In a showdown between two undefeated football teams at the top of the 3A Wesco League South Conference standings, it was the Monroe Bearcats that came up with the night’s biggest plays and ultimately a big win over the Mountlake Terrace Hawks.

The Bearcats pulled away in the second half to defeat the Hawks 35-10 on Friday at Bearcat Stadium in Monroe.

Monroe quarterback Blake Springer completed touchdown passes of 47, 22 and four yards to lead the Bearcats. Nick Mouser added a 28-yard TD scoring run late in fourth quarter as Monroe improved to 3-0 in 3A Wesco League South games and 5-0 overall.

The Bearcats held a lead from the opening kickoff after junior Mason Davis returned the kick 94 yards for a touchdown. With the successful PAT kick by Monroe’s Jack Irwin, Terrace found themselves down 7-0 just 14 seconds into the game and looking up at the Bearcats for the rest of the night.

“We threw our fair share of punches but, you know what, they’re the bullies on the block,” Hawks coach Archie Malloy.

Monroe had come into the clash scoring an average of 50.75 points per game, while yielding just 9.25 per game. The Bearcats are ranked fifth in the WIAA 3A state RPI rankings.

Monroe had outscored their most recent two opponents 56-0 (Lynnwood on Sept. 23) and 53-0 (Kamiak on Sept. 15).

Malloy said it was a few mistakes by the Hawks (3-1 in the 3A Wesco League South Conference, 4-1 overall) that slowed his team down on Friday.

“That’s a helluva team (with a) high-fired offense,” Malloy said. “We did a decent job; we can do a lot better though. We’ve got to play better complementary football. We can’t turn the ball over three times.”

Terrace quarterback Matthew Meadows threw three interceptions in the game, the first coming on the Hawks’ second offensive possession deep in Bearcat territorys.

The ensuing Monroe possession led to a Springer touchdown pass to give the Bearcats an early second-quarter lead of 13-3. The drive also included two Monroe fumbles that the Hawks were unable to recover.

Other miscues by Mountlake Terrace included two failed fourth-down conversion attempts and a 23-yard loss on offense when the ball was snapped over the head of Meadows; the senior had to quickly retreat and recover the ball to avoid another turnover.

“You can’t make the mistakes that we made against a good team like that,” Malloy said.

The only Terrace touchdown in the game came late in the third quarter when senior running back Zaveon Jones plowed his way into the end zone on a 1-yard run.

The defeat was the first for the Hawks after comfortable victories in their opening four games. Malloy said he will not let his squad forget Friday’s result as they prepare for their final four contests of the regular season, beginning with a game against rival Lynnwood on Oct. 6.

“We don’t look for doggone comfort in losses,” Monroe said. “We don’t look for comfort when we don’t play well. We’ve got to go back and we’ve got to play better.”

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Monroe 35, Mountlake Terrace 10

Mountlake Terrace 3 0 7 0 – 10
Monroe                    7 6 7 15 – 35

1st quarter scoring:
11:46 – Mason Davis (Monroe) 94-yard kickoff return; Jack Irwin PAT kick good
3:35 – Braedan Swan (Mountlake Terrace) 25-yard field goal

2nd quarter scoring:
10:25 – Blake Springer (Monroe) 4-yard TD pass to Ryan Miller; Jack Irwin PAT kick no good

3rd quarter scoring:
6:59 – Blake Springer (Monroe) 47-yard TD pass to Aaron Clifton; Jack Irwin PAT kick good
1:05 – Zaveon Jones (Mountlake Terrace) 1-yard TD run; Braedan Swan PAT kick good

4th quarter scoring:
7:03 – Blake Springer (Monroe) 22-yard TD pass to Mason Davis; Jack Irwin PAT kick good
3:04 – Nick Mouser (Monroe) 28-yard TD run; Springer 2-pt. conversion pass to Mason Davis

Records: Mountlake Terrace 3-1 in 3A Wesco League South Conference, 4-1 overall; Monroe 3-0 in 3A Wesco League South Conference, 5-0 overall)

Mountlake Terrace next game: vs. Lynnwood; Friday, Oct. 6; 8 p.m. at Edmonds Stadium

— Story and photos by Doug Petrowski