‘SEC of Washington:’ 4A SPSL puts three teams in state’s final four

Three out of the last four teams standing in the WIAA Class 4A state high school football tournament bracket are from the 4A South Puget Sound League.

They are: No. 1 Puyallup, No. 5 Sumner and No. 6 Graham-Kapowsin. Perennial state contender Lake Stevens, the tournament’s No. 2 seed and a member of the 4A Wesco, is the only team not from the 4A SPSL still standing.

The best league in the state, top to bottom? It’s right here in Pierce County. Quality, depth, championship programs — no league tops the 4A SPSL.

“I think it’s definitely the best league in the state,” said first-year Puyallup coach DJ Mims, who guided the Vikings to the league title this season. “Our league is just so deep.”

Not unlike a certain college football conference in the South.

“We can call it the SEC of Washington football,” Mims said. “We embrace it. If you come out of the 4A SPSL, you’re battle tested.”

Two of the last four state championship-winning teams have come from the 4A SPSL: Sumner in 2024 and Graham-Kapowsin in 2021. Graham-Kapowsin also played in the 2023 state championship game. Again this year, another 4A SPSL team is guaranteed to play in the state championship game.

What’s leading to so much success in the South Sound? Coaches around the league had different theories.

“Our towns have big pools to draw from,” longtime Sumner coach and 2024 state champion Keith Ross said. “It’s a blue-blood sport in this area. You have to work hard to stay at an elite level in our league. The elite level drives everyone.”

Graham-Kapowsin coach Jeff Logan said he thinks the booming 7on7 offseason culture has a lot to do with the league’s success.

“Some of the training opportunities that started in the Seattle area have migrated down this way,” Logan said. “Pierce County is very heavily populated. You’re seeing more freshmen and sophomores play in our league than you’ve ever seen before.”

Ross shared similar thoughts about the athletes who show up on campus these days, saying that when he first started coaching at Sumner 25 years ago, it was just a small, rural town. Now the population is booming with new housing developments popping up left and right. It’s something Mims has noticed, too.

“A lot of families are starting to migrate this way,” he said. “There are a lot of new houses being built out by Emerald Ridge High School, other places. This South Sound area just has a lot of talent in general. It’s very, very football focused. (Seattle’s) Metro (League) is also basketball. Football is our sport down here.”

In places like Sumner, families tend to stick around, often through multiple generations.

“We just have families that have stayed in the area, played football, then their kids grow up to play football,” Ross said. “We have good youth teams. The young kids get excited because they want to play on one of these teams in high school.”

Sumner faces Puyallup at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29 at Sparks Stadium. Graham-Kapowsin faces Lake Stevens at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Lake Stevens High School.