Young Spartan stars step up in a 32-6 win over Nathan Hale.

LEON H. BRIGHAM FIELD, SEATTLE – It’s one thing for a backup to come in for a starter near the end of a blowout.

But to replace a starter for a game – in a high pressure situation – is a whole new world to conquer.

“I was kind of nervous,” said Kiyle Playter of his start in place of suspended starter Bryan Gilbreath. “I only got two practices in and I was rusty at first, but I got used to it at the end.”

The sophomore showed his future potential, recording four tackles and returning a interception for a touchdown as Bainbridge defeated Nathan Hale 32-6 in the Metro crossover game Friday night at Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center.

The win gives Bainbridge the third seed.

They got it by overcoming a bad start and forcing four turnovers while getting a big game from running back Dayton Gilbreath.

The junior rushed 21 times for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

“You look at our turnover ratio, it’s plus 21,” head coach Andy Grimm said. “We had four turnovers (Friday night) and that’s a pretty ungodly number. Plus we have the weapons to make teams pay.”

While the Spartans have made their mark this season by starting off strong (they’ve scored 119 points in the first quarter this season) they struggled on their first few drives, committing costly penalties at times.

“We knew they (Hale) would come out fired up,” Grimm said. “I think we were flat for the first time since the first quarter (against) Lakeside. We haven’t had too many flat quarters all season.”

Several players agreed.

“It took us a while for us to get going,” linebacker Kyle Petheram said. “We just didn’t come out and execute. That was the bottom line.”

“We started off slower than usual,” quarterback Quinton Agosta said. “I really don’t know what it was. We had some stupid penalties that screwed us over.”

The Raiders came out fired up, but had trouble establishing any sort of offense.

Eric Guttorp was able to kick a 37-yard field goal in the first quarter to put Hale on the board.

Bainbridge couldn’t get anything going on offense, but they did their job on defense, getting a break when Alex Carter picked off a Jake Hoel pass in the second quarter.

Dayton Gilbreath and Ross Cobb did their job by driving the Spartans down the field. Dane Hiett did the rest with a 33-yard touchdown run.

Hale countered with a long drive and a Guttorp field goal, but Hiett made another great play on the following kickoff return after colliding with one of his blockers and a Raider defender at the 20-yard line.

Instead of going down, he fell on the defender, pushed himself up and took off for an 82 yard return to the Hale 17, missing out on a touchdown when Guttorp tackled him.

“He was close to being down,” Grimm said. “But he was sitting on the guy’s back. That was a huge momentum changer.”

Dayton did the rest, scoring on the very next play.

That was all the scoring for the next 16 minutes, as both offenses struggled to put up points.

Hale had a big pass completion to Kiel Rasp down to the 10-yard line on their first drive in the third quarter, but the Bainbridge defense held and Hoel’s desperation pass was picked off by Petheram in the end zone.

The Spartans got another turnover when the Raiders messed up on a handoff and defensive tackle Zane Sackett fell on the ball.

They drove down to the three-yard line on a Agosta swing pass to Dayton Gilbreath in the fourth quarter, but he had to be helped off the field.

“I just cramped up,” he said. “But I came back and did my job.”

The Hale defense did their job by keeping the offense from scoring and blocked a field goal attempt by Kyle Scoble.

Grimm said he was a bit concerned about Hale driving down the field, but felt his team would come through.

“You worry about momentum,” he said. “I think we felt we were the better team, but momentum’s huge in sports. We kept leaving the door open for them.

“My thought was, let them stuff us on a field goal, instead of stuffing us on a run. But our kids responded.”

The Raider offense couldn’t get anything going and had to punt it away.

It took all of two plays for Bainbridge to score, as Dayton reeled off a 25-yard run, then Max Kauffman scored from 23 yards out.

He was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for sticking the ball out on his score and the extra point was blocked.

On Nathan Hale’s next drive, Playter made his mark, as he stepped in front of a Hoel pass intended for halfback Vance Wilson and took it 45 yards for the score to put the game on ice.

“I had outside containment and I saw from out the corner of my eye one of the running backs (was outside),” he said. “I knew he was going to throw to him, so I just stepped in front of him and intercepted it.”

“Those (turnovers) were big,” Petheram said. “Those turned the whole game around.”

Dayton capped off the night with a 35-yard touchdown run.

With the win, Bainbridge stays close to home with a district game against the Wesco number two seed in Shorecrest Friday at Memorial Stadium.

Dayton said they won’t be flat.

“We’ll come ready to play,” he said. “This game was a wake-up call for us.”

Grimm feels the same way.

“We’ll have Bryan back, which will be huge,” he said. “We’re pretty healthy. We’ll have no doubt we’ll have the kids prepared.”

Game time is at 7:30 p.m.