‘Cats lose heartbreaker to Skyline
Published 10:11 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
Friday night Mount Si held its home opener by hosting the
Skyline Spartans. Coming off the previous week’s 42-21 thrashing at the
hands of Mercer Island, the rampagin’ Wildcats had something to prove.
Unfortunately, the evening’s truth was provided by the boys
from Issaquah. The Skyline team had its own point to make, and it was that
they deserved to be undefeated and atop the KingCo 3A standings.
In the end, the Spartans succeeded, downing the `Cats by a score of 31-7.
The evening got off to great promise. The stands were full for this
first home event of the `99 season; the Wildcat Pep Band was playing,
the cheerleaders were prancing, the dance team dancing, and the throngs
were regularly cheering long and hard. The first roar of approval came during
the Spartans’ initial possession, when they fumbled away the ball into the
accommodating arms of a nearby Wildcat.
Unfortunately, the big cheer was followed by the big groan. On the
next play, Mount Si quarterback Jon Odom flung the bomb up the right side,
but it bounced in and out of the receiver’s hands. A couple of plays later
junior running back Mike Dollinter managed to convert on fourth and inches,
and things were looking positive again.
The `Cats then gained ten, lost five on a penalty, fumbled out of
bounds, and finally had to punt after alternate QB Dan Thompson got sacked
by three Spartans.
It was that kind of night.
On the second play of the next Skyline series, Spartan
quarterback Mitch Browne hit Kyle Snell with a 71-yard touchdown pass. The
point after was good, making the score Skyline 7, Mount Si 0, and the stands
got quiet.
The remainder of the evening settled into a series of back and
forths, with Skyline typically making the most of fumbles and Mount Si’s
erratic offense. Early in the second quarter, the Spartans’ Bret Stray
started showing the running style that would serve him and his team well
through the rest of the night, twisting and breaking several tackles while
grinding out yardage for the visitors. He would end the game with 25
carries for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Wildcat offense finally clicked in the second period, following a
Skyline field goal. On the ensuing kickoff, Mount Si got a good return to
their own 41, and followed up with a series of passes and runs that quickly
moved the ball down field. Odom then lifted one to Thompson, who threaded
his way down the right side for the score. The point after was good, making
the score a reasonable 10-7 in favor of Skyline.
The Wildcats had their next big chance on the following series
when their opponents ran into penalty trouble. Looking at fourth-an- 37,
the Spartans punted and Mount Si junior Jeff Stone almost broke through on
the run back, making it to the 20 before getting hauled down. An offsides
call on the next play moved the ball to the Skyline 15, but the `Cats were
unable to convert from there and turned the ball over on downs.
In the next series, the Spartans moved up-field seemingly at will,
using a series of runs and short passes to put themselves back into
Wildcat territory. At one point during the drive, QB Browne went down under an
onslaught of three Wildcats, and play was suspended while he was attended to.
Browne suffered a dislocated shoulder, but after a few tense
minutes was able to move off the field under his own power. Skyline
installed Brian Swanson at the quarterback position but otherwise fell back on
the running of Stray to keep their offense going, which he succeeded in
doing. At one point in the third quarter, the Spartans ran the big back straight
up the middle four times, resulting in yet another first down.
Swanson subsequently broke around the left end and made it to
the Mount Si 1-yard line before getting forced out of bounds. Stray
vaulted into the end zone on the next play, with 21 seconds left in the half. A
failed point after made the score Mount Si 7, Skyline 16.
The second half brought more of the same, as the Spartans
relentlessly ground down the tired defenders from Mount Si. The two teams
managed three fumbles between them within a few minutes of the third quarter;
regrettably, the Wildcats made two of the fumbles and Skyline proceeded
to make the most of it.
At one point, a Wildcat went down; junior defensive end
Steve Botulinski suffered a dislocated kneecap and had to be helped from
the field. On the next play Thompson made a beautiful reception, took
two steps, and then had the ball knocked loose. The Spartans recovered.
It was all downhill from there. Skyline added another touchdown
late in the third and scored a two-point conversion, making the score
7-24. The visitors got their final points of the game out of the shotgun
when Swanson rifled one to a waiting receiver in the right side of the end zone.
The last minutes were a time of frustration. During one Mount Si
offensive series, Odom dropped back and had the ball stripped away, and
the tired `Cat defense had to stagger back onto the field. Fortunately, they
didn’t give up any more points, but the home team didn’t score again, either.
The game ended on a desperation play, with Odom launching the
ball into the end zone. It was intercepted; the Spartans took over and ran out
the clock, sealing their 31-7 victory.
Post game, the level of frustration in the locker room was evident
from the coaches on down through the players. One Wildcat expressed his
anger by using his helmet as a soccer ball until he was calmed down by some
of his teammates.
“Our problems right now are a little bit deeper than what’s out on
the field,” said a tired head coach Charlie Kinune afterwards. “The two
teams we’ve played are better than we are, no doubt about it.
“We just can’t play four quarters right now. There are too many
turnovers. That’s what young teams do. Young teams turn the ball over;
young teams get lots of penalties.”
The coach added Mount Si’s near-term goal was to win the next two.
“If we’re 2-2, we’re right where I thought we’d be,” he commented.
“If not, then there are a lot more problems than I thought.”
With the win, Skyline improved to 2-0 and a tie for first place in
KingCo 3A with Bellevue and Newport.
As for the Wildcats, they travel to Interlake Friday night for a game
with the 0-2 Saints. The outcome will determine which team remains in
the early season KingCo basement, and which team will start its climb to
the top. Start time for the game is 7:30 p.m.
