Wildcats stumble against Totems
Published 9:22 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
BELLEVUE – For a while the cheers were loud and boisterous, raining down from the visitors’ bleachers as the Mount Si High School football team battled Sammamish in its season opener.
But in the blink of an eye, the Wildcats lost their 16-12 lead to the Totems, and fans who had gathered to see a new and improved team went home a little more somber than when they came in to the stadium.
Friday’s game against Sammamish looked, for much of the first half, like it was in the bag. One minute into the first quarter, a 69-yard pass from quarterback Byron Dill to Brett Bergstrom brought in the first touchdown of the night. Wildcat fans went nuts.
Soon after Mount Si’s long touchdown strike, a fumble at the 46-yard line by The Totem’s Brett Gardner left the Wildcats scurrying for the ball. They recovered it and drove 31 yards before Bergstrom kicked a field goal, increasing the lead to 10-0.
Near the end of the quarter, Sammamish worked the ball down to the Wildcats’ 1-yard line. On the ensuing play, David Suy was able to take it in for the Totem’s first touchdown. The point-after attempt missed the uprights, leaving the score at 10-6.
“I think we moved the ball well in the first half – we just need to step it up on little things, like turnovers,” lineman Emerson Weatherall said of the ‘Cats’ early offensive efforts.
In the second quarter Wildcat D.J. Pennywell scored a touchdown on a run from the three-yard line. The point after was wide left, upping the score to 16-6.
In the third quarter, Mount Si’s instant offense dried up, as Dill failed to connect with his receiving corps on several passes. Then a 15-yard penalty was called on the Wildcats for blocking below the waist. Next Dill was intercepted by the Totems’ Gardner, who would soon narrow Mount Si’s lead on a 3-yard touchdown run. The extra point was blocked by Bergstrom, and the score stood at 16-12.
In the fourth quarter Brandon Dollinter gave the ‘Cats a boost, intercepting a pass intended for Totems quarterback Peter Stevens. He was tracked down at the Sammamish 31-yard line. On the following snap, a pass to Bergstrom was intercepted by a Sammamish player on the 25-yard line.
The clock read 5:41 as the Wildcats’ time to add points on the scoreboard was quickly vanishing.
With only 2:13 left, a pass from Stevens to Sean Simmonds sealed Mount Si’s fate, as the duo connected on a 32-yard touchdown strike. Mount Si was unable to close the gap before time ran out, and the Totems went home with the 19-16 win.
After an intense pep talk following the game, coach Charlie Kinnune told his team to hold their heads up high and get back on the field Monday with even more vigor.
“We just broke down,” Kinnune said later. “I won’t know until we see the tapes, but obviously there was a breakdown, and we didn’t have that deep coverage [during the last totem touchdown].
“We talked a lot about making big plays; we have to do the normal things now,” he added. “We can’t be fumbling snaps, and penalties – that blew it for us.”
