By Shaun Scott, Puyallup Tribal News
A showdown between the University of Puget Sound Loggers and Pacific Lutheran University Lutes football programs featured two Puyallup Tribal Members on opposite sidelines Oct. 11 at Baker Stadium in Tacoma.
Tribal Members Joey Earl (University of Puget Sound) and Kyson Young (Pacific Lutheran University) suited up for their respective Division III football squads. Earl, a 2025 Chief Leschi Schools graduate, is a freshman defensive back for the Loggers. Young, a 2022 Puyallup High School alumnus, is a sophomore defensive lineman for the Lutes.
Earl suited up for the game, but didn’t play after suffering a foot injury earlier this season. Young saw playing time as a backup defensive lineman and on special teams. Having Tribal Members in the same game on the same field on the collegiate stage is something Earl and Young said they are both proud of.
“The fact that two Tribal Members were able to be on the field today playing locally speaks a lot of our people and how far we’ve come. I want to show the younger generations that playing college football is possible. You should never sell yourself short of your dreams,” Earl said. “That is my biggest thing — showing that no matter where you come from, you can still make it.”
Young echoed Earl’s sentiment.
“It shows that our community is working our butts off to get here. You got to love it,” Young said.
Young is in his second season with the PLU football program after originally playing at Arizona Christian University and said he is happy to be back in the Pacific Northwest. Young lives on the Puyallup Reservation and commutes to the Pacific Lutheran University campus.
“It was always the goal to come back and play in Washington. It’s perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Young said.
While Young and Earl were three years apart in their high school graduating classes, they know each other well and talk when their paths cross.
“I have kept up with him (Earl) throughout his high school years because he wasn’t too far behind me,” Young said. “When his dad, Chester, told me earlier this year that he was coming to UPS, I thought it would be pretty cool to play against him.”
Earl said inspiring the next group of Tribal athletes means everything to him.
“I went to this school (University of Puget Sound) and he went to that local school (Pacific Lutheran University). There is opportunity everywhere. All you have to do is be ready to seek it,” Earl said.
