Jackson falls in early hole, loses to Mount Vernon

EVERETT — A slow start for the second straight week plagued Jackson, and the Timberwolves never fully recovered.

Jackson found itself in a three-touchdown hole by the end of the first quarter, they found little success corralling Wesco 4A’s leading rusher and suffered a 49-24 league loss to Mount Vernon on Friday at Everett Memorial Stadium.

“Anytime you get down early there is that risk of a snowball affect,” said Jackson coach Ryan Simmons, who is helping fill in for head coach Joel Vincent while he’s away handling a family matter. “I thought we responded pretty well. We were down 21-0 early, and last week we were in the same boat, and this week we kind of stepped up. We didn’t let the score get to us.”

The Timberwolves (3-4, 1-4 Wesco 4A) played Mount Vernon (6-1, 4-1) relatively even the final three quarters, but the damage had already been done.

Bulldogs running back Seth Tercero finished with 210 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries. He frequently carved his way through Jackson’s defense with punishing, physical runs.

Playing without injured senior quarterback Ben Oleson, Jackson sophomore signal-callers Nathan Clark and Justin Vickery split time under center. Clark completed 11-of-23 passes for 101 yards and threw for a touchdown and three interceptions. Vickery played most of the second half and finished with 171 yards and two touchdowns on 12-of-19 passing.

Jackson wideout Isaac Grayson enjoyed a big night, finishing with 147 receiving yards and a touchdown on 10 receptions.

The Timberwolves trailed 21-0 at half but cut the lead to 21-7 less than two minutes into the third quarter. But Mount Vernon answered with 14 consecutive points in less than a three-minute span to pull away.

IMPACT

The loss was the third straight for Jackson, which has seen its playoff hopes all but disappear. The defeat was another defensive struggled after the Timberwolves yielded 56 points to Monroe a week ago. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have won three straight and, with a early season loss to Lake Stevens, are most likely fighting for second place in Wesco 4A.

TOP PERFORMERS

Seth Tercero, Mount Vernon — The Bulldogs’ back was featured heavily and seemed to wear down Jackson’s front seven. He finished with 210 yards and scored on touchdown runs of 1, 5, 34 and 38 yards.

Isaac Grayson, Jackson — The senior wide receiver was the recipient of a large target share and made the most of his opportunities. He hauled in 10 passes for 147 yards and scored on a 5-yard wide receiver screen early in the fourth quarter.

Carlos Garcia, Mount Vernon — Garcia caught three passes for 99 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown and a 4-yard score. He also intercepted Clark twice.

QUOTABLES

“At halftime we thought that we are not out of this game. Everyone thought it would be a running clock at halftime, but our guys got some confidence about how the second quarter went, and they really came out and showed it in the second half.” — Jackson coach Ryan Simmons

“We are two years removed from being 0-20, so being 6-1 right now and 4-1 in league feels really good.” — Mount Vernon coach Nic Vasilchek

“Seth is a really hard-nosed kid that we give the ball to a lot. He is our workhouse, and he’s one of our few guys that doesn’t play both ways. He is a specialist, he is our guy, he’s our workhorse and he loves it. I’m glad I didn’t have to play high school football against him. He’s a bear and a good kid and runs hard.” — Mount Vernon coach Nic Vasilchek

UP NEXT

It won’t get easier next week when Jackson travels to play Lake Stevens. Mount Vernon faces Kamiak next week at Goddard Stadium.

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