PORT ANGELES – The Mountaineers looked strong in all three phases of the game as they went on the road and defeated Port Angeles 47-12 on Friday night.
Mount Baker drove 67 yards in just five plays to open up the game, and it was punctuated by an 11-yard touchdown run from senior Kamden Moa.
Each team traded possessions over the next 20 minutes of gametime before the Rough Riders hit paydirt with a 34-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 3:09 left in the first half. 6-foot-6 junior Kell Reardon blocked the extra point, which secured the Mountaineer lead at 7-6.
With 1:02 left until halftime, senior safety Jet Ross intercepted a pass and and returned it into Port Angeles territory. Three plays later, senior quarterback Toga Tigilau connected with Ross on a 33-yard touchdown on a play-action pass.
Junior cornerback Zyan Paglia intercepted a pass on Port Angeles’ next play from scrimmage with 39 seconds left in the first half. To that point, Ross had caught multiple passes using a 5-yard out pattern, and Coach Ron Lepper knew this was the perfect time for the 5-yard out and up. Ross ran the pattern to perfection, and Tigilau found him for a 32-yard touchdown, which gave Mount Baker a 20-6 lead just before halftime.
Ross finished with six receptions for 106 yards.
The second half was filled with multiple stops behind the line by the Mountaineer defense, and a heavy run game from its offense.
Mount Baker scored three rushing touchdowns in the third quarter alone, one by senior Brice Cooper (who finished with 79 yards on 11 carries), one on a 2-yard sneak by Tigilau and the other was a 32-yard blast by Moa, his second touchdown of the game. Moa finished with a team-high 103 yards rushing on just six carries.
Junior running back Noah Nicol-Mills carried the ball for a 5-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, which implemented the running clock.
The Rough Riders got into the end zone one last time with less than 30 seconds left in the game.
Nicol-Mills also boosted the Mountaineer defense with six tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Junior defensive tackle added four tackles behind the line of scrimmage, while Reardon had 5.5 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one quarterback sack, one pass batted down at the line of scrimmage and a blocked kick. Junior linebacker Andrew Monteith led his team with eight tackles.
Mount Baker (1-0) will travel to Hockinson (0-1) on Friday to take on the Hawks at 6:00.
Mount Baker 47 Port Angeles 12 MB 7 13 20 7 - 47 PA 0 6 0 6 - 12 MB - Moa 11 run (E. Smith kick) PA - 34 yard touchdown pass (kick blocked) MB - Ross 33 pass from Tigilau (bad snap) MB - Ross 32 pass from Tigilau (E. Smith kick) MB - Cooper 6 run (kick failed) MB - Tigilau 2 run (E. Smith kick) MB - Moa 32 run (E. Smith kick) MB - N. Nicol-Mills 5 run (E. Smith kick) PA - 34 yard touchdown pass (kick failed) MB PA 31-254 Rush Att-Yards 33-81 9-14-0 Comp-Att-Int 11-25-3 132 Passing Yards 161 Individual Leaders RUSHING - MB: Moa 6-103, Cooper 11-79, N. Nicol-Mills 6-57, G. Smith 1-6, Monteith 3-5, DeKriek 1-4, Tigilau 3-0. PA: N/A. PASSING - MB: Tigilau 9-14-0-132. PA: N/A. RECEIVING - MB: Ross 6-106, Reardon 1-18, Paglia 1-6, Cooper 1-2. PA: N/A.
Outstanding opening to the season.