The Pirates were back at it on Monday with another sound thrashing of the Sammamish Redhawks in a 48-7 win. The Junior Varsity team picked up where the varsity squad left off Thursday night. With the varsity team in the stands loudly cheering them on, the JV team made a clear statement — Pirate football is here to dominate the 2A KingCo for years to come. The Pirate JV is now at 2-1; they lost a close game last week.
The first quarter ended with Highline up 24-0. It was a run-at-will start for the Pirates. Coach Coopers’ up-and-coming stable of young running talent led the Angilau twins, Tevita and Vilisoni, and jitterbug runner Dorian Morales. The offense rolled. The running backs are exceptionally well-coached and showed an increased understanding of the timing of blocks that open up the gap to slash through. They are adopting the slashing style that is quickly becoming a Pirate trademark. Vilisoni Angilau also showed power as it took 4 or 5 Redhawks to bring him down.
The Pirate offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, opened up some nice holes, and sealed the corners well. They are a young crew on the line, but their improvement is noticeable. They had the advantage of size, agility, and execution over the Redhawk team.
Quarterback Junior Houth made the most of the offense’s momentum and scored twice in the first quarter. Houth also showed good arm strength and accuracy. “I love playing with my team; it’s not just a game when it comes to my team. I’ve spent my whole summer with these guys. We made a connection and got to work. This game was a restart from last week, and we got each other’s back no matter what. We will all be great and get better together. Thanks to my coaches,” shared Houth.
The only blemish in the first half for the Pirates was a well-executed and timed quarterback sneak that caught the defense completely off guard. The Redhawk QB went 38 yards for their only first-half score.
In the second half, the Pirates wasted no time establishing control. On the kickoff, Vilisoni Agnilau took the ball on the 30 and cut through gaps and tackles, bringing the ball to the Redhawk 10. A few plays later and the Pirates had another score. The JV Pirates won with 48 points on the board, just missing the 50-point mark the varsity team has seemingly set as a standard. The young team has much to be excited about. “When my teammates score, it makes me happy, and we all get together in the end zone and hype each other up. All love” said Houth.
It looks like there will be a lot of end zone celebrations for these young Pirates in the coming years.
Great to see the kids do some good things on the field. They aren’t lifting weights and running sprints for no reason. They’re improving,” said Coach JT Jackson.
In keeping with the Pirate spirit and the team chant, “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no. Now go home and tell someone you love them.”
At the time of publishing, the statistics were not available.
