BELLINGHAM – Finishing as the top team from the toughest 1A conference in the state, I would imagine that Mount Baker wasn’t exactly pleased with the 5-seed that it was given. In return, the Mountaineers took it out on the Grizzlies with a 36-21 victory at Civic Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The game wasn’t as close as the score indicated as Hoquiam scored two touchdowns in the final minutes against the Baker backups.
The Mounties showed their dominance early on when junior quarterback Mason Jacoby scored on a 1-yard sneak, which was followed up by a 22-yard bubble pass for a touchdown from Jacoby to junior speedster Ayden Rodriguez. Jacoby finished 10-of-13 passing for the second game in a row, this time for 143 yards.
Senior running back Jason Lee scored from a yard out to begin the second quarter. Lee enjoyed a huge game with 148 yards on 18 carries, which leaves him nine yards short of 2,000 for his career.
The Grizzlies scored on a 44-yard touchdown pass on a 4th-down play late in the first half. But, Mount Baker, with the help of a 56-yard completion from Jacoby to 6-foot-3 junior Garrett Smith, was able to put together a big drive together with very little time. Junior kicker Miguel Zavala punched in a 31-yard field goal just before halftime to give the Mounties a 23-7 lead.
Lee scored his second touchdown of the game (the 24th rushing touchdown of his career) in the third quarter, and when the Grizzly defense focused on the athletic 181-pound senior, it was junior fullback Toby Jefferson that was able to pound through the middle of the opposing defense to score a 16-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Jefferson finished with 79 yards on 12 carries, and he surpassed 1,000 yards rushing on the season.
The Mountaineers have now had at least one 1,000-yard rusher in each of the last 10 seasons.
The win means that Mount Baker (10-1) will go on the road to face Connell (8-3) this weekend. Time, date and exact location is still unknown.
Hoquiam 21
Mount Baker 36
HOQ 0 7 0 14 – 21
MB 13 10 7 6 – 36
MB – Jacoby 1 run (kick blocked)
MB – Rodriguez 22 pass from Jacoby (Zavala kick)
MB – Lee 1 run (Zavala kick)
HOQ – 44 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
MB – Zavala 31 FG
MB – Lee 8 run (Zavala kick)
MB – Jefferson 16 run (kick failed)
HOQ – 1 yard touchdown run (kick good)
HOQ – 1 yard touchdown run (kick good)
HOQ MB
37-79 Rushing Att-Yards 36-223
15-16-0 Comp-Att-Int 10-13-0
178 Passing yards 143
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – MB: Lee 18-148, Jefferson 12-79, Rodriguez 2-1, Jacoby 4-(-5). HOQ: N/A.
PASSING – MB: Jacoby 10-13-0-143. HOQ: N/A.
RECEIVING – MB: Rodriguez 5-43, Smith 3-80, Kentner 1-16, Lee 1-4. HOQ: N/A.
