DEMING – It may have been tied at 13 after the second quarter, but I can guarantee you that Mount Baker coach Ron Lepper let his team know during halftime that things needed to be picked up, partly because I’ve been in the locker room at halftime with Lepper as a coach. He must have said all the right things because the Mountaineers scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, and doubled up Cascade 38-19 at Bob Tisdale Field on Friday.
It was a passing bonanza in the second half for Baker as Kaleb Bass threw a bullet over the middle to his junior tight end Waylon Kentner. It was Kentner’s first varsity reception, and he took it 29 yards for a touchdown. Bass had completed a pass earlier in the game to Michael Kentner that went for 24 yards, and on that play Bass became the school’s career leader in passing yards.
He wasn’t done there as he unloaded a deep ball down the right sideline for senior speedster Kobee Malone, and they connected on a 37-yard touchdown. Sophomore fullback Toby Jefferson got his varsity start at running back, and scored his second touchdown of the game in the third quarter to help put away the Kodiaks.
Bass finished with 170 passing yards, hitting 7-of-13 passes. Jefferson totaled 91 yards on the ground on 16 attempts. Junior Jason Lee led the Moutaineers with 97 yards rushing on 12 carries. He also caught three passes for 70 yards.
Mount Baker’s offense was balanced once again, with 216 rushing yards and 170 passing yards.
Defensively, the Mounties had big performances by senior inside linebacker Jay Allen, who had a number of big hits and tackles for loss. junior linebacker Mark Tikhonov intercepted a Cascade pass on the first drive of the game, and sophomore corner back Ayden Rodriguez intercepted a pair of passes.
Mount Baker (2-1) will host Lynden Christian (3-0) this Friday to open up conference play.
Cascade 19
Mount Baker 38
Cas 6 7 0 6 – 19
MB 7 6 19 6 – 38
MB – Jefferson 28 run (Lee kick)
CAS – 1 yard TD run (kick blocked)
MB – Lee 15 run (kick failed)
CAS – 1 yard TD run (kick good)
MB – W. Kentner 29 pass from Bass (Lee kick)
MB – Malone 37 pass from Bass (kick blocked)
MB – Jefferson 3 run (run failed)
CAS – 72 yard TD pass (kick failed)
MB – Bass 4 run (run failed)
CAS MB
41-121 Rushing Att-Yards 40-216
4-15-3 Comp-Att-Int 7-13-0
112 Passing yards 170
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – CAS: N/A. MB: Lee 12-97, Jefferson 16-91, Bass 9-26, Tikhonov 3-2.
PASSING –CAS: N/A. MB: Bass 7-13-0-170
RECEIVING – CAS: N/A. MB: Lee 3-70, M. Kentner 2-34, Malone 1-37, W. Kentner 1-29.
