WENATCHEE – The magical season for the Mountaineers came to a close on Saturday afternoon as Cashmere defeated Mount Baker 41-14 in the 1A semifinal round at the Apple Bowl.
The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard early when they picked off the Mountaineers’ first pass attempt of the game and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown.
Cashmere then forced a Mount Baker punt, and scored again just three plays later on a nifty hook-and-ladder play that covered 28 yards and the Bulldogs were up 13-0 just four and a half minutes into the game.
Mountaineer senior running back Brice Cooper then sprung a 66-yard touchdown run on a counter play, as he followed Jeremiah Sheridan’s kick-out block and Kaiden Riedesel’s lead block, and Mount Baker was quickly back in the ball game.
After forcing a punt, the Mounties then took possession on their own 1-yard line, but was able to move the ball past midfield. They were eventually turned over on downs, and Cashmere quickly countered with a 45-yard touchdown pass.
The Bulldogs had a chance to score just before half with a long field goal attempts, but the kick came up short and Cashmere led 20-7 at the half.
Mount Baker made a big play on third down early in the the third quarter when junior defensive end Kell Reardon broke through the line and caused a fumble behind the line of scrimmage, it was picked up by a Bulldog player but he was brought down for a four-yard loss by senior defensive end Payton Zamzow.
Cashmere elected to go for it on 4th-and-11, and wound up scoring on a 36-yard touchdown pass, which halted any momentum Baker had built up on the previous play.
The ensuing kickoff went into the endzone for a touchback, and the Mountaineers went right back to their patented counter run on their next play from scrimmage.
This time, Riedesel came flying from his left tackle position and may have thrown the block of the year, which then allowed Cooper to break loose and race 80 yards for a touchdown which put Mount Baker back within two scores.
Cooper finished with 207 yards rushing on 19 carries. He also ended up averaging exactly 10 yards per carry for his entire career, the only player in Mount Baker history to accomplish that feat. He’s also just the third player in Whatcom County history to finish his career averaging at least 10 yards per carry, with the other two being Ben Broselle and Brady Locker, both of Ferndale.
However, that ended up as the last scoring play of the season for the Mounties, and Cashmere was able to tack on two more touchdowns before capturing the win.
Junior cornerback Zyan Paglia led the defense with 9.5 tackles, as well as a forced fumble and a pass defended. Reardon added six tackles, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble and junior linebacker Gunner McGrath had 7.5 tackles and a pass broken up.
Mount Baker’s season ended with a record of 10-2.
Cashmere 41 Mount Baker 14 MB 7 0 7 0 - 14 CSH 13 7 14 7 - 41 CSH - 54 yard interception return for a touchdown (run failed) CSH - 28 yard touchdown pass (kick good) MB - Cooper 66 run (E. Smith kick) CSH - 45 yard touchdown pass (kick good) CSH - 36 yard touchdown pass (kick good) MB - Cooper 80 run (E. Smith kick) CSH - 2 yard touchdown run (kick good) CSH - 22 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
MB CSH 38-291 Rush Att-Yards 25-121 2-9-1 Comp-Att-Int 18-29-0 12 Passing Yards 305 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MB: Cooper 19-207, Tigilau 6-37, G. Smith 4-23, N. Nicol-Mills 3-15, Moa 6-9. CSH: N/A. PASSING - MB: Tigilau 2-9-1-12. CSH: N/A. RECEIVING - MB: Cooper 2-12. CSH: N/A.
