EDMONDS – Three weeks ago, the Blaine football team traveled down to Edmonds to take on Mountlake Terrace. It just didn’t go the way of the Borderites, as they only managed 34 yards of total offense. A completely new mind-set drove Blaine in this new meeting with the Hawks, and the playoffs were on the line. Blaine answered the call, and beat Mountlake Terrace 28-10 at Edmonds District Stadium on Friday night.
A pretty even first half saw the Hawks jump out to a 10-7 lead, with the Mountlake Terrace finding holes in the running game, and the Borderites getting penalized too much. The second half was a completely different story.
Whatever the Hawks tried to do on offense wasn’t working. Blaine’s defense, which had been the highest ranking defense by yards allowed in Whatcom County all season, suffocated the sophisticated run game of Mountlake Terrace. Defensive linemen Wyatt Cole and Gavino Rodriguez, along with linebackers Hudson Reid and Zane Rector, put a ton of pressure on Hawk’s quarterback Jesse-James Martineau.
While the defense was making stops, it was then the offense’s turn to crank it up. Senior running back Alex Mercado, despite still learning the position, looked like a seasoned veteran running the ball. His extreme elusiveness went along with his power to finish runs, as he was the main workhorse in the second half, finishing with 29 carries for 189 yards.
Quarterback Will McKinney was able to finish two long drives in the third quarter with quarterback sneak touchdowns. He also had another one in the first quarter.
Up 21-10 in the fourth quarter it was Reid that made the play of the game when he jumped in the air to snatch a pass out of the air, and rambled 21 yards for a touchdown. It was a fitting play for the 6-foot-1 210-pound senior who has been stellar all season at linebacker. He also led the Borderites in receiving with four catches for 39 yards.
Blaine (5-4) will face Lynden (8-0) in a district playoff game at Civic Stadium this Friday at 4:30.
Blaine 28
Mountlake Terrace 10
BLA 7 0 14 7 – 28
MLT 0 10 0 0 – 10
BLA – McKinney 1 run (Kamrath kick)
MLT – Thompson 24 FG
MLT – Latham 14 run (Thompson kick)
BLA – McKinney 1 run (Kamrath kick)
BLA – McKinney 5 run (Kamrath kick)
BLA – Reid 21 interception return (Kamrath kick)
BLA MLT
48-230 Rushing Att-Yards 30-89
5-13-0 Comp-Att-Int 13-26-2
49 Passing yards 185
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – BLA: Mercado 29-189, Caridad 9-43, McKinney 10-(-2). MLT: Latham 9-72, Sims 9-29, Richardson 4-18, Traore 2-11, Dahlman 1-(-2), bad snap 1-(-10), Martineau 4-(29).
PASSING – BLA: McKinney 5-13-0-49. MLT: Martineau 6-11-0-103, Dahlman 7-15-2-82.
RECEIVING – BLA: Reid 4-39, Rector 1-10. MLT: Richardson 4-42, Revis 3-53, Sanchez-Escalara 3-46, Sims 2-11, Latham 1-33.
