in six passes for 78 yards and a TD.
For Tumwater, senior quarterback Ethan Kastner finished 8-of-19 passing for 99 yards and a passing TD. Davis had 67 yards rushing and a score on nine carries, and Short finished with three carries for 33 yards and a pair of TDs.
Anacortes and Tumwater will each graduate 13 seniors.
