Mountlake Terrace opens with wild win over Mariner

EDMONDS — After Friday’s 34-31 win over Mariner, Mountlake Terrace head coach Kelly Dougan was all smiles. After getting his first victory as a high school head coach, who could blame him?

“I really couldn’t be more excited,” Dougan said. “It’s a nice start. I’m probably going to get more and more excited as the hours and days go by, but I feel really good about it.”

It wasn’t just his first victory that had Dougan so pleased. Many didn’t know what to expect from a Hawks team that graduated several key players from a team that made the state playoffs and finished with the best record in school history a year ago.

Dougan learned on Friday his team has plenty of players that can fill those roles.

“The guys are players, they can play,” Dougan said. “I’ve known most of these guys since they were in third grade. They’re gamers. They play hard and they play hurt.”

The Hawks took the ball down the field on their first possession, marching 80 yards in 11 plays culminating in a 34-yard touchdown reception by junior Daniel Johnson from senior Mikey Jenson. They added a two-point conversion on a pass from Jenson to senior Riley Morrin.

Dougan stayed with his aggressive approach on the kickoff when elected to onside kick — and it paid off. The Hawks responded and five plays later they were in the end zone again. Facing a 4th-and-7 from the 20-yard line, the Hawks went for it and Jenson found Johnson in the back of the end zone for the second touchdown connection between the two players.

Johnson provided a big-play presence, finishing with three catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

“We knew that’s what he brought to our team,” Dougan said. “It changes the character of our opponent’s defense. They have to account for him with two players, not just one. That gives us more room in the box to run the football.”

The Hawks put 14 points on the scoreboard before Mariner even touched the ball on offense, but the Marauders didn’t waste time getting in the end zone when they finally got it. On their fourth offensive play, junior Anthany Smith broke a run to the outside for a 36-yard touchdown.

The first quarter ended with the Hawks up 14-7. Mariner added a field goal midway through the second quarter, but Mountlake Terrace answered with a touchdown with seconds remaining in the first half to give the Hawks a 20-10 lead at the intermission.

Behind veteran head coach Mark Stewart, who is in his first year at the helm for Mariner, the Marauders made a halftime adjustment and came out firing in the second half. Smith scored his second touchdown of the game on the first offensive play of the third quarter, this time on a 65-yard pass from junior JJ Walker.

The Hawks were forced to punt on their next possession, but they made the mistake of kicking to Smith, who returned the punt 64 yards for a touchdown. Smith’s third touchdown of the game gave Mariner its first lead at 24-20.

“We battled,” Stewart said. “We didn’t tackle well early, but we kind of battled back. I thought we stayed focused for the most part and we played hard the whole game.”

Mountlake Terrace responded to its first adversity of the night with a touchdown drive late in the third quarter to regain the lead. Jenson threw his third touchdown pass of the game, this time connecting with Morrin from 32 yards out.

Jenson finished 8-for-11 for 177 yards and three touchdowns.

The Hawks led 27-24 at the end of the third quarter, but Mariner wasted little time reclaiming it. Smith scored his fourth touchdown of the game less than a minute into the fourth quarter on a 7-yard run to go up 31-27.

Mountlake Terrace scored the final touchdown of the game with 4:56 to play on a 7-yard run by senior Jordan Bishop. Mariner had one final chance to retake the lead, but its drive stalled on the Mountlake Terrace 41-yard line with 2:31 to play in the game.

“We’ve just got to come back from this and see what we can do at practice and how we can get better,” Stewart said. “I think we will. We’ve got a good group of guys and it’s the first game with new coaches and a new system. Not everything is going to go great. You’d like to win, so we’re disappointed, but this whole thing is a process so we’re going to go look at film and attack that process.”

Smith was the standout for Mariner, finishing with one catch for 65 yards and a touchdown, a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown and 68 yards rushing with two more touchdowns.

Smith’s performance gives the Hawks something to work on as the season moves forward.

“We’ve got to tackle him,” Dougan said. “It’s going to be a really good example of the kind of athletes we’re going to be seeing all season long. We have to do a better job containing them. When we have the opportunity to make a tackle we’ve got to finish it.

“He’s going to do us some favors preparing for teams down the road. What a great game he had.”

At Edmonds Stadium

Mariner 7 3 14 7 — 31

Mountlake Terrace 14 6 7 7 — 34

MT—Daniel Johnson 34 pass from Michael Jenson (Riley Morrin pass from Jenson)

MT—Johnson 20 pass from Jenson (pass failed)

M—Anthany Smith 36 run (Alex Angelos kick)

M—Angelos 36 FG

MT—Tanner Munnis 1 run (pass failed)

M—Smith 65 pass from JJ Walker (Angelos kick)

M—Smith 64 punt return (Angelos kick)

MT—Morrin 32 pass from Jenson (Jenson kick)