Wildcats blast Evergreen with balance
October 8, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
Mount Si throws, runs all over opposing defense in easy win
The Mount Si football team opened up its offense a bit Friday night.
In doing so, the Wildcats opened up a gaping hole in the Evergreen defense.
Mount Si came out throwing the ball all over the field and rolled up nearly 300 yards in the first half of a 55-0 stomping of Evergreen at Mount Si Stadium. The win improves the Wildcats to 2-3 overall as they head into the meat of their league schedule.
Quarterback Tyson Riley either ran with or threw the ball on six of Mount Si’s first nine offensive play calls, plays which led to a pair of quick scoring drives in the first quarter. Running back Sean Snead — who had carried the offense much of the past three weeks — wasn’t even on the field much of the first period and didn’t touch the ball until Mount Si’s ninth offensive play.
Riley, who finished 5-of-11 passing for 147 yards and two touchdowns, led the revamped look in this one.
“We wanted to open it up. We tend to get stuffed in the red zone, so we wanted to spread it out a bit and work on things that we might need to do later on,” said Riley, who also rushed for 66 yards in the rout. “We want to not have to rely on our power game, while also being able to run the ball.”
Snead did get to rumbling later in the contest and still finished with nice numbers, getting 113 yards and three touchdowns. He now has more than 530 yards rushing in the last four games.
The passing game had its blips; there were six incompletions, some dropped passes and an interception. But it garnered enough early to remind any future opponents that the Wildcats can, in fact, be balanced when they have to be.
“We haven’t been as diverse offensively as we planned to be back in the spring,” Mount Si head coach Charlie Kinnune said. “We know we have a dominant offensive line. But we also know that, when we get up against some of these better teams, they’re going to put eight or nine in the box and force us to throw. We have to be able to do that.”
Mount Si went 52 yards in six plays on its first possession, capping the drive with a 16-yard pass from Riley to Brandon Smith for an early lead. The Wildcats then rumbled 53 yards on only three plays on their second possession, as Riley finished that drive himself with a 3-yard touchdown run. The big play of the drive was a 36-yard pass from Riley to Rossco Castagno.
Before the end of the first half, Riley threw another scoring strike to Smith from 8 yards out and Snead pounded his way into the end zone from 2 yards out to make it 27-0.
Riley said he’s the most comfortable throwing the football when the Wildcats run out of the shotgun.
“It’s easier to read the defense and I can throw quicker out of the shotgun,” he said. “You always have your head up and you don’t have to do a three-step drop.”
Riley began the second half with a bang, hitting Castagno for an 82-yard gain. Snead scored one play later to make it 34-0.
Castagno, who had been sidelined recently, quickly returned to form as Riley’s favorite target. He hauled in 118 yards receiving.
“It was great getting Rossco back tonight,” Kinnune said. “He adds a whole other dimension for us.”
The Wildcats finished with 485 total yards — 329 rushing and 156 passing.
Snead scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to make it 41-0 and the final two were scored off a 6-yard run by Chaz Blair and a 1-yard run by Code Blair.
This week:
Mount Si can now turn its attention back to league play, as each of its final four regular-season games will be KingCo 3A/2A foes. It starts with Mercer Island, who is 1-4 after a 45-10 rout at the hands of Bellevue.
The Islanders won their opener, 7-6, against Lake Washington. Since, Mercer Island has been beaten by Newport, Liberty, Interlake and Bellevue by an average margin of 17 points a game.
Despite giving up more than 40 points per game twice, the Islanders’ defense has led the team for most of the season. It held Lake Washington to only six points and Interlake to 14, and has shown the ability to score itself.
When Mercer Island moves the ball on offense, it usually does it on the ground. Senior Bryce Borer has proven to be one of the Islanders’ top weapons, while running back Kurtis Rosenbreen has been a playmaker from time to time.
Before the season, Mount Si hoped to lock down a quality postseason spot by finishing in the top two in the league. For the Wildcats to do that, they’ll need to win each of their four remaining regulars-season contests.
The team believes that accomplishment is easily within its grasp.
“Absolutely, we have the potential to win out. We just have to concentrate on ourselves and not worry about our opponents,” Kinnune said. “We need to become better players individually and stay committed. If we do that, we should be pretty hard to beat late in the season.”
Reach editor Ryan Piersol at editor@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434. To comment on the story, go to www.snovalleystar.com.
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