EVERETT — Before watching him strap on a helmet and lead his team to victory, it would be easy to miss Cascade’s 5-foot-6 spark plug LaQuondis Bruce.
The 159-pound junior was hard to miss under the lights at Memorial Stadium, however. Bruce worked his way into seemingly every significant play — good and bad — and propelled Cascade to a 42-28 triumph over Mountlake Terrace Friday night.
“It’s amazing,” Bruce said. “I love it.”
Bruce’s three fumble recoveries on defense — one returned for a touchdown — and two touchdown runs on offense put the Bruins (2-1 Wesco, 4-1 overall) into the thick of the playoff hunt, having vaulted over the Hawks (1-1, 3-2) for the all-important third place in league.
“We’ve got a real explosive player and with our offense hopefully we can be an explosive team,” Cascade coach Jake Huizinga said.
It looked like it would be a defensive slugfest early, which would have been nothing new for the Bruins whose four previous opponents scored no more than 14 points.
Both teams punted on their first possession and Terrace lined up to punt a second time after driving to the Cascade 45. The snap flew way over senior punter Nate Ryals’ head and he could only fall on it at the Terrace 23-yard line for a loss of 32.
That was all the spark Cascade’s offense needed. Three plays later Bruce scampered into the end zone and the onslaught began.
Terrace began their next possession with an incomplete pass and a two-yard loss. The Hawks then lined up in a three-receiver stack formation designed to confuse the defense and senior quarterback Brandyn Eckhart passed to Hunter Rook, who stood at the line of scrimmage.
Rook was smothered by multiple Bruins defenders and fumbled the football into the hands of Bruce, who raced 19 yards to score his second touchdown in less than two minutes.
Early miscues took Terrace out of the game, and the Hawks’ rushing attack, which had been the driving force behind impressive wins over teams like Glacier Peak, was held to six yards. With the running game stymied, Eckhart took to the air for 269 yards and two scores on 19-for-31 passing. He rallied the Hawks to 21 second-half points, but the team’s first-half blunders remained the difference.
“We dug ourselves too big a hole with careless mistakes,” Hawks coach Tony Umayam said. “We have to learn from that.”
Bruce recovered another first-quarter fumble just two plays after his defensive score. His second recovery led to the Bruin’s third touchdown, a 7-yard run by Aaron Miller who carried the ball 21 times for 122 yards in the game.
Terrace’s offense first got untracked down 21-0. Eckhart was 3-for-5 for 63 yard while driving his team down the field. Then coach Umayam went into his bag of tricks for a double-reverse pass back to the wide-open quarterback. Eckhart tiptoed into the end zone after grabbing a pass from wideout Zach Karels for the Hawks’s first score.
However, Cascade’s Chris McGrath sucked all the wind out of the energetic Terrace sideline, taking the ensuing kickoff 79 yards up the left sideline for a score.
As happy as he was about the first half, Huizinga only could shake his head about the second half when Terrace fought back and the Bruins’ offense sputtered.
“They (the Hawks) are a gritty team,” Huizinga said. “ And they played hard. I’m glad we played as well as we did in the first half … I didn’t like the second half.”
If Bruce is going to continue his ascension to Wesco prominence, he will have to work to eliminate the second half mistakes as well. Bruce was involved in three fumbles in third quarter; one he attributed to a switch at the center position and one to a shaky handoff.
He’ll get his next chance to lead the Bruin offense in a week when they travel to Snohomish for a non-league game.
At Everett Memorial Stadium
M. Terrace07714 — 28
Cascade142107 — 42
Cascade — LaQuondis Bruce 9 run (Casey Wiedmer kick)
Cascade — Bruce 19 fumble return (Wiedmer kick)
Cascade — Aaron Miller 7 run (Wiedmer kick)
Terrace — Brandyn Eckhart 6 pass from Zach Karels (Nate Ryals kick good)
Cascade — Chris McGrath 79 kick off return (Wiedmer kick))
Cascade — Aaron Miller 9 run (Wiedmer kick)
Terrace — Hunter Rook 16 pass from Eckhart (Ryals kick)
Cascade — Bruce 35 run (Wiedmer kick)
Terrace — Casey Ellersick 5 run (Ryals kick)
Terrace — Sebastian Serphin 40 pass from Eckhart (Ryals kick)
Records — Mountlake Terrace 1-1 league, 3-2 overall. Cascade 2-1, 4-1.
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