DEMING – The first two and a half quarters… they went pretty well for the Mountaineers. In fact, after senior running back Wilhem Maloley scored on a 7-yard touchdown run with 6:57 remaining in the third, Mount Baker held a relatively comfortable 25-0 lead.
La Center was then able to score the next 26 points of the game, in some extremely improbable ways, to come away with the 26-25 win on Saturday afternoon at Bob Tisdale Field.
As stated earlier, it was all Mount Baker early on, as senior running back Marcques George scored the first touchdown of the contest when he blasted through the a hole in middle of the line, which was created by junior center Vance Lawrence and senior guard Ethan Larson, and he sprinted 38 yards toward the end zone.
Senior quarterback Landon Smith was able to find junior Landen Hanstead on two touchdown passes in the second quarter. The first on a deep pass over the middle on a play-action play which covered 62 yards. The second touchdown pass was the exclamation point from a nine-play 96-yard drive, in which Smith lobbed the ball perfectly so only Hanstead could grab it from 16 yards out.
Mount Baker held a 19-0 lead at the half.
Shortly after Maloley’s third-quarter touchdown, was when the Wildcats went on the attack, first by scoring on a long 67-yard touchdown run.
A 20-yard field goal near the end of the third quarter cut the Mount Baker lead to 15 points, 25-10.
The Mountaineers were able to run a lot of clock in the fourth quarter, but La Center would score on a 9-yard touchdown run with 3:33 left in the game, which brought the score to 25-16.
Mount Baker then recovered La Center’s onside kick attempt, and kept running down the clock. But, with about a minute remaining in the game, a Wildcat defender ripped the ball away from a Mount Baker ball-carrier, and dashed 66 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was good, and now with 54 seconds remaining in the game, Mount Baker’s lead had shrunk to two points.
This time, La Center was able to recover its onside kick attempt, but still needed to drive down the field.
The Wildcats picked up crucial first downs, including a 14-yard scramble by the quarterback, which included him getting out of bounds to stop the clock at the Mount Baker 10-yard line.
The following play was a successful 27-yard field goal from the right hash mark that won the game for La Center.
The Mountaineers (3-3) will be back in league play this Friday when they host Nooksack Valley (5-1) at 7:00.
La Center 26 Mount Baker 25 LAC 0 0 10 16 - 26 MB 6 13 6 0 - 25 MB - George 38 run (kick blocked) MB - Hanstead 62 pass from Smith (kick failed) MB - Hanstead 16 pass from Smith (Robles kick) MB - W. Maloley 7 run (kick failed) LAC - 67 yard touchdown run (kick good) LAC - 20 yard field goal LAC - 9 yard touchdown run (pass failed) LAC - 66 yard fumble recovery for a touchdown (kick good) LAC - 27 yard field goal LAC MB 40-201 Rush Att-Yards 38-266 18-36-0 Comp-Att-Int 8-11-0 174 Passing Yards 176 Individual Leaders RUSHING - LAC: N/A. MB: George 15-171, W. Maloley 10-61, West 5-20, Smith 7-17, Hanstead 1-(-3). PASSING - LAC: N/A. MB: Smith 8-11-0-176. RECEIVING - LAC: N/A. MB: Hanstead 3-100, George 2-21, Staton 1-35, D. Moa 1-14, Rosse 1-6.
