LA CENTER – Two touchdown passes and one touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Toga Tigilau wasn’t enough as the Mountaineers fell to La Center 33-19 on Saturday afternoon.
The deep passing game was working for Mount Baker, as Tigilau finished with 237 yards passing with senior wide receivers Tanyen Staton and Hayden Rosse each surpassed 100 yards receiving on the day. It was the first time in 23 years that two Mountaineer receivers had over 100 yards receiving in the same game.
It couldn’t combat the strong run offense of the Wildcats, though. La Center piled up nearly 300 yards on the ground, and jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Mount Baker countered with a 60-yard touchdown pass from Tigilau to Staton down the left sideline.
La Center scored one more time in the second quarter, and went into halftime with a 20-6 lead.
The Mounties continued through the air, and Tigilau found Staton on a 13-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to narrow the Wildcat lead to 20-12.
After forcing a Mount Baker punt, a long La Center punt return set the Wildcats up with a short field, and they would score moments later on a 25-yard touchdown pass. La Center quickly intercepted a pass on Baker’s next possession and scored one play later on an 18-yard touchdown run to give the Wildcats a 33-12 lead halfway through the final quarter.
The Mountaineers put one more scoring drive together, and scored one a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Tigilau. It was his first varsity touchdown. Other varsity firsts for Mount Baker were interceptions made my junior Dean Allred and sophomore Jet Ross.
Junior running back Dylan Moa led the Mountaineers on the ground with 47 yards on 10 carries, while senior defensive ends Vance Lawrence and Alex Maloley again had a big game, each with seven tackles, to lead the defense. Maloley picked up another four tackles for loss, which gives him a Whatcom County leading 16 on the season.
The Mountaineers (2-4) will travel to Nooksack Valley (4-2) on Friday to take on the Pioneers at 7:00.
La Center 33
Mount Baker 19
MB 6 0 6 7 - 19
LAC 14 6 0 13 - 33
LAC - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good)
LAC - 4 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
MB - Staton 60 pass from Tigilau (kick failed)
LAC - 4 yard touchdown run (kick failed)
MB - Staton 13 pass from Tigilau (kick failed)
LAC - 25 yard touchdown pass (kick failed)
LAC - 18 yard touchdown run (kick good)
MB - Tigilau 1 run (Zavala kick)
MB LAC
23-81 Rush Att-Yards 36-297
11-22-2 Comp-Att-Int 9-15-2
237 Passing Yards 105
Individual Leaders
RUSHING - MB: D. Moa 10-47, Bruland 11-27, Rosse 1-6, Tigilau 1-1. LAC: N/A.
PASSING - MB: Tigilau 11-22-2-237. LAC: N/A.
RECEIVING - MB: Staton 5-120, Rosse 4-102, Mosher 2-15. LAC: N/A.
