Wildcats’ first loss of the year
October 17, 2012
By Michele Mihalovich
By Calder Productions
Mount Si Wildcat Tyler Button, right, celebrates as his teammate Griffin McLain catches a touchdown pass against Bellevue Wolverines Oct. 12. Mount Si lost, 49-10.
The Mount Si High School football team got a taste of what all of its opponents have felt this season — the agony of defeat.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 2 in the state, posted its first loss this year Oct. 12, getting a 49-10 lashing by Bellevue High School, which holds the Class 3A’s top spot in the state, and is ranked by Sports Illustrated as No. 4 in the nation.
Just two minutes into the soggy game played in front of a sellout crowd at Mount Si stadium, the Wolverines’ Myles Jack ran 19 yards for the first touchdown of the night.
Bellevue’s Bishard Baker followed with a 53-yard touchdown run, and then wracked up another touchdown in the first quarter with a 36-yard interception return, for a 21-0 lead.
The second quarter didn’t improve for the Wildcats, but at least kicker Cameron Van Winkle put some points on the board with a 35-yard field goal. However, Bellevue posted another 28 points before the halftime whistle, for a 49-3 score.
Neither side scored in the third quarter, but in the final frame, Mount Si’s Griffin McLain caught a 4-yard pass from quarterback Nick Mitchell for the Wildcats’ only touchdown of the game, putting the final score at 49-10.
A touchdown — normally considered a nice feather in the cap — didn’t bring McLain any joy, he said.
“We were so far down, it didn’t even matter at that point,” he said after the game.
He said the Wildcats had really great practice sessions all week and thought they had a good shot at actually taking down the Wolverines.
“But I don’t know what happened tonight,” he said. “We came out flat. We just weren’t in sync for some reason.”
Mount Si hasn’t beat Bellevue in regular play since 1997, and in a 1998 mini playoff round, head coach Charlie Kinnune said.
“We knew we couldn’t come out here and allow any mistakes. But we just couldn’t get the momentum going on our offense. We weren’t protecting our quarterback like we should and they got in some really big plays early in the game,” Kinnune said. “We all wanted to win this game, but we had no grand illusions about it. We have the utmost respect for Bellevue and we got our tails whipped.”
But at the same time, talk about Mount Si’s defensive line had not gone unnoticed by Bellevue, assistant coach Pat Jones said.
“That had us a little nervous,” he said after Friday’s match up. “And we saw tonight that their defense is really good, very solid.”
The Wildcats, now 6-1, will get a chance to redeem themselves at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at Mercer Island High School. Mercer Island (5-2) beat Liberty High School, 7-3, Oct. 12.
Michele Mihalovich: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
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This is why you never do your pieces like you did preceding the Mount Si Bellevue game. The Wolverines will always be an extremely talented, extremely well coached program. They are THE elite team in the state and one of the elite teams in the nation. Hyping up this game for the Mount Si kids only serves to get them thinking in the wrong respect, thinking that they are favored, or that they don’t have to treat this game different. The athletes Bellevue High School puts on the field are the creme of the crop, and only a perfect game will beat them. Throwing hype out there and getting the kids thinking they are on par and just need to play normal is damaging. It happened when I played when you favored us to win by 7 points, and we came out thinking we were the better team and we got crushed as well. Please, stop hyping this game. It is a difficult mountain to climb at best, and when you talk about it weeks in advance you only damage the psyche of the players and fans alike.