EDMONDS
There were three possible scenarios that would give Mountlake Terrace a Wesco 3A playoff spot, and all of them involved the Hawks winning.
Mountlake Terrace did its part, defeating Lynnwood 43-13 in its final Wesco 3A game of the regular season and got a little help from Glacier Peak, to secure a spot in a three-team Kansas tiebreaker on Saturday.
“Because of the rivalry, every game against Lynnwood is big,” Hawks’ head coach Tony Umayam said. “They came out and played hard. They hit us in the mouth early on. Fortunately, we were able to bounce back.”
After Lynnwood’s Colton Degraw returned a fumble 13 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, Mountlake Terrace rattled off 36 unanswered points to all but put the game away.
“There was a sense of urgency and maybe we came out a little tight,” Umayam said. “Once things settled down we were able to make some plays. We knew this was a big game.”
DeVante Downs led the Hawks’ rushing attack with 124 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries and Griffin Rash added nine carries for 62 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Hunter Rook completed 14 of 19 passes for 158 yards and had a rushing touchdown.
According to Umayam the win secured the “the first back-to-back winning seasons at Terrace in 25 years.”
The win, along with Glacier Peak’s 42-7 win over Everett and Meadowdale’s 41-20 victory over Oak Harbor, set up a three-team tiebreaker at 5 p.m. Oct. 30 at Shoreline Stadium. The Kansas tiebreaker involves all three teams playing each other in an overtime-style format. Each team starts on the 25-yard line and gets a chance to score.
“It’s just overtime,” Umayam said. “You get your one series on offense and then one series on defense. It’s pretty quick.”
“Us and Everett are going to play the first tiebreaker, and the winner is going to play Shorecrest,” Umayam said. “The winner of that game gets the third seed. The loser of that game will play the loser of the first game, if they haven’t already played.”
Shorecrest gets the second game since it drew a higher number in a preseason draw.
“There’s not a whole lot to say other than you just kind of have to have your best plays and you just hope. … to start fast,” Umayam said. “It’s imperative that you start fast in this, cause if you don’t you’re out. You gotta play mistake-free football from the very beginning.”
Umayam likes it better than the alternative, flipping a coin to see who makes the playoffs.
“I’ve never been part of a tiebreaker like this,” Umayam said. “It’s not real common. I’m glad though that they decide it on the field and don’t go by a basic coin flip.”
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