ANACORTES – After a rough second quarter, the Mount Baker football team showed its dominance in the second half and defeated Anacortes 48-14 on Thursday night.
The Mountaineers got off to a fast start when senior defensive end Garrett Smith grabbed a swing pass out of the air and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown. Mount Baker then forced a punt, and junior running back Jesse Sande followed the blocks of pulling tackle Aidan Corning, pulling guard Ethan Larson and the down-block of tight end Jeremiah Lee, and took it 47 yards for a touchdown.
Baker had an uncharacteristic second quarter, with a few mishaps, and the Seahawks got on the board with a 13-yard touchdown run, but the Mounties went into halftime with a 14-7 lead.
It was all business in the second half, though.
Senior quarterback Mason Jacoby found fellow senior Ayden Rodriguez on a pair of deep touchdown passes, and Sande scored his second 47-yard touchdown run of the game, this time while following the devastating block that was dished out by right tackle Victor Schuener.
Sande scored his third touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter, this time from 29 yards out, and he finished with a career-high 205 yards on 14 carries. Senior fullback Toby Jefferson provided tough yards up the middle and he ended with 109 yards on 10 carries.
Sophomore running back Marcques George scored this final Mount Baker touchdown of the game, a 7-yarder that was set up after the interception by junior cornerback Brent Anderson.
The Seahawks scored a touchdown in the waning minutes.
Junior middle linebacker Davin Beason led the Mountaineers with nine tackles, and he also had 1.5 sacks. Baker also got stops behind the line from Lee, Smith, Corning, Phil Paez, sophomore Logan Steeves and freshman Alex Maloley.
The Mountaineers (4-0) will host King’s (3-1) on Tuesday night.
Mount Baker 48
Anacortes 14
MB 14 0 20 14 – 48
ANA 0 7 0 7 – 14
MB – G. Smith 51 interception return (Zavala kick)
MB – Sande 47 run (Zavala kick)
ANA – 13 yard touchdown run (kick good)
MB – Rodriguez 20 pass from Jacboy (kick failed)
MB – Sande 47 run (Zavala kick)
MB – Rodriguez 61 pass from Jacoby (Zavala kick)
MB – Sande 29 run (Zavala kick)
MB – George 7 run (Zavala kick)
ANA – 35 yard touchdown run
MB ANA
31-371 Rushing Att-Yards 30-177
7-14-1 Comp-Att-Int 11-30-2
138 Passing yards 88
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – MB: Sande 14-205, Jefferson 10-109, W. Maloley 1-35, George 2-14, Rodriguez 1-8, L. Smith 1-1, Jacoby 2-(-1). ANA: N/A.
PASSING – MB: Jacoby 7-14-1-138. ANA: N/A.
RECEIVING – MB: Rodriguez 5-98, G. Smith 2-40. ANA: N/A.
