LACEY — Just one short week ago, the North Thurston Rams were encased in a world of novelty.
A game-winning, buzzer-beating field goal by Jake Lee against Mountain View Sept. 4 lifted the Rams to their first win in 693 days, a victory that saw North Thurston crawl back from a double-digit deficit in the second half to win 30-27.
Quarterback Nicholas Nutu also broke the North Thurston single-game passing yards record with 351 yards in his first game as a Ram after transferring from Olympia. This week, he was named a WIAA Athlete of the Week for his record-breaking performance.
But, fast forward exactly one week later, and North Thurston’s world was nearly turned upside down.
On the Rams’ first offensive snap of the second half against Shelton Friday night at South Sound Stadium, Nutu scrambled to his right and was sacked, falling directly on his left shoulder. He remained face down on the turf for several minutes before walking off, limply holding his left arm at his side with five minutes left in the third quarter.
Nutu was checked out by athletic training staff on the sideline while Mateo Henry took over as the Rams’ quarterback, a job he held last season. Nutu even tried to throw the ball without pads and a helmet on the sideline but was eventually ruled out of the game, one that North Thurston lost to Shelton 14-13.
Even without their quarterback, the Rams created several opportunities to take the lead, but they couldn’t find an offensive spark. While Nutu was sidelined, the offense moved the chains just twice, and Lee couldn’t connect on a go-ahead 34-yard field goal with over three minutes remaining.
The early prognosis is that Nutu avoided any serious injury to his throwing arm and may return as quickly as next week.
“They said it’s a shoulder bruise. He felt like he could throw but it was too sore,” North Thurston head coach Deon Toliver said. “They figured it’d be safe to sit him out. He’ll probably be back for next week.”
For the second week in a row, North Thurston’s offense started the game slowly. It appeared momentarily that the Rams landed a powerful first punch, as Nutu passed to a streaking Henry down the field. What looked to be a 64-yard touchdown turned into disaster as a Shelton defender caught up to Henry and forced a fumble, and Highclimbers linebacker Jay-Jay Rhoades recovered.
Throughout the remainder of the opening quarter, the North Thurston defense made sure that the Rams wouldn’t pay for their mistake. North Thurston forced three fumbles on three consecutive Shelton drives before the first quarter concluded. Henry produced the second one on a strip sack of Shelton quarterback Ryan Brady, and Henry caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Nutu for the first scoring drive of the night. Lee’s extra point was blocked, leaving the score at 6-0.
The third forced turnover of the first quarter came on a backward pass from Shelton that fell into the arms of linebacker Toa Tunai. Early in the second quarter, North Thurston’s offense caught the turnover bug as Nutu threw an interception down the field to Shelton’s Kaleb Jordan. Three snaps later, the Highclimbers tied the game on a 2-yard touchdown run by Rhoades, but their extra point was also blocked.
North Thurston assembled its best offensive drive of the night late in the second quarter, using 10 plays to go 73 yards. Tunai carried the ball five times on the possession and capped the successful drive off with a 2-yard scoring plunge to give North Thurston a 13-6 lead.
“We had some ups and downs on offense. We saw some positive things on offense. We’ve just gotta fix some of the small things, some of the communication on offense and then we’ll be straight,” Toliver said.
But Shelton got the last laugh of the first half. In a two-minute drill, the Highclimbers marched 77 yards in nine plays and took the lead on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Hayden Cash followed by a Noah Parker two-point conversion. At halftime, Shelton led 14-13.
That score wouldn’t budge over the final 24 minutes.
On the opening drive of the second half, Shelton worked its way out of second long-yardage situations created by a Henry sack and a Tunai tackle for loss, but the Highclimbers turned it over on downs.
The very next snap, North Thurston’s first of the second half, made a one-point deficit feel much more insurmountable. Nutu dropped back and was flushed out to his right. He couldn’t escape the defender and was sacked for a 10-yard loss, falling right on his throwing shoulder.
Henry entered at quarterback and immediately connected on his first pass, an 8-yarder to Carsten Williams, but the Rams went three-and-out to start the second half.
Once again, the Rams defense came up clutch to keep them in the game. Junior defensive back Dean Montemarano intercepted a third-down pass by Brady, bringing some much-needed energy to the Rams sideline and student section.
North Thurston’s offense just couldn’t string together a full drive without Nutu. Pre-snap penalties piled up, and the Rams struggled to convert on third downs and fourth downs in Shelton territory.
After the fifth forced turnover by the Rams defense on a Darius Lane interception of Brady, North Thurston finally started cooking on offense. On fourth-and-3, Henry found Tucker over the middle for a 17-yard gain to put the Rams in Lee’s field goal range. One week after his last-minute heroics against Mountain View, Lee missed the go-ahead 34-yard kick.
North Thurston’s defense did its job one final time, forcing a three-and-out with 90 seconds left to give the Rams the ball back.
“We’re playing Thurston football. This is what it’s all about,” Toliver said of the defense. “We’re gonna continue to play tough.”
The Rams went backward on offense, though, and a fourth-and-15 Hail Mary attempt by Henry was nearly intercepted to end the game. After Nutu’s injury, North Thurston recorded just 72 yards of offense, and Henry completed just two of his 15 pass attempts.
Toliver brought his team together in the end zone after the final buzzer and told them to hold their heads high after a close battle. He gave them an ultimatum at their 1-1 record, asking them what direction they want to take the team and requesting they maintain their belief in the vision.
“They learned what it feels like to win, and they’re gonna learn what it feels like to lose,” Toliver said. “Now, we’re gonna make a decision on what we want to do for the rest of the season.”
Next week, North Thurston will travel north to face the Rams of Rogers (Puyallup) at Sparks Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for Friday, Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
