Bonney Lake, Sumner to Face Off In Sunset Bowl

Bonney Lake and Sumner will rekindle their cross-town rivalry tonight, with kickoff at 7 p.m. in the Sunset Bowl at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner.

The former South Puget Sound League 3A foes (Sumner is now in the SPSL 2A) are both coming off season-opening wins, albeit in two very different fashions.

Bonney Lake got off to a wild start in its 2011 season, needing two overtimes to get past White River 40-34 last Friday. The Panthers nearly suffered an unexpected loss to 2A White River, trailing 34-21 heading into the fourth quarter, before rallying for two touchdowns, the last with 11 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Chris Brown threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Zack Zaragosa in the second overtime to give Bonney Lake the walk-off win. Brown had a monster game, completing an eye-popping 40 of 70 passes, and connecting with receivers on six touchdown passes.

Sumner had an easier go of it in its season opener, opening up a 14-0 lead on Auburn Mountainview before closing out the 28-13 victory. The Spartans were led by Brenden Baker’s two touchdowns in the
non-conference victory. Sumner did surrender 347 passing yards to AM quarterback Domenic Rockey, which could make for an interesting matchup with Bonney Lake's Brown.

Sumner owns the most recent winning streak in the gridiron rivalry with Bonney Lake, having recorded a 27-21 victory over its neighbors in 2010.