Undefeated Puyallup Displaces Lake Stevens Atop 4A Power Rankings

SPSL's undefeated Puyallup is up one spot, displacing Lake Stevens. Gonzaga Prep is third, all three teams received first place votes from J425's aggregation of 7 weekly 4A polls.

The upstart Puyallup Vikings (6-0) of the SPSL top this week’s J425 4A Power Rankings, a proprietary aggregation of seven top weekly polls. Read on for summaries of each of the top ten teams, plus a scorecard that shows how each team was ranked across seven weekly 4A polls.

Puyallup received four first place votes from the seven aggregated polls. Second-ranked Lake Stevens (6-0) received two and third place Gonzaga Prep (6-0) received one.

Puyallup Earns Top Spot with Four First Place Votes

Top-ranked Puyallup blanked South Kitsap 60-0 on the road, one week after stepping on to the state stage with a 58-22 home thrashing of defending 4A champ #6 Sumner (3-3) behind the debut of 2027 lefty QB Noah Smith, a transfer from the Kitsap peninsula who sat the requisite four games under the WIAA’s new elective transfer rule before storming the gates with a 341-yard, four TD performance against Sumner.

Smith has nine touchdowns in his first two contests. Puyallup’s sophomore back Briytan Bailey is quietly second in 4A with 760 yards rushing (8.4 avg) and 11 touchdowns.

Puyallup is heavily favored in their week seven contest with Rogers. Circle an upcoming matchup with #8 Curtis (5-1) in two weeks as one to watch, as well as a possible SPSL title matchup with undefeated #4 Graham-Kapowsin (6-0).

Lake Stevens Falls to Second Despite Undefeated Campaign

The undefeated Lake Stevens Vikings finished a sliver behind Puyallup in this week’s aggregation, the deciding factor coming when MaxPreps slid Lake down two slots and gave first to the SPSL’s Viks. Lake Stevens hammered Jackson on the road, building a 42-0 lead in the second quarter and coasted to a running-clock shutout. Lake Stevens travels to Ferndale Friday for a non-conference game.

Lake’s junior running back Jayvian Ferrell continues to break long runs and leads 4A averaging just under 12 yards per carry. Ferrell is third in yards (758) and touchdowns (10) despite sitting out more than a half in each of three Viking wins. Junior QB Blake Moser has passed for 15 touchdowns and rushed for three more.

The Viks wrap with two conference home games: Oct. 24 vs Kamiak (1-5) and Homecoming, Senior Night and Halloween vs Arlington (3-3) on Oct. 31.

Gonzaga Prep Snags First Place Vote, Leans on the Pass More in

Gonzaga Prep slides up a notch to number three following a 63-0 thrashing of Shadle Park. We were reliably told that the Bullpups are looking to pass more this year, so we checked it out and sure enough, GP’s senior signal caller Sam Kincaid is among the GSL League leaders. The 6-ft senior is 36-47 (76%) for 743 yards with a league-leading 16 TDs, against no interceptions. G-Prep’s Isaiah Dockins has 24 catches for 376 yards and a league-leading 7 TD catches.

GP is relying on a balanced offense overall, churning out 316 yards per game – 180 on the ground and 136.5 through the air. It’s still a defense-first formula for the Bullpups, allowing their opponents 153 yards per game on average. All stats courtesy of SpokaneChalktalk. Follow them on IG. Gonzaga Prep’s next challenge comes in two weeks against 5-1 Mead, a 4A team on the outskirts of the top ten polls.

G-K Sits in 4th Amidst Injury Questions for Star QB

Graham-Kapowsin slides down a notch in this week’s power rankings through no fault of their own: Gonzaga Prep picked up a first place vote from Varsity WA. Blame Todd. That’s not to say it’s totally clear-sailing in the Southend: G-K’s star signal caller AJ Tuivaiave is questionable to play this week with a foot sprain. The 6’3, 240-lb 2028 star exited midway through last week’s 20-10 win at Bethel, a victory that counted among the week’s most impressive.

Hit the jump for recaps on each of the top ten teams in this week’s poll, plus our full Week 7 Polling Scorecard, which features the scores of each team across all seven weekly polls. J425 is a reader-supported publication.