The air at Husky Stadium was different this past December. Cold. Electric. If you were looking for Washington state high school football scores on your phone that night, you probably saw the 4A final go into overtime and thought your app was lagging. It wasn't.
Sumner and Lake Stevens turned the 4A championship into an absolute track meet that felt more like a video game than a title bout. 41-35. That was the final in OT.
Lance McGee basically decided he wasn't losing. The kid is an Oregon State commit for a reason. He carried the rock 44 times—which is honestly insane for a high schooler—for 354 yards and six touchdowns. He didn't just play; he moved the entire Sumner offense on his back. Lake Stevens had their chances, especially with Blake Moser playing out of his mind, but the Spartans just had that "it" factor when the whistle blew in the extra period.
Breaking Down the WIAA State Championship Scores
It’s easy to get lost in the sea of Friday night lights, but the 2025 postseason was particularly brutal for the favorites. We saw dynasties continue and others get blindsided.
In the 3A bracket, O'Dea proved why they're the gold standard of disciplined football. They squared off against an undefeated Mount Tahoma squad that was looking to make history. For a while there, it looked like the T-Birds might actually pull it off. They led 14-13 late in the fourth. But then Hutton Leverett found Owen Brustkern for a 30-yard dagger with just over a minute left. 21-14, O'Dea. Total heartbreak for Tacoma, but a masterclass in poise for the Fighting Irish.
Lower classifications weren't any less dramatic. Take Class 1A, for instance. Royal won their fifth straight title, but it wasn't the usual blowout. They escaped with a 21-20 win over Cashmere. One point. One failed two-point conversion by the Bulldogs with 18 seconds left was the only thing standing between a historic upset and the continuation of the Royal era.
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The scoreboard from championship weekend looked like this:
- 4A: Sumner 41, Lake Stevens 35 (OT)
- 3A: O'Dea 21, Mount Tahoma 14
- 2A: Archbishop Murphy 35, Tumwater 20
- 1A: Royal 21, Cashmere 20
- 2B: Tri-Cities Prep 47, Toledo 34
- 1B: DeSales 26, Liberty Christian 14
Why These Washington State High School Football Scores Matter
Most people just check the numbers and move on. But these scores tell a story about where the talent is shifting in the PNW.
Archbishop Murphy’s run in 2A was dominant. They finished 13-0. To put up 35 points on a Tumwater defense that usually eats quarterbacks for breakfast is a statement. Isaiah Smith ran for 169 yards in that game. He made a very good defense look like they were playing in slow motion.
Then you've got the 2B surprise. Tri-Cities Prep grabbed their first-ever state title by taking down a very tough Toledo team. Jake Sherfey was the hero there, putting up 123 yards and three scores. It’s those kinds of results that remind you why we still show up to these rain-soaked stadiums in November.
The Impact of Transfers and Coaching
You can't talk about these results without mentioning the coaching. Keith Ross at Sumner now has back-to-back 4A titles. People were ready to dismiss them after an early-season loss to Lake Stevens. Honestly, that's the mistake everyone makes. They look at a Week 1 score and think they know the ending.
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Washington football is a grind. A team like Mount Tahoma, coached by Keith Terry, showed that the South Sound is becoming a massive powerhouse. They might have lost the final, but they crushed Camas 49-22 earlier in the year. That's a score that would have been unthinkable five years ago.
Keeping Up With the Rankings
By the time the dust settled in mid-December, the "Top 25" looked a lot different than it did in August.
- Sumner (13-3): The overtime win over Lake Stevens solidified them at the top.
- O'Dea (12-1): Only a narrow early-season stumble kept them from the #1 spot.
- Lake Stevens (13-1): Still a powerhouse, but the "Voodoo Curse" involving West Linn (Oregon) continues to be a weird talking point.
- Mount Tahoma (13-1): Their best season in school history, period.
- Archbishop Murphy (13-0): The undisputed kings of 2A.
If you’re hunting for Washington state high school football scores during the season, remember that the WIAA RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) is what actually determines playoff seeding. It’s not just about winning; it’s about who you beat and how they do after you beat them. It's a complicated math problem that keeps coaches awake at night.
Actionable Tips for Following Washington Football
If you want to be the person in the stands who actually knows what’s going on, don't just rely on one source. The WIAA Live app is okay for raw data, but it often glitches during the big playoff pushes.
Check out the "High School on SI" rankings or the MaxPreps "Strength of Schedule" metrics. They give you a much better idea of why a 7-2 team might actually be better than a 9-0 team that played a bunch of lightweights.
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Also, get to the games early. Especially in the 2A and 3A districts around the Sound. The atmosphere at places like Renton Memorial or Harry E. Lang Stadium is better than half the college games you’ll see.
Keep an eye on the freshman classes at Kennedy Catholic and Graham-Kapowsin. The scores from their JV games are already hinting at a massive shift in the 4A landscape for 2026.
If you're tracking specific players for recruitment, focus on the "Game Details" sections of the digital scoreboards. That's where you find the stuff that doesn't make the headlines—like pancake blocks or third-down stops that don't show up in a basic box score.
The 2025 season is in the books, but the off-season training has already started. Most of these kids are back in the weight room by mid-January. That’s how you get a 354-yard performance in the state final. It's not luck; it's the work done when nobody is checking the scores.
To stay ahead for the next season, start following the 7-on-7 circuits in the spring. That is usually the first indicator of which quarterbacks are going to explode onto the scene when the real lights come back on in September. Mark your calendars for the first weekend of December 2026—Husky Stadium will be the place to be again.