TUMWATER — During the first week of spring practices, Tumwater breaks the program up into two sessions. Juniors and seniors on one side of Tumwater District Stadium, sophomores and freshmen on the other.
Two years ago, running backs coach Curtis Clay watched a spry sophomore get some carries in team drills. He walked over to William Garrow, then in his first year leading the historic prep program in SW Washington.
“After day one, Coach Clay said ‘PD needs to be with the older group,’” Garrow recalled. “He’s just consistent.”
The sophomore in question? Peyton Davis.
The move? Still reaping the rewards.
Davis enters his final home game on Saturday 73 yards away from reaching 1,000 for the season and 12 shy of jumping into the top-10 all-time for rushing yards in a career. He could hit both marks in the No. 2 seeded T-Birds Class 2A semifinal versus No. 3 seed East Valley Yakima.
Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. in Tumwater.
“I’m just here to play,” Davis said. “It is an awesome opportunity that they put their trust in me and let me do what I do.”
While both achievements are not in the forefront of Davis’ mind, he’s putting his energy towards trying to lead Tumwater back to Husky Stadium for the third consecutive season. If it prevails, the Class of 2026 would be the first seniors to play in three state titles since the Class of 2015.
Had COVID-19 not forced a spring season, the Class of 2021 would have joined that list. No senior class for Tumwater has ever been to three straight championship games.
The message from spring ball to Thanksgiving week is to be in a position to keep playing.
“We talk about what it takes to reach those things, the process it takes to meet the standards that are necessary,” Garrow said. “We lay things out for our kids. If you want to achieve these things, this is what has to occur.”
There’s been a bevy of tailbacks through the years that have hit quadruple digits. Davis would be the fifth this decade to hit the 1,000-yard mark, an accomplishment spurred by offensive lines that routinely make the T-Birds Wing-T offense work.
Fellow senior Vann Hannukaine has seen first-hand the type of player Davis has been through their time on varsity.
“He makes my job pretty easy,” Hannukaine said. “Not just a great running back, but a great teammate too. He’s earned every touchdown he scores, every yard he runs.”
Most sophomores rarely see the field for Tumwater. Clay’s initial belief was the first step towards playing time. Talent was the next step and Davis put up the second most rushing yards (741) and fourth highest touchdowns (eight).
Self-proclaimed as a shifty and agile runner, Davis added muscle to his 5-foot-9 frame and transformed into a power back. He finished his junior year with 687 yards on 59 carries and found paydirt nine times.
“Stronger, put on a little more weight,” Davis said. “Coming to this program… It has made me love the game more.”
The running back room went through an overhaul this fall. Davis was the most experienced player back and carved out a leadership role to bring along Tyler Briscoe, Blake Heryford and Grady Wall.
It resulted in taking on 91 carries this season, the most in his prep career. He was pulled due to a hamstring injury in the quarterfinal victory over Franklin Pierce, but Davis and Garrow both said he’ll be good to go versus the Red Devils.
“He was in some pain,” Garrow said. “That’s why we have all those extra running backs.”
Unbeaten and lethal offensively, East Valley Yakima’s spread offense is led by senior quarterback Jaxen Berg. He’s thrown for 44 touchdowns this season – 90 in his career – and just three INTs this fall.
Top target Greyson Stevens has hauled in 21 touchdowns and over 1,200 receiving yards. The Red Devils have blown out opponents in 10 of their 12 games. Only Prosser in Week 3 and Lynden in the quarterfinals were decided by a possession.
“Their offense isn’t unique in any way, they just do it really well,” Garrow said. “When you have kids who are children of the head coach, they make good choices on the field and they’ve been prepared.”
Two weeks after piling up eight sacks and 11 tackles for loss, Hannukaine understands how important getting after Berg will be.
“We think it is going to be a good matchup,” he said. “We need to take this week of practice as seriously as possible. Make sure we all do our jobs.”
For 17 seniors, it marks the final time they’ll play in front of the Tumwater community in their green and gold jerseys. Davis and Hannukaine are hopeful they can end their time the same way the previous two senior classes have.
On a victory to play for the 2A title.
“It is awesome to be a part of this program,” Davis said. “Guys that came before us have set a really high standard and we just followed that.”
