Dominant Archbishop Murphy D-line slows Tumwater attack
Published 1:30 am Sunday, December 7, 2025
SEATTLE — From the first play, they asserted dominance.
The Archbishop won the Class 2A state title on Saturday at Husky Stadium, and the defensive front getting into Tumwater’s backfield over and over again kept the Thunderbirds from taking flight.
Though the defensive line was missing Gus Morrow and Tayden Olson, others stepped up and slowed a strong Tumwater attack, holding its flock of running backs to 116 yards — which was largely offset by lost yards on quarterback sacks.
“We all dogs,” said senior Hakeim Smalls, a 6-foot-4, 285-pound Boise State signee who played offensive tackle and defensive line this season. “If I go out, we got another guy that could fill my spot that could be quicker, faster.
“We all dogs.”
A front featuring Jack Sievers, Hakeim Smalls, Logan Fryberg, Keagan Joseph, Khian Mallang and freshman Owen Reinhard didn’t miss a beat despite missing some band members.
Fryberg, a senior offensive guard playing with knee and shoulder injuries, filled in on the defensive line Saturday. No one showed more emotion than Fryberg as he limped off the field for the final time, as a champion, toward welcoming cheers from the student section.
One of many who played on the 2022 team that finished 0-8, Saturday night meant everything to Fryberg.
“I just had to believe in my brothers,” Fryberg said. “I was hurting all game, and they believed in me, so why not believe in them?”
Fryberg, who helped open up holes for running back Isaiah Smith’s 169 rushing yards in the 35-20 win while on offense, refused to come off the field despite being in obvious pain.
“There were times when he could have come out of the game, and he goes, ‘No, I got this,’” Wildcats head coach Joe Cronin said. “He’s one of those perfect teammates. He does it for his brothers, and he wanted it super bad.”
It was Fryberg who started a defensive play that essentially put the game out of reach for the Thunderbirds.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Fryberg smacked Tumwater quarterback Jaxon Budd, sacking him for a 9-yard loss and knocking the ball loose.
Linebacker William Wilson saw the ball come loose, scooped it up, and raced 39 yards for a 21-7 lead.
The entire defensive front played a role during the play.
Smalls, who after the winless season wrote “2026 Champs” on a board when the newly-hired Cronin asked players for their goals, was in the backfield along with his teammates.
“I was close to picking it up as well,” said Smalls, a dominant force in the middle of the line. “Hey, I’m happy he got it, because I probably wouldn’t have gotten far.”
Sievers, meanwhile, worked on his acting skills.
With Sievers leading the team with 14 sacks and 28 tackles for loss coming into the title game, Cronin said the Thunderbirds made a point of running away from the 6-foot-4, 235-pound defensive end, who signed on Wednesday to play tight end at Wisconsin.
Wanting to make sure the offensive lineman blocking him didn’t attempt to dive on the loose ball, Sievers feigned a pass rush so his opponent remained engaged and unaware.
“I just kept pressure, acting like I was pass-rushing,” said Sievers, who nearly had a scoop and score of his own on a play that was blown dead earlier in the game. “William picked that ball up, and I ran right next to him all the way to the end zone.”
While Sievers carried out his Academy Award-winning performance, there that ball was, tumbling on the Husky Stadium turf — a gift-wrapped early present for the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Wilson.
“When I see that ball on the ground, I see my opportunity to score,” Wilson said. “I picked it up and took it back.”
At that point in the game, Tumwater had already been forced into an uncomfortable position of throwing the ball. A run-dominated team that utilizes a Wing-T offense similar to Archbishop Murphy’s, the Thunderbirds attempted 20 passes after Budd averaged 5.8 passes over his first 13 games this season.
Though Tumwater tried to stay away from Sievers, it didn’t matter which way they ran during the championship game. An Archbishop Murphy lineman was there. Up 14-0, the Thunderbirds threatened to get back into it with a tight end breaking free, but Mallang and Joseph wrecked the play with another sack.
It’s been that way for much of the season — a party in opponents’ backfields. The Wildcats allowed 20 or more points just twice this season, finishing with an average of 9.9 allowed per game.
On Saturday, each time Tumwater threw an offensive punch, the Wildcats’ front hit them right back.
“We came out firing on all cylinders, and we just wanted to win so bad,” Sievers said. “I think it just shows the group of seniors we’ve got, and how important it is.”
