Mount Si football team blanks Sammamish
October 17, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
The race for the three playoff spots in KingCo 3A/2A football is shrinking.
And Mount Si is still near the head of the pack.
For the third straight week, the Wildcats demolished an overmatched opponent, toppling Sammamish 43-0 Friday night in Sammamish. Mount Si rushed for more than 300 yards and used three first-half interceptions to quickly turn the game into the blowout everyone expected.
With two regular-season games remaining, the Wildcats’ possibilities are still quite varied – they can still win the league or they can fail to qualify for the postseason. Most likely, the Wildcats would qualify for a playoff spot with one win and finish second in the league with two.
After routing three straight opponents, Mount Si feels confident in its chances.
“We’ve been looking at the schedule for a very long time. And we knew we’d have a tough early schedule, then in the middle we’d have a chance to get some momentum going,” said Wildcats head coach Charlie Kinnune, whose team has contests against Juanita and Liberty remaining “We knew we felt like it was going to come down to those last two weeks, and we’re ready. We’re really excited.”
Mount Si took it easy on Sammamish, playing second-teamers as early as the first period. Still, that didn’t keep quarterback/safety Tyson Riley from having a huge first half.
Riley ran for 49 yards, threw for 67 yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground before halftime. He also intercepted two passes, returning one for 24 yards and another for 40 yards and his third touchdown of the half.
“The second interception was my favorite. That was a lot of fun,” said Riley, who was 4-for-7 passing on the night. “The first thing I do when I see I can get an interception is to think about scoring.”
Mount Si opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run from Sean Snead that capped a 53-yard drive. On the ensuing kickoff, Sammamish slipped and fell at the 1-yard line, leading to a safety on the next play.
Two plays after that, Riley busted loose on a 40-yard scramble for a touchdown to make it 16-0.
In the second period, the Wildcats put together an 11-play, 55-yard drive that ended with a seven-yard scoring run by Riley that made it 23-0. Brandon Smith scored from 1 yard out on Mount Si’s next drive, before Riley’s interception return for a touchdown brought the count to 37-0 at the break.
Matthew Bankston finished the scoring in the second half with an 11-yard touchdown run. Sammamish missed three long field-goal attempts in the game, but never got inside the Mount Si 20.
The Wildcats finished with 327 yards rushing and 74 passing for 401 total. The Totems, who didn’t manage an offensive play for positive yardage until their third possession, were held to 64 rushing and 73 passing for 137 total.
Snead finished the game with 149 yards rushing on 17 carries.
“I think we’re going to finish strong and show people what we can do,” Riley said. “I think we can go out and beat Liberty and Juanita.”
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