BLAINE – It was all Mount Baker on Friday night at Blaine High School as the Mountaineers defeated Kalama 45-0 in a 1A state play-in game.
After forcing a three-and-out on the opening drive of the game, Mount Baker used just three plays on its first drive to cover 67 yards. It ended with a 20-yard touchdown run by junior Enoc Smith, who then booted through the extra point to give his team an early 7-0 lead.
It was more of the same as the contest progressed as senior running back Noah Nicol-Mills scored from nine yards out in the first quarter as well.
The Mounties then elected to go to the air and they opened up the second quarter with a deep pass from junior quarterback Tyson Barksdale to senior receiver Gage Smith which covered 39 yards. After a few running plays, Baker went back to the air on third down and Barksdale threw a bullet over the middle which found senior wide receiver Zyan Paglia for a 24-yard touchdown.
The Chinooks were able to pick up a first down on the following drive, but eventually turned the ball over on downs in their own territory. Mount Baker quickly capitalized with a few plays later with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Barksdale to Nicol-Mills.
With little time left in the first half, Kalama went to the air, but Paglia broke on the ball and intercepted it to give the ball back to the Mountaineers at the Chinook 33-yard line. Five plays later, Gage Smith took the handoff on an end around and sprinted untouched for an 11-yard touchdown with 59 seconds left until halftime.
Kalama was able to connect on two long passes, and got into the red zone, but its next pass was tipped by senior linebacker Isaac DeKriek and intercepted by Enoc Smith with 15 seconds left until the midway break.
The Mountaineers led 35-0 at the half.
Mount Baker took the second half kickoff and drove 53 yards on eight plays, with senior running back Andrew Monteith finishing the drive with a 2-yard scoring run. He finished the game with 88 yards on 14 carries to lead his team.
The final score of the game came on the opening play of the fourth quarter when Enoc Smith split the uprights on a 40-yard field goal. Over the course of the game, Smith broke the school record for most kicking points in school history. He now has 150, the previous record was 143 by Jonathan Ehlers, who held the record for 10 years.
The Mountaineers (7-3) will await their draw and find out who they will open up the 1A state tournament with next week.
Mount Baker 45
Kalama 0
KAL 0 0 0 0 - 0
MB 14 21 7 3 - 45
MB - E. Smith 20 run (E. Smith kick)
MB - N. Nicol-Mills 9 run (E. Smith kick)
MB - Paglia 24 pass from Barksdale (E. Smith kick)
MB - N. Nicol-Mills 7 pass from Barksdale (E. Smith kick)
MB - G. Smith 11 run (E. Smith kick)
MB - Monteith 2 run (E. Smith kick)
MB - E. Smith 40 FG
KAL MB
20-22 Rush Att-Yards 39-287
10-17-2 Comp-Att-Int 5-7-0
117 Passing Yards 104
Individual Leaders
RUSHING - KAL: N/A. MB: Monteith 14-88, N. Nicol-Mills 9-83, E. Smith 5-51, G. Smith 3-37, Galbraith 3-14, Contreras-Moreno 2-7, Mapes 1-4, Hanstead 1-3, Barksdale 1-0.
PASSING - KAL: N/A. MB: Barksdale 5-5-0-104, Galbraith 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING - KAL: N/A. MB: McEvoy-Salgado 2-34, G. Smith 1-39, Paglia 1-24, N. Nicol-Mills 1-7.
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