EDMONDS — Shorecrest football had Mountlake Terrace on its heels.
After leading off the game at Edmonds Stadium on Friday with a 5:08, 57-yard touchdown drive to go up 6-0 in the first quarter, Mountlake Terrace allowed Shorecrest to march from its own 33 all the way inside the five-yard line on the next drive. With the run game churning, Shorecrest just needed to punch through four yards on third-and-goal to tie and potentially jump ahead with the extra point.
They say, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ so Shorecrest ran it up the middle once more. Only this time, Mountlake Terrace linebacker Nate Brown decided to break it.
The senior blitzed inside and punched the ball out. Senior defensive lineman Liam Moore spotted it loose on the ground and fell on it. He felt bodies pile up on top of him, but it didn’t matter. Mountlake Terrace stopped the drive dead in its tracks and took over possession.
“It was big, because they were driving down the field all game, and that was a huge stop for us,” Moore said. “It kind of changed the momentum, I think.”
The Hawks (4-0, 2-0 league) forced a turnover on downs on the next defensive drive, and the rushing attack kicked into gear to the tune of 315 net yards en route to a 29-0 victory against the Scots (2-2, 0-2). While the offense ran wild down the stretch, it was the Mountlake Terrace defense that set the tone, allowing just 194 total yards to lock up its third shutout of the season. The Hawks have outscored opponents 161-6 through four games this year.
“We defend every blade of grass,” Mountlake Terrace coach Archie Malloy said. “That’s our mantra, and it held true tonight. Sometimes teams have a good game plan and they get yards on us, but we don’t break. And we keep playing down after down after down, and it shows.”
The Hawks boasted a three-headed rushing attack led by junior Owen Boswell, who notched 128 yards and three touchdowns on just 12 attempts (10.7 yards per carry). Quarterback Mason Wilson added 107 yards on the ground, only needing to pass for 27 yards, and senior Cody Ekanayake pitched in 82 yards and a touchdown.
Shorecrest junior Isaiah Blidchenko led the Scots with 99 rushing yards, practically taking over the offense after starting quarterback David Telling (35 passing yards) went down early in the second quarter. The junior was spotted with a sling on his right arm and holding an ice pack to his chest, walking to the locker room at halftime.
After Boswell capped off the opening drive with a two-yard rushing touchdown and the Hawks defense forced the fumble, the Scots forced a 3-and-out and were set up on Mountlake Terrace’s 31 after the punt. Scots senior Evan Carpenter picked up nine yards on the first play, but the Hawks put up a wall on the next three, not allowing any advancement as the Scots ultimately failed to convert on 4th-and-1. Boswell made the tackle on fourth down to prevent the conversion.
“We love defense,” Boswell said. “Come out on defense, we love it. We love to start the game with defense.”
Boswell must love offense, too. After a punt from each side, Mountlake Terrace found its footing on offense again, gaining 57 of 71 yards on the ground in a nine-play drive that ended with another short Boswell touchdown. Wilson connected with Boswell for the two-point attempt, but the play was nullified by a penalty, so the Hawks settled for an extra point instead to make it 13-0.
They would end up getting two points another way.
After the special teams unit pinned Shorecrest inside its own 10 on the ensuing kickoff, a high snap flew out the back of the end zone to give Mountlake Terrace a safety and make it 15-0 with 2:24 left in the first half.
Facing the threat of a three-possession deficit, Carpenter came up big with an interception for Shorecrest around midfield 37 seconds before the break to keep it 15-0 going into halftime.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Malloy said. “We kept living in second- and third-and-long, and that’s just not a way you want to approach games in the Wesco South, so we were fortunate to get out of here. That’s a tough team, hard-nosed team, well-coached team, and you know, they played hard and so did we.”
The game slowed down in the third quarter, with three total punts and no scores, but the Hawks finished off a 12-play, 78-yard drive that started in the third with another Boswell rushing touchdown to extend it to 22-0 with nine minutes left.
“Just pounding it every single play,” Boswell said. “Just little fixes after every play. I feel like our line did amazing, made adjustments, and I just followed them.”
With the game well in hand, Mountlake Terrace forced another punt — backing the Scots up to 4th-and-20 on their own 28 — before marching down the field once more. Boswell gained 35 yards on two attempts before Ekanayake ran it in from 16 yards out for the 29-0 final.
Brown, who had the early forced fumble, exited with an injury midway through the third quarter, but Malloy did not have an update on his status. Playing a key role both with the linebackers and at tight end, Brown would be a big loss if he misses any more time, but Malloy preached a common mentality amongst teams that believe in their depth.
“We always go next man up,” Malloy said. “Everybody is prepared. We have 36 kids in our program, we have 36 cats ready to go.”
Seeing how the Hawks started the season, it would be tough to disagree.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
