10/9/2026
Mount Tahoma 23, Lincoln (Tacoma) 21
(Tacoma, WA) In 2023, Mount Tahoma recovered a late onside kick to comeback and defeat the Lincoln Abes at George Nordi Field. In the rematch in 2024, Lincoln outlasted the T-Birds in an overtime thriller to get a little revenge. In 2025, the two teams met twice with Mount Tahoma sweeping the meetings in the regular season and quarterfinals. On Friday night, the two programs looked to write the latest chapter in their epic rivalry and both looked to do so in victorious fashion.
Set-up
After a strong 3-0 start to the season including a league opening win over Central Kitsap, the Lincoln Abes suffered their first defeat of the season last week at home against Gig Harbor. A slow start on offense put the Abes in too big of a hole to overcome so they would look to start fast on Friday night against a very talented defense and would rely on Stanford commit, Sione Kaho, to do just that.
On the other side, Mount Tahoma started the season with the lowest of lows and an 0-3 record. However, the three losses were against three state title hopefuls in Waipahu (HI), Kennedy Catholic, and Sumner. League play has been kinder to the Thunderbirds as they downed both Silas and Bellarmine Prep to start Puget Sound League play 2-0 as they looked to repeat as league champions.
1st Half
Lincoln received the opening kick of the game and they looked to go three-and-out very quickly with an early punt. On that punt, Mount Tahoma was called for a hold before the kick, gifting the Abes a first down to keep their opening drive alive. Lincoln used that second chance to get in a groove as Sione Kaho let the ball fly with completions to three different receivers in Carl Jackson, Jay’Mari Byrd, and a big 23-yard completion to Malakai Boyovich. He would make one mistake as he stared down a receiver for too long and had his pass picked off by Ahmire Rooster-Hart to bail Mount Tahoma out after the penalty and give the T-Birds their first possession.
Starting with the ball at their own 32-yard line, the Thunderbirds put together one of their textbook, ground and pound drives as they ran the ball slowly but steadily down the field. The duo of KD Davis and Boogie Durr marched the T-Birds right down the field with a long time consuming drive. Mount Tahoma would take up the final 7 minutes and 44 seconds of the opening quarter and flipping sides of the field did not slow them down either. The 8 minute and 19 second drive ended on a fullback dive by Jamie Oloapu for the score and while the PAT was blocked, Mount Tahoma had a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The second drive of the game for Lincoln looked much better as the Abes were able to stay on the field with their no-huddle offense and gas out the Mount Tahoma defense a bit. Sione Kaho would still use his arm quite a bit, finding Carl Jackson for 11 yards and Malakai Boyovich for 14. The Abes also found a groove on the ground as JT Williams got going on the ground. Williams would have his number called in a short-yardage situation and plunged his way into the endzone for the two-yard score. Brayant Salazar hit the extra point and with 7:12 to go in the half, Lincoln had a 7-6 lead.
Not only was Lincoln’s offense taking strides, but the defense fed off that energy on their next series. Carl Jackson made a big tackle for a loss that set the table for Gideon Pati who sacked Shawn Sione to force a three-and-out from Mount Tahoma. That gave Lincoln the ball with momentum and the offense picked right back up where they left off. Kaho would get Shyne Pastoris involved with a 23-yard pass as Williams continued to eat out of the backfield. Teavan Jones would blow up a read option for a loss in the backfield, but made an even bigger play on the next snap. Jones pressured Kaho and ended up tipping the pass to himself for the interception and returned it 56 yards to the house. Right as Lincoln seized control, Mount Tahoma’s defense took it right back to take a 13-7 lead.
The Abes would get a couple of big plays from Kaho on the next drive as they looked to respond to the gut punch of a second turnover. They would get the ball into T-Bird territory but a turnover on downs gave Mount Tahoma one last drive before the half. Shawn Sione had a huge 18-yard pass to Que Hodge as the T-Birds ended up having a 25-yard field goal try but the kick was wider right to keep it 13-7 at halftime.
2nd Half
Mount Tahoma had a chance to extend their lead to two possessions as they began the second half with the football. They would push it to midfield before failing to convert a fourth down to give Lincoln the ball at the 50. However, the Abes couldn’t do anything with it and ended up turning the ball over on downs on their own fourth down try. Going back to the run game, Mount Tahoma would go marching again and finally on a read option, Shawn Sione kept it and ran it in for the touchdown but a hold negated the score. On the very next play, the T-Birds struck anyway as KD Davis broke a number of tackles for a 33-yard touchdown. With 2:37 to go in the 3rd quarter, Mount Tahoma had a two-possession lead at 20-7.
With the game slipping away, Lincoln had to find a way to answer Mount Tahoma’s score and put the pressure back on the T-Birds. Drops continued to plague Lincoln’s offense but after dropping a pass, Erick Tijiboy would haul in a reception from Sione Kaho and took it 41 yards deep into Mount Tahoma territory. Kaho would then show off his duel-threat capabilities with a six-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit right back to 20-14 on the final play of the 3rd quarter.
12 minutes remained in this Puget Sound League matchup and Mount Tahoma had the lead and the ball and showed that they were more than capable of killing a large majority of the clock. The Lincoln defense would then make a massive impact. A tackle for a loss by Noah Dennis was immediately followed by a sack for Dennis to force a Mount Tahoma punt. The punt was then blocked by Darren Oloapu and Jay’Mari Byrd to set the Abes up at the T-Bird 38. Five plays later, Kaho kept it again, this time for an 11-yard score. The reliable kicker Brayant Salazar hit another PAT and all of a sudden the Abes had stormed back to take a 21-20 lead with just 5:44 to play in the game.
Mount Tahoma’s next drive started at their own 17 after a personal foul on the kickoff and really dealt a blow to the Thunderbirds before the drive even started. There was no panic from sophomore quarterback Shawn Sione and the rest of the offense as they got to work through the air and on the ground. Penalties on both teams lengthened the drive and fortunately a fumble by Boogie Durr after a 28-yard run was recovered by Xavier Harris in Lincoln territory. Another huge play came on a fourth down when Sione’s pass fell incomplete that looked to seal the game for Lincoln. A hold on the Abes instead gave Mount Tahoma a first down and was the combined seventh penalty of the drive.
Backed up again, Mount Tahoma would get a huge play from Shawn Sione as he took a huge hit but got a pass off just in time to Que Hodge for 18 yards and made it third and short in manageable field goal position. Sione would exit the game but Que Hodge took over at quarterback and found a first down with just nine seconds left. Head coach Keith Terry sent senior kicker Emmanuel Rodriguez-Leon back out for a 26-yard try and this time he was money, drilling the kick to put Mount Tahoma in front. A failed hail mary would put this one away as Mount Tahoma got some late heroics to beat Lincoln in another epic chapter of their rivalry, 23-21.
Sumner Holiday Inn Express MVP of the Game
Our Sumner Holiday Inn Express MVP of the Game went to senior kicker Emmanuel Rodriguez-Leon. After a tough night with a blocked PAT and a missed field goal, it would have been understandable if Rodriguez-Leon was in his own head. In his first and only year as the starting varsity kicked, Emmanuel Rodriguez-Leon was full of confidence and nailed the game-winner to completely wash away the rest of the game and turn himself into the hero in a huge and dramatic win for Mount Tahoma.
Stats
Offensively for Mount Tahoma, it was a lot of ground and pound offense with KD Davis leading the way with 18 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown to go with a one-yard reception. Boogie Durr also carried the ball quite a bit with 11 carries for 67 yards while DJ Morales got going in the second half with five carries for 28 yards. Elijah Little carried the ball once while Jamie Oloapu scored a one-yard touchdown on his lone carry. Shawn Sione was a duel-threat going 8/14 passing for 67 yards and running the ball five times for 22 yards as well. Que Hodge was the go-to receiver with three catches for 40 yards plus his late two-yard carry. Juju Williams had two late catches for 15 yards while Xavier Harris had a 12-yard reception and Lamarion Williams caught a six-yard pass. Defensively Que Hodge had a tackle for a loss and Ah’mire Rooster-Hart had an interception while Teaven Jones had one of each and returned his interception for a touchdown.
For the Lincoln Abes, it was a lot of Sione Kaho as the senior was 18/32 passing for 236 yards while running the ball four times for 31 yards and two touchdowns. JT Williams was the other primary carrier, although Shyne Pastroes had a carry while Ca’ssi Bushnell had two, as Williams ran the ball 13 times for 33 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 16 yards. Eight different Abes caught a pass and Carl Jackson caught the most with four catches for 27 yards while Shyne Pastores had the most yards with three receptions for 56 yards. Aamon Foy also caught three passes for 28 yards while Malakai Boyovich had two receptions for 37 yards. Elijah Carney caught a 15-yard pass while Erick Tijiboy had an explosive 41-yard reception and Jay’Mari Byrd caught a six-yard pass. On defense Aamir Foy had a crucial pass break-up while Carl Jackson had a tackle for a loss and Gideon Pati recorded a sack. Noah Dennis had a TFL and a sack on back-to-back plays as well. Brayant Salazar was 3-3 on extra points.
What’s Next?
With the win, Mount Tahoma has now won three in a row to move to 3-3 on the season and remain perfect in Puget Sound League Narrows Division play with a 3-0 record. The T-Birds will look to make it four in a row when they hit the road next Friday to visit the Central Kitsap Cougars at 7pm. The loss drops Lincoln to 3-2 on the year and 1-2 in league play after a couple of very close losses. Lincoln will celebrate senior night on Thursday when they welcome the Bellarmine Prep Lions to the Lincoln Bowl at 7pm.
Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)
West 42 Sports Postgame Show
Video Highlights
Defensive Score for Mount Tahoma
Davis Breaks Tackles for a Score
Tijiboy Sets up TD
Lincoln Takes Late Lead
Mount Tahoma Game-Winner
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