Eastlake football shuts out Mt. Si
With matching 4-2 season records, it looked like Monday night’s football matchup between the Eastlake Wolves and Mt. Si Wildcats would be a fierce competition. But in the end, the Wildcats never managed to find a groove and fell to the Wolves 24-0, which further amplified Eastlake’s homecoming celebration in the stands.
Mt. Si received the opening kickoff but quickly ran out of downs due to superb defense by Eastlake’s Jack Edmunds and Ben Carollo. With a failed field goal attempt, the quarter remained scoreless.
With frustration mounting, it seemed the Wolves would meet the same fate as the Wildcats on their first possession with strong defense from Mt. Si’s Brock Gates and Damien Wall. But Eastlake did not give up and inched their way to field goal range. With a 41-yard field goal, kicker Alex Dreher put the Wolves on the board with a 3-0 lead.
The second quarter opened with an Eastlake fumble recovered by Mt. Si’s Frank Kissick on the 2-yard line, preventing the Wolves from increasing their lead. The mishap only fired up the Eastlake defense. Edmunds and Carollo delivered, once again, and Balaz Dancshazy added a quarterback sack for a loss, leaving the Wildcats unable to capitalize on the turnover.
The Wolves would not squander their next opportunity. With several carries by Blake Borup, Eastlake punched into the end zone on a wheel route up the right side, increasing their lead to 10-0 with 4:29 left in the half.
Eastlake added one additional touchdown to the board on the same winning combination of Cole Hunt to Borup for a rushing touchdown to close the half with a 17-0 Wolves lead.
The second half was peppered with penalties, slowing all progress on the field. Woodward had a spectacular 61-yard touchdown run only to have it called back on penalties. Mt. Si’s Brock Gates managed an interception in the Eastlake end zone only to have his play overturned on a face mask penalty. Just when it seemed nothing would change, the reliable pairing of Hunt to Borup paid off again and the Wolves padded their lead with another touchdown, 24-0.
The Wildcats fought back in the fourth quarter with a series of completed passes from quarterback Cyrus Turley to wide receiver Liam Christensen. Just when it looked like Mt. Si would get on the board, Edmunds dashed their hopes with an end zone interception for the Wolves.
Eastlake would make their way down field again with several rushing gains from Borup and a completed pass from Hunt to Woodward. But the most spectacular down was a pass intended for wide receiver Kai Brown, who managed to tip the ball into the air, bouncing it off a defender and back into his hands for a surprising completion on the 10-yard line. With minutes left on the clock, Borup pushed his way to the 1-yard line on the second down of the series.
With seconds left in the game, Eastlake took a knee on both the third and fourth downs to end the game with a 24-0 victory.
This game was originally scheduled for Friday, October 14, but was cancelled due to poor air quality from wildfires burning in the Cascade Mountains.
