Looking for that elusive first playoff win in school history, the Mountlake Terrace Hawks played tough but were unable to overcome the Mountain View Thunder Saturday night, losing 31-21 on the Thunder’s home field in Vancouver.

The Hawks finished the 2013 football season with a record of 5-5.

After falling behind 7-0 on 15-yard TD run by the Thunder’s Nicholas Wright in the first quarter, Terrace put together an 11-play, 61-yard scoring drive of its own in the second. Chance Ragsdale capped off the drive with a one-yard TD run.

The 7-7 tie would not last long as Wright returned the following kickoff 90 yards for a Mountain View touchdown. The Thunder scored again with 15 seconds to go before halftime to take a 21-7 lead into the locker room.

While Terrace pulled to within seven points twice in the second half, the Thunder was always able to keep them at arm’s length. A 59-yard touchdown run by Austin Mace in the third quarter and a 27-yard field goal late in the fourth by Will Warne completed the Mountain View scoring and gave the Thunder enough points to gain the victory.

Ragsdale picked up his second touchdown run of the game halfway through the third quarter, then Hawk quarterback Justin Hopkins scored on a 17-yard run of his own early in the fourth.

The game lived up to its billing of the battle of the ground attacks as neither team dared to throw the ball too often. The Hawks completed one pass, a 39-yard Hopkins to Malcolm Johnson connection in the third quarter. Hopkins had two pass attempts intercepted, both in the second quarter.

With the win, Mountain View, the Greater St. Helens League champion, continues in the 3A state playoffs and will host Seattle Prep next weekend. Also moving on to the round of 16 will be Wesco League teams Glacier Peak, Marysville-Pilchuck and Meadowdale. You can view all the results from the 3A Quad-District (1/2/3/4) Football Playoffs here.

MTHS Football: Mountain View 31 — Mountlake Terrace 21
Records: Mountlake Terrace 5-5, Mountain View 8-2

— By Doug Petrowski