Wildcats get first win of season

Published 9:02 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

The Mount Si Wildcats varsity football team has had a rough six games to begin the season. But with a record of zero wins and six losses comes the realization that there is no pressure, no postseason hopes and no need to be worried about standings. That kind of freedom from pressure allows for one thing: intense football for pride.

Last Friday night, the Wildcats gained back their pride and showed a stunned Sammamish homecoming crowd they are no pushover, trouncing the Totems on their new turf, 34-7.

A changed Wildcats’ attitude was obvious from the opening drive. Starting from their own 20, passing by Alex Smart and running by John Paul Likes and Tyler Griffin moved the ball into the red zone of Sammamish. Then, facing third-and-nine on the Sammamish 10, Smart found his favorite receiver in Tyler Austin, catching the ball on the 2-yard line. The play was just short of the first down but Likes came through for the team and got the first down on the 6-inch line of Sammamish. With 5:09 left on the clock, Likes got the call again and rambled his way into the end zone. Austin’s point-after kick missed its mark, but Mount Si was on the board first, 6-0.

The Mount Si defense also had a new attitude, obviously wanting to thwart the Totems’ offense. And thwart it they did as Sammamish moved the ball into the Wildcats’ red zone only to miss a field goal attempt from 11 yards out. The Sammamish miss ended the first quarter with Mount Si in the lead 6-0.

But after the Wildcats stalled on their next drive, and the Totems faced mounting penalties, Sammamish finally found the end zone. With 5:55 left in the second quarter, Andrew Ragan made a touchdown, the point-after kick was good and the Totems had the lead. But from that point on, it was all Mount Si.

The Mount Si offensive unit, led by Smart, took to the field with 5:47 left in the second. New at the tailback position on varsity was sophomore Adam Rothgeb, who has racked up yardage in several JV games. On his first carry it was obvious Rothgeb knew how to hit the hole hard and evade tackles, gaining 6yards. A long pass play to Austin, several plays later, set up the sophomore’s first varsity touchdown, as Rothgeb rambled around the left side and into the end zone. Likes scored a two-point conversion afterward, on a pass from Smart, to make the score 14-7 with 4:16 left in the second.

The Wildcats would score once more before the half was over, after Logan Ratcliffe recovered a Sammamish fumble. With only 38 seconds left in the half, Austin ran a perfect button-hook pass route, caught a perfectly-thrown Smart pass, evaded a Totems’ defender and turned on the afterburners on his way to the end zone. He added the extra point to make the score 21-7 with seconds left on the clock. Sammamish headed to the locker room prior to homecoming festivities at half, obviously stunned at the 0-6 Wildcats effort.

The Wildcat defense kept up its relentless pressure in the third quarter as well. John Karlen led several defensive stands, forcing several punts and turnovers. The next Wildcat score came late in the third quarter after Sammamish was forced to punt from deep in their own end zone. The legs of Likes found the end zone this time from seven yards out with 1:03 left in the third. The Austin point after was good and Mount Si led 28-7.

Starting from their own 20, the Totems continued to struggle to hang onto the ball. A couple of plays into their drive Sammamish fumbled again, this time in to the waiting hands of Brandon Doillinter, deep in Totems’ territory at the 21-yard line. As the seconds ticked down to end the third quarter, it was obvious the Wildcats would score again.

Behind the lead blocking of Likes, Rothgeb found the end zone for his second varsity touchdown. On the extra-point attempt, coach Charlie Kinnune called for his patented unbalanced-offensive-line-sneak-it-around-the-other-end play. But it didn’t quite work the way it was supposed to and the extra point was not good. Early in the fourth quarter, the score was Mount Si 34, Sammamish 7.

The defensive efforts of Karlen, Dollinter and the whole defensive unit kept Sammamish off guard, allowing the clock to wind down and the Wildcats to record their first victory of the season.

The spark for the offense came from several players, but it was obvious to all who watched that a young sophomore made things exciting.

“Adam Rothgeb came to play,” said an ecstatic coach Kinnune. “He was buried in the depth chart at the beginning of the season and it has taken awhile for him to move up. He is spunky, and he has some spark and he’s got the dip and that little burst of speed really helps our offensive lineman,” touted Kinnune. “That definitely provided the spark for what we needed,” he continued. Behind the lead blocking of Likes, a running game was established. The running game has eluded the Wildcats for most of the season and the balance shown against Sammamish allowed the entire offense to click. “Once you can run the ball, everything else is going to open up,” said Kinnune. “I would imagine Alex had nearly 100-yards passing tonight. If you can run the ball, everything is going to go from there,” he continued.

The season has obviously been long and difficult, but the entire team was all smiles after the game.

“It’s a great win for us. Nobody deserves this win more than the senior class or more than the guys who are out here right now,” said Kinnune.

“We have been through a lot, as much as any team I have been with here at Mount Si in my 11 years. It’s been tough for the kids [and] it’s been serious manhood training. I always tell them we are in the midst of manhood training, to learn what its like to fight through a bunch of stuff, learning what its like to be teased at school, we are learning what its like to come out and practice hard everyday and lose on Friday night. That’s tough for a 16-year-old kid,” he added.

Next week’s homecoming game was already on Kinnune’s mind as his team walked off the field. “Hopefully we will have a little continuity here and that continuity will help us win our own homecoming game,”Kinnune said.

Rothgeb rushed for 85 yards on 15 carried and Likes had 69 yards on 9 carries. Smart went 8-for-14 with no interceptions and a total of 163 yards.