Late touchdown completes comeback as Kent-Meridian downs Thomas Jefferson

Published 5:12 pm Friday, September 12, 2025

Following Kent-Meridian’s defeat to Auburn High School in their week one matchup by 40 for the Taylor Trophy, the Royals bounced back to down Thomas Jefferson High School, 14-13, to record their first win of 2025 on Sept. 11 at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.

“It’s the best feeling ever. This win is crucial for us to come together as a team,” sophomore Luke Garza said.

The Royals bookended the ball game with touchdown drives to open the scoring and eventually win the game just before the final two minute mark. But it took a lot for Kent-Meridian to overcome their own woes in the game.

“It started good, like they were able to. TJ played hard, they are scrappers. We moved the ball at the beginning and then froze up a little bit waiting for other people to make plays. I’m proud of them because they figured it out. They played as a team in the end,” Head Coach Randy Robbins said. “They showed a lot of heart and I’m proud of them.”

Thomas Jefferson was also searching for their first win of the season. The two sides were outscored 108-33 in their week one games. But the Royals have held serve against Thomas Jefferson in recent history as they now have beaten the Raiders in four straight meetings.

“I wanted to see them not take nothing for granted. It’s different. They can’t worry about who they are playing. They gotta worry about taking care of business because there isn’t a gimme in this whole league. When you’ve got a chance to win one you gotta freakin’ do it,” Robbins said.

Kent-Meridian received the opening kickoff and took the ball 69 yards, and sophomore Luke Garza ran in for the touchdown. Establishing the ground game was extremely important for Robbins and the Royals, and on that first drive they ran seven plays, all on the ground.

The Kent-Meridian defense, which gave up 67 points in the opener, pitched a shutout in the first half. JL Sampson disrupting the Thomas Jefferson was a common occurrence on Thursday night. Seemingly every drive in the first three quarters, there was at least one tackle for a loss by the Royal defense.

“They tackled better. The effort was there to tackle. I’m proud of them for taking that step forward,” Robbins said.

Not only was Luke Garza a weapon on offense, but he also contributed alongside Sampson on defense. Garza recorded a team high 6.5 total tackles (5 solo, 3 assisted) and one tackle for a loss of five yards. The state-caliber wrestler found a way to make an impact on all sides of the ball.

“He’s just tough. The Garzas are tough, they’re built that way. They wrestle and got great coaches, parents and family. They got that grit and that swag in them for sure,” Robbins said.

The Royals were behind the eight ball with about six minutes left in the ball game. A punt return for a touchdown, onside kick recovery and ensuing touchdown drive put Thomas Jefferson in front 13-6 with just over 6 minutes left in the game.

The mentality was simple for Garza, who had the Royals’ lone score: “Just do what you gotta do. Just go and if God lets me get there, I’ll get there,” Garza said.

But the Royal offense got back to what it does best and ran the ball 70 yards and went to Garza for his second rushing touchdown of the night. Sam Doma, the Kent Reporter Male Athlete of the Year in 2024, called his own number and ran a quarterback run for the two-point conversion to take a 14-13 lead over Thomas Jefferson.

“What was going through my mind was we did this as a team. We came together again,” Garza said.

Garza capped his night with 112 yards rushing on 10 attempts, with a long of 13 yards. But the win was what he was most proud of, especially after the performance in week one.

“The whole team is excited. The win puts back the hope we have (in the season),” Garza said. “We came through this as a team and I think we can have some success in the next games.”

Kent-Meridian hosts Todd Beamer High School and then travels back to Federal Way to start their gauntlet against Decatur, Federal Way and then Enumclaw. That is a tough stretch for a team that is looking to find its way.

“In the last four years this team has a different excitement. They like to get riled up, so it’s just good for them to experience a game like tonight. To almost lose it, come back and win it shows that they have a different kind of fight than KM has had the last couple of years,” Robbins said.