Road games were no problem for Tahoma and Kentwood while the matchup at French Field for Kentlake against Kent-Meridian proved more troublesome as the Royals beat the Falcons for the second straight season.

Tahoma rolls past Bethel

Defending state javelin champion Denham Patricelli loves football and in the first two games of the season, the Tahoma senior who sat out last season after undergoing surgery on his right elbow, caught six touchdowns including three in the first quarter in a 33-7 rout of Bethel Sept. 12 at Art Crate Stadium in Puyallup.

He pulled in his first touchdown catch about halfway into the first quarter and had all three scores before the end of the period, hauling in the third one with 1 minute, 24 seconds on the clock.

Patricelli caught four passes tallying 129 yards to go with the three scores. Quarterback Shane Nelson hit other targets, too, for the Bears on his way to a 16-for-29 night with 295 yards along with four touchdowns. DeShon Williams pulled in four catches for 73 yards and a touchdown while Alex Jeric had four catches for 79 yards. Bryson Stubbles carried the ball 13 times for 108 yards and a score. On the defensive side of the ball, Jerome Woods tallied 11.5 tackles while Amandre Williams racked up 10.5 tackles, two sacks and one tackle for a loss. Blake Donohue added 9.5 tackles and a sack while Elijah Sukah chipped in nine tackles, including one for a loss.

Kentwood contains Thomas Jefferson

Kentwood kept its momentum going after a comeback win against Auburn week one with a solid defensive effort week two on the road against Jefferson, putting up a 25-7 victory.

The Conquerors limited the Raiders to 62 total yards of offense Sept. 13 at Federal Way Memorial Stadium, with the lone touchdown for Jefferson coming late in the first half. Kentwood’s first touchdown came on a 22-yard pass to senior wide receiver Terrance Grady in the second quarter. Meanwhile, senior running back Brandon Sytsma had a 6-yard touchdown scamper in the fourth quarter while Conks kicker Brandyn Bangsund put up three field goals on the night.

Malietufa leads Royals to win over Falcons

Kentlake’s offense was stymied much of the game against Kent-Meridian which went on to win 22-15 largely thanks to the efforts of junior running back Vinnie Malietufa, who scored twice in the second quarter to put the Royals ahead before halftime.

Malietufa scored from 10 yards out with 1:47 left in the first half after the Royals and the Falcons spent much of the game to that point trading punts. That drive, however, saw Kent-Meridian rely heavily on the running game and Malietufa in particular to move the chains. Moments after the first score, the ball was fumbled on the Kentlake kick off return, with Kent-Meridian recovering on the Falcons’ 30 yard line. Malietufa got the ball on second and nine then ran 18 yards to the house to make it a 14-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the second quarter.

Not even 90 seconds into the third quarter the snap sailed over the head of the Kent-Meridian kicker and out of the end zone, giving Kentlake the safety then the ball on the free kick.

This moment fired up the Falcons who took the ball down the field and scored on a 16-yard run by Kaleb Smith which cut the lead to 14-9 with 9:31 left in the third.

With 6:45 left in the third, after forcing Kent-Meridian to punt, Kentlake punctuated its next series with a 14-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Jake Summer. With the extra point the Falcons were up 15-14.

Then there were punts, penalties and mistakes as the game progressed into the fourth quarter.

It culminated with another touchdown after a Kentlake turnover when Kent-Meridian intercepted Summer on the Royals’ 43.

A gadget play which found Vinnie Malietufa with the ball then hurling it 22 yards for the touchdown with 6:55 in the fourth put the Royals up 22-15.

Kentlake had two more opportunities to move down the field and score but couldn’t get into a groove offensively.

Kentlake dropped to 0-2 while Kent-Meridian bounced back from a week one blowout at Tahoma to improve to 1-1.

Jefferson travels to French Field Thursday to take on Kent-Meridian while Kentlake heads to Puyallup for a non-league contest Thursday. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.