On the gridiron

Published 10:10 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

Mount Si JV’s down Spartans

The blistering heat parched both teams on a steamy Tuesday

afternoon, as the JV Wildcats did battle with Skyline.

The Mount Si defense, led by the physical play of Jason Smith,

Adam Merritt and Brad Collins, dominated the Spartan offense, stuffing the

run and forcing two interceptions. Jeremy Bess made the first, while

Chad Raver’s late pickoff sealed the victory.

The offense stumbled at times, coughing up a fumble and an

interception, both of which went for touchdowns. However, in each case the

“O” came back strong.

Jeff Beckman’s 20-yard scoring run tied the game at 6-6 in the

second quarter, just part of his dominating 150-yard total for the day. The

capper was a 75-yard drive late in the 4th quarter to save the game. On the

drive, Beckman rolled up huge chunks of yardage while quarterback Byron

Dill completed a critical pass to Eric Lannigan.

Austin Bachelder, running hard all day, plunged in from a yard out,

and Beckman added a two-point conversion run to scratch out the

hard-fought, 14-12 victory. The win kept the JV `Cats undefeated on the season,

earning a “great job!” from the coach,

C. Jackson.

Wildcat frosh continue to roll up points

The Mount Si C-team football squad continued their reign of

terror through the KingCo conference last week by destroying the

Interlake Saints, 40-13.

Tyler Bergstrom returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a

touchdown. Jacob Ruth, Tyler Griffin and G.C. Hillburn all had

touchdowns. Brandon Dollinter had a solid game at quarterback, connecting on three

out of four passes and scoring his own touchdown on a quarterback keeper.

The Mount Si C-team is now 2-0, and warns the rest of the league,

“Look out!”

Red Wolves’ frosh gridders tear up the turf

By MICHAEL MIYOSHI

Cedarcrest High School

The night was perfect for football, crisp and cool. Emotions were

running high as the Cedarcrest freshman team members prepared themselves

for their first high school football game, and their first-ever game under

the lights on astroturf.

For some, the game with Sammamish was their first

football game. All of them were ready.

Cedarcrest’s Tom Harding took the ball on the opening kickoff and

returned it to midfield. Each of the next four plays went for five yards, and

it looked like runnin’ Red Wolves would score on their first possession.

However, the handoff on the fifth play was mishandled; the ball hit the ground

and a Sammamish player scampered 60 yards to the 3-yard line. It took

two plays, but the Totems scored. The missed two-point conversion made

it 6-0, Sammamish.

Cedarcrest responded with another outstanding kickoff return by

Harding, and then the Wolves started showing what they were made of. The

second drive was highlighted by a pass to tight end Derek Foote for a long gain,

followed by a reverse to wing back Dan Merrick, who nearly scored. A

couple of plays later Cedarcrest punched across; Casey Frey’s point-after

was blocked, knotting the score at 6-6.

On defense, Cedarcrest was green, but first-time players Adam

Speir, Adam Greenstreet and Jason Bresler held their own until a reverse play

set up the second Sammamish score. The two-point conversion made it 14-6

in favor of the Totems.

Cedarcrest punted to end its next possession, then gave up a third

touchdown resulting in a 20-6 Totem lead. However, the Red Wolves were

just getting started.

On the next series Cedarcrest had good field position, but was forced

to punt again. On their next play, Sammamish put the ball in the air

and Harding – in perfect position – intercepted at about the 25-yard line.

He ran around, over and through the Totem offense and scored, then

bulled through on the extra point attempt, making the score 20-14. The

momentum was now with Cedarcrest.

The second half was a war. Sammamish punted and

Cedarcrest started pounding away with its running game, relying on fullback

Rob Westerman. Merrick ultimately scored on a reverse, tying the game. The

two-point attempt failed.

From that point, the game went back and forth; neither team

could score. Standouts included defensemen Cody Petterson, who made a

picture-perfect open field tackle, and Vong Ly, who also contributed to the

Totems’ negative yardage. With fourth down and three minutes left,

Westerman made a first on a fake punt.

The final plays of the game saw Cedarcrest make yardage with the

run but not the pass. Even with supreme effort and improvisation by

quarterback Josh Testerman, the game ended in a 20-20 tie.

It was a hard-fought game and one enjoyed by all who were present.

From a coach’s perspective, the most impressive aspect of the game was

the selflessness of the players and the way they performed as a unit.

On Wednesday, Sept. 22, the frosh faced off against Issaquah. On the

first drive, Harding and the receiving team gave the Wolves great field

position. The offense then marched down the field, taking six plays to score on

a Westerman dive up the middle. The ensuing two-point attempt

was fumbled, but Harding picked up the ball and scored anyway, making it

Red Wolves 8, Indians 0.

On the kickoff Issaquah returned the ball to the 30-yard line, then

ran outside on a counter play and scored. A trick play for two-points

momentarily surprised the Cedarcrest defense, but a bad snap resulted in

a missed opportunity. The Wolves then marched down field, survived a

penalty that called back a Westerman quarterback keeper, and scored on

the next play. The kick made it 15-6, Cedarcrest.

On their next possession Issaquah responded by running around the

end again, and scored on another long run. A high snap on the conversion

forced the holder to run with the ball over three Wolves to make the score 15-14.

On the kickoff, Harding, with help from great blocking, returned the

ball to midfield. This time, Cedarcrest scored on a play action pass to

Merrick deep in the middle. The Wolves continued to pile on,

converting on their next two possessions and resulting in a halftime score of 36-14.

Cedarcrest kicked off to start the second half, and it was obvious

the hard hitting was getting to the Issaquah players. Much of the

third quarter and part of the fourth was spent on drives directed by Cedarcrest

quarterback Alan Shults, although Issaquah used its short running

game to get another touchdown in the fourth quarter. Once again, the

attempted two-point conversion failed.

With about four minutes left in the game, the first-team offense went

back in. Merrick would not be denied as he dragged four defenders across the

goal line. A high snap on the extra point ended with a completed pass

to Petterson, but he fell short of the goal line. The final score was

Cedarcrest 42, Issaquah 20.

The game featured many superlative performances. Hard hitting by

the interior linemen, Josh Rosen, Joe Scott and Ly, made Issaquah fumble the

ball twice in the second quarter. The offensive linemen – tight end

Foote, strong tackle Andrew Rafferty, strong guard Coy Chittenden, center

Russell Knight, quick guard Garrett Wolf, and quick tackles Rosen and Tony

Smith – made life easy for the running backs to run and the quarterback to

throw. Foote also had a great night as a receiver.

These are a group of athletes and gentlemen of whom we can all

be proud. The 1999 Cedarcrest freshman football players are truly one

team with one goal, and that goal is excellence.