In a game marked by penalties and two scoreless quarters, the Mount Si High School football team still found some wins to celebrate after its Sept. 17 loss to the Bothell Cougars, 31-21.
For starters, it was the third consecutive game of the season with no rain, and it was a big night for two Wildcat players, Jesiah Irish and Max Bonda. Irish, a junior alternating at quarterback and wide receiver, scored two of the team’s touchdowns — one on a 56-yard pass from Zeke Barden — and added 120 yards in pass receiving to his stats for the season. Bonda, a senior, scored that final touchdown and rushed for a net gain of 145 yards for the night.
Also, despite a loss of 75 yards to penalties, “We won the second half,” said head coach Charlie Kinnune. “We cut down on our mistakes as the game went on, we continued to compete and fight.”
Bothell is tough opponent for the young Wildcats, Kinnune said, in a schedule full of tough opponents. “Their quarterback (Jacob Sirmon) is a Division 1 quarterback,” he said, adding, “I think you saw two of the toughest defense in the leagues battle it out on Friday.”
He’s proud of the team’s work, he said, but concerned about the penalty count and the opportunities they cost the Wildcats.
The game began with a 26-yard field goal at 9:05 in the first, by Bothell junior Andrew Isaacson. The Cougars followed up with a three-yard touchdown run by senior Parker Chamberlain and an extra point from Isaacson. In the second quarter, Mount Si’s Irish scored on a 13-yard pass from Barden, but Reed Paradissis’ extra point kick was blocked, setting the score at 6-10. Before the half, Bothell scored two more times, Jacob Stansberry with a 35-yard pass from Sirmon, and Tuli Tavaga on a six-yard pass. Both extra points were good.
In the third quarter, Mount Si scored two unanswered touchdowns, Irish on a 56-yard pass from Barden, with a good kick from Paradissis, and Bonda, on a 3-yard run, with a two-point conversion by Justin Lutz. At the end of the third, the score was 21-24. In the fourth quarter, Bothell increased its lead and sealed the win with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Sirmon to DaVicious Wilson.
“We’re so young, in so many ways,” he said, “we’re kind of rubbing the green off, and we’re closing that gap.”
He looks to the leadership of the team’s three senior running backs, Bonda, Shane Moses, and Austin Ross, in future games, and expects his athletes to do the same.
“We’re going to put the ball in their hands when we can,” he said.
Most importantly, he said, “Everybody’s got to show great resiliency. I’m talking about parents and coaches. They have to follow the kids’ example, because they are showing the way.”
The Wildcats host Issaquah at home at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, and as far as Kinnune is concerned, that game “can’t come soon enough.”
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Mount Si 0 6 15 0
BOTHELL 10 14 0 7
