OLYMPIA — About 25 minutes before kickoff of the 44th edition of the Spaghetti Bowl rivalry at Ingersoll Stadium Friday night, fans heard the announcement that the start of the game would be delayed due to thunder in the forecast.
While the upstairs meteorology report on Mother Nature’s temporary temper tantrum was more than true — the game didn’t start until 45 minutes after its scheduled kickoff time — it may have served more as a warning of the thunder that Ibrahima Diallo would inflict upon the Capital Cougars.
Diallo, Olympia’s do-it-all senior running back, gashed the Cougars defense for 195 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries, and the Bears rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Capital 41-25.
Coincidentally, the last time these two squads faced one another, Capital came back from down 11 points to beat Olympia in overtime. That outcome was heavy on Diallo’s mind during the extended pregame, as well as the fact that he missed last year’s Spaghetti Bowl game due to having an appendectomy.
“We proved that we’re here. We’re a physical team, and you can’t stop our offense,” Diallo said.
Olympia has now tied the all-time Spaghetti Bowl series at 22 wins apiece and takes home the golden football trophy for the first time in two years. To do it, the Bears defense stepped up immensely with three second-half turnovers, including a go-ahead scoop-and-score by Elijah Butler in the third quarter.
“Our defense played outstanding,” Olympia first-year head coach Cary Nagel said. “Our coaches did a fantastic job of putting them in position, but our kids played their tails off.”
The sky turned from sunny to dark and stormy within minutes just before the originally scheduled kickoff time, and a double rainbow had the student sections chanting, “Rainbow” and “No more thunder.”
As the game kicked off around 7:45 p.m., rain was still quite prevalent in the sky, but the soggy turf was no hindrance for Capital’s passing attack in the first quarter. Senior quarterback Nolan Potts connected early and often with Carter Pennington and Carter Armstrong down the field. Potts found his First Team All-Puget Sound League Nisqually wideout Pennington on a rollout to the right for an 8-yard score midway through the first quarter.
Olympia responded with a 10-play drive that carried into the opening minutes of the second quarter, with Diallo dicing through the Cougars defense for a 5-yard touchdown.
Capital snapped the trend of lengthy, methodical drives by sprinting down the field in just two plays, sparked by a long kickoff return by Kash Valentine to the Cougars’ 42-yard line. On the next snap, Valentine caught a pass and cooked the Bears secondary for 44 yards. Potts once again found a streaking Pennington in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown.
The Bears were forced to play without starting quarterback Tucker Downing, who suffered a back injury during the spring track and field season. They turned to junior Braden Barrett as the signal caller, and the Bears called their first pass play for him midway through the second quarter to break up 14 consecutive runs to start the game.
Barrett’s first pass was intercepted by Mason Bottin, setting Capital’s offense up just outside of the red zone. Olympia’s defense, fueled by a David Ukwu 11-yard sack, came up clutch to force a 44-yard field goal attempt by Potts, who nailed the long kick to put Capital ahead 17-7 midway through the second quarter.
Potts had a hand in all 17 of Capital’s first-half points, as he made both extra points, as well.
Olympia opted to return to its bread and butter on the ground, and that decision immediately paid off as Diallo burst through a hole in the defense for a 23-yard gain on the first snap of the ensuing drive. He took a toss in the red zone and thundered through a herd of Cougars for a 16-yard touchdown, cutting Capital’s lead to three at halftime.
Both teams were fired up as they headed to the locker rooms for the extended halftime break that featured a joint performance by the two schools’ bands and cheerleaders.
“I think we were amped up. We were confident on offense. We were throwing the ball, picking them apart and getting the ball to our playmakers,” Capital head coach Terry Rose said of the first half.
Riding plenty of momentum from the touchdown in the final minute of the first half, Olympia couldn’t cash in, as the Bears fumbled the ball back to Capital to start the second half.
Potts took a gamble on a fourth-and-4, lobbing the ball down field to Kennon Valentine, who somehow came up with a clutch grab in double coverage for 40 yards. Junior Nolen Rea exploded through two Bears tacklers for a 10-yard touchdown run, and Potts’ two-point conversion run made it 25-14 Capital with 7:50 to go in the third quarter.
Diallo took over when the Bears’ backs were to the wall. He rushed for 61 yards on six carries on the next drive, the headliner coming on a 5-yard toss and scamper for his third touchdown of the night. The Bears were back within four points.
Excluding the possession just before halftime, Capital had scored on all four of its chances. The Bears defense struggled to get off the field and needed to make a stand in order to flip the game, as trading touchdowns did them no good.
So, Elijah Butler took matters into his own hands. The sophomore linebacker was in the right place at the right time when Potts took off for a quarterback sneak but bobbled the ball when Shaun McKay and Ukwu hit him, forcing a fumble. Butler scooped the ball up, spun, and took off untouched for a 65-yard touchdown to give the Bears their first lead of the night at 27-25 with 10.3 seconds left in the third.
“I had to be an athlete and make a play right there,” Butler said. “I returned it for six and changed the momentum. I knew nobody was gonna take me down. I knew nobody was gonna touch me.”
Capital’s offense lost all signs of life, with three consecutive false start penalties to put the Cougars in a first-and-25 scenario. A fourth-and-12 pass attempt by Potts was incomplete.
The Cougars defense gave the ball right back to the offense by forcing a Noah Miller fumble deep in Capital territory. But, three plays later, Potts was picked off by Ethan Phitsamay on the edge of the red zone.
Diallo carried the ball four times in a row and secured his fourth TD on a 9-yarder, giving Olympia a 34-25 lead with under three minutes left. Even more offensive penalties doomed the Cougars’ next drive, which ended with a fourth-down incompletion, and Miller sealed the game with a dagger 28-yard run.
For good measure, Olympia’s defense forced a third turnover in the second half via a Barrett interception of Potts to run out the clock on a 41-25 Spaghetti Bowl win.
“This team is a family. I told them at halftime that if we just continued to play together, we were going to be OK,” Nagel said. “I think they responded. I learned that they’re resilient and they play hard.”
Olympia (1-0) rushed for 376 yards, led by Diallo’s 195 and Miller’s 106. On defense, Ukwu recorded two sacks and three quarterback hurries, while Michael Mobuogwu logged six quarterback hurries. McKay and Karter Clark each compiled five tackles.
Potts completed 13 of his 26 passes for 200 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Pennington caught eight balls for 81 yards and two touchdowns to lead Capital (0-1)
Olympia will hit the road to face Stadium (0-1) in Tacoma Friday, Sept. 11, while Capital will host Kelso (1-0) that same night.
