Capital proves its place among Washington's best

1. Capital proves it belongs with big boys: Capital (Olympia) scheduled three of Washington's best football progams to begin the season. And they beat all three. The No. 4 Cougars finished the run by beating No. 6 Lakes (Lakewood) 28-21 in overtime. Capital led 21-0 in the second quarter. Class 3A Capital also beat No.10 O'Dea (Seattle) to open the season and Class 4A Olympia (ranked at the time) in the first two weeks. This week, they play Enumclaw, which began the season in the state rankings.

2. Skyline wins border battle: Skyline (Sammamish), ranked in the top five among Class 4A teams depending on the poll, beat one of Oregon's best. The Spartans beat Lake Oswego, ranked No. 2 in the Oregon's 6A classification 38-14. Skyline had a tough preseason, splitting games against teams that played for the Class 3A state title last year. Washington commit Kasen Williams caught six passes for 137 yards and two scores and also threw a third TD, connecting with QB Max Browne, who passed for 283 yards and two scores.

3. Graham-Kapowsin slows down Puyallup: Matt Dawley rushed for 282 yards and touchdown on 33 carries as No. 10 Graham-Kapowsin (Graham) beat Puyallup 35-28 in a South Puget Sound League showdown. Puyallup had piled up big points in the first two weeks as quarterback Erin Barber threw 13 TD passes. He threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns, but struggled in a rainy second half.

4. Title stays in the family: Kingston (Kingston) junior Marina Roberts kept the Salt Creek Invitational title in the family, winning the girls title. Her sister Ruby, the Class 2A state champ, who is now at Washington State, won the previous two titles. Marina, the Class 2A runner-up, beat her sister's best time (set when she finished third in 2007) with a 17:31. Marina's freshman sister Annie finished 13th.

5. Blue flags fly again: For the third straight year, Washington football officials used blue flags (instead of yellow) last weekend to raise awareness for prostate cancer.

Top Five Performers

Brooklynn Bradbury, Auburn Riverside (Auburn) volleyball: The senior setter broke her own school record (67) with 70 assists, but the Ravens lost to Rogers of Puyallup 3-2.

Bishop Sankey, Gonzaga Prep (Spokane) football: The senior rushed for 299 yards and four touchdowns as No. 6 Gonzaga Prep beat University of Spokane Valley 28-7.

Kyle Kennedy, Bremerton football: The senior running back went over 200 yards for the third straight game, rushing for 215 in a 27-7 lost to Port Angeles. Kennedy has 659 yards rushing in the first three games.

Jenn Webster, Lakes soccer: Webster, a senior, had two hat tricks and four assists in two games.

Chandler Jenkins, Liberty (Renton) football: Jenkins had 403 all-purpose yards. He rushed for 191 yards, had 142 yards receiving and scored five touchdowns. He even had an interception.

Recruiting News

Sarah Hartwell, who plays basketball for Bellarmine Prep (Tacoma), committed to play for Xavier. ... Auburn-Riverside's standout forward Kat Cooper has committed to play basketball at Boston College. ... Puyallup infielder Kylie McChesney has committed to play softball at Miami of Ohio. ... Mercer Island junior QB Jeff Lindquist received an offer from Washington, the Seattle Times reported.

Upcoming Events

The football game of the week is a KingCo showdown pitting No. 3 Issaquah (3-0) against No. 4 Skyline (2-1). Issaquah beat Liberty in Week 2, which beat Skyline in Week 1.

A few other games worth watching has Class 4A No. 6 Skyview (Vancouver) (2-1) playing Class 3A No. 3 Camas (3-0). Also, in a South Puget Sound League showdown, No. 2 Curtis (University Place) (3-0) hosts No. 10 Graham Kapowsin (3-0). And in the 2A classification, No. 3 Tumwater (2-1) hosts No. 8 North Thurston (Lacey) (3-0). All rankings referenced courtesy of the Tacoma News Tribune.

Nathan Joyce has covered high school sports in Washington for 13 years. He works at the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton.