BELLINGHAM – Mount Baker was down 20-0 in the second quarter, and was eight yards away from a lead with 1:24 left in the game, but it wasn’t meant to be as the Mountaineers fell to Toppenish 26-22 at Civic Stadium on Saturday night.
It was a landmark win for head coach Jason Smith and the Wildcats, who won their first state playoff game in 31 years. Smith is also a 1989 graduate of Mount Baker, and coached at Mount Baker with Ron Lepper in the mid-90’s. Smith was a two-time All-Whatcom County League 1st Team defensive end, and was also named All-League 1st Team at guard his senior year.
After falling behind 20-0 late in the second quarter, Baker put together a 66-yard drive in the final 1:16 of the first half which ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Davin Beason. Jesse Sande punched in the two-point conversion, and the Mounties had the momentum going into the second half.
Mount Baker received the second half kickoff, and put together another impressive drive. This time it was an 8-play 61-yard drive capped off by an incredible 10-yard touchdown run by Sande who spun out of trouble to find daylight on the right side of the field. With an injury to kicker Joel Robles, the Mountaineers were forced to go for two again, but was denied the second time.
Toppenish followed up the Baker score with a 73-yard touchdown pass, but the extra point was blocked by junior Brady West, and the score was kept at 26-14.
After trading a few possessions, Mount Baker forced the Wildcats to punt, but when the punter mishandled the snap, he was able to pick the ball up and run for a first down to end the third quarter.
Mountaineer sophomore defensive end Alex Maloley began the fourth quarter with a bang when he sacked the Toppenish quarterback from the blindside, which caused a fumble that was scooped up by sophomore Vance Lawrence and advanced to the Wildcat 38-yard line.
After two incompletions, junior running back Marcques George took the handoff and split the defense perfectly for a 38-yard touchdown run. Baker ran the exact play again for the two-point conversion, and George put it in again which made it a 4-point game. George finished the game with a team-high 109 yards rushing on 12 carries.
Toppenish was then able to drive past midfield, but ultimately was forced to punt it back to Mount Baker with 6:14 to go in the game.
Beason then hit senior wide receiver Caleb Horsmon on a quick-hitch pattern, and the fleet-footed senior spun outside and advanced the ball 23 yards. The Wildcats intercepted a pass on the following play, and took over possession at their own 8-yard line with 5:49 left.
Toppenish was able to run some clock down, and pick up a first down, but when the Mountaineer pass rush of Maloley and Drake Pinkey forced the quarterback out of the pocket, the ball slipped out of his hands and was recovered by Mount Baker junior linebacker Brady West at the Wildcat 20-yard line with 3:02 remaining.
The Mountianeers were able to advance the ball to the 8-yard line when a Wildcat player was penalized for offsides, but an interception on fourth down sealed the fate for Mount Baker, and ended the season.
The Mountaineers finished the season with a record of 5-4.
Toppenish 26 Mount Baker 22 TOP 7 13 6 0 - 26 MB 0 8 6 8 - 22 TOP - 6 yard touchdown run (kick good) TOP - 28 yard touchdown pass (kick good) TOP - 27 yard touchdown pass (kick blocked) MB - Beason 5 run (Sande run) MB - Sande 10 run (run failed) TOP - 73 yard touchdown pass (pass failed) MB - George 38 run (George run)
TOP MB 31-61 Rush Att-Yards 36-159 17-24-0 Comp-Att-Int 6-19-3 281 Passing Yards 130 Individual Leaders RUSHING - TOP: N/A. MB: George 12-109, Sande 10-57, Hanstead 1-6, Horsmon 1-0, Beason 12-(-13). PASSING - TOP: N/A. MB: Beason 6-19-3-130. RECEIVING - TOP: N/A. MB: Pettigrew 3-46, Horsmon 2-54, A. Maloley 1-30.
