Prep football: Hawks fall to Crusaders in state playoff game

The Mountlake Terrace Hawks knew their 3A state playoff game against the Eastside Catholic Crusaders would be a challenge. Eastside Catholic entered the contest with a record of 7-1, was ranked No. 5 in the WIAA 3A state RPI rankings and had outscored their opponents in their seven wins by an average of almost 30 points per game.

It didn’t take long for the Hawks to realize that the Crusaders are everything that was advertised.

Eastside Catholic rolled up more than 200 yards of offense in the first half while holding the Hawks to minus-7, held a 28-0 lead at the halftime break and then coasted to a 49-20 victory over Terrace in a WIAA 3A Week 10 state playoff matchup played Friday at Eastside Catholic High School in Sammamish.

Senior quarterback Isaac Corey ran for two touchdowns and added a touchdown toss of 35 yards to freshman Tytan McNeal — all while sitting out much of the fourth quarter — to lead the Crusaders to the win. 

Hawks’ Coach Archie Malloy was impressed with the Crusaders’ play on Friday. “They’re just good at what they do,” Malloy said. “They perfect their craft, they have a way they desire to play football and they force you to play their style of football. They play fast upfront, they execute very well, they’re a very well-coached team and they get after you.”

While Eastside Catholic was reaching the end zone with five of their first six possessions of the game, Terrace struggled to sustain any offensive rhythm in the first half and wasn’t able to cross midfield with the ball until the 9-minute mark of the third quarter.

“We didn’t do a good job on early downs, on getting the necessary yardage to maintain and keep drives going,” Malloy said.

All of Terrace’s scoring came after the Crusaders had already built a five-touchdown lead in the second half. 

Sophomore quarterback Mason Wilson tallied the first Hawks’ points with a 1-yard TD run in the final minute of the third quarter. Four minutes later, Terrace sophomore Owen Boswell reached the end zone with a 7-yard run. Then in the game’s final minute, Wilson connected with junior Cody Ekanayake for the Hawks’ final points with a 15-yard TD pass.

Though well after the outcome of the game seemed inevitable, Malloy liked how his team performed in the second half after some affirming words at the break.

“‘We’re a playoff team and we belong here’ — that was the message we sent at halftime,” Malloy explained. “We just stressed living in the moment, living in that play and playing as if you belong here.”

While Terrace did belong in the round-of-32 playoff game due to a second-place finish in the Wesco League South Conference this year, Malloy said it would be the team’s tenacity and fortitude that he will remember most about the now-completed 2024 Hawk campaign.

“This was a special season,” Malloy said. “My team came out, they competed; we faced adversity and we got through it. And we learned a lot about ourselves. Our young guys had opportunities to step up and I know that they did that in a special way. This team, they galvanized themselves; they galvanized this community.”

With just four seniors on the roster this year, next year’s squad looks poised to make another run into the postseason. But Malloy didn’t want to look ahead without time spent honoring those four seniors who played their final game in a Terrace jersey: Hunter Nuckels, Eli Swett, Terrence Lindamood and Evan Sciutti-Trejo

“We’re building towards the future — eyes on what’s next — but you know what, right now we just want to thank these seniors and send them off with hugs and shed some tears,” Malloy said. “Because for most of them, it’s their last time playing organized football. And we want to thank them for their contributions.”

Mountlake Terrace ended the 2024 season with an overall record of 6-4, matching the record of last season and leveling Malloy’s career record coaching the Hawks at 18-18.

Prep Football: Mountlake Terrace at Eastside Catholic, Nov. 8 (WIAA 3A Week 10 state playoff game)

Mountlake Terrace   0   0 7 13 – 20

Eastside Catholic 14 14 7 14 – 49

1st quarter scoring:

  9:20 – Isaac Corey (Eastside Catholic) 1-yard TD run; Connor Brandt PAT kick good

 :00.5 – Jeremiah Burroughs (Eastside Catholic) 6-yard TD run; Connor Brandt PAT kick good

2nd quarter scoring:

  9:40 – Isaac Corey (Eastside Catholic) 35-yard TD pass to Tytan McNeal; Connor Brandt PAT kick good

  4:45 – Isaac Corey (Eastside Catholic) 1-yard TD run; Connor Brandt PAT kick good

3rd quarter scoring:

11:07 – Jeremiah Burroughs (Eastside Catholic) 61-yard TD run; Connor Brandt PAT kick good

 :54.0 – Mason Wilson (Mountlake Terrace) 1-yard TD run; Liam Moore PAT kick good

4th quarter scoring:

11:35 – Nick Jones (Eastside Catholic) 8-yard TD run; Connor Brandt PAT kick good

  8:22 – Owen Boswell (Mountlake Terrace) 7-yard TD run; Liam Moore PAT kick good

  2:46 – Daniel Jones (Eastside Catholic) 17-yard TD run; Connor Brandt PAT kick good

 :11.3 – Mason Wilson (Mountlake Terrace) 15-yard TD pass to Cody Ekanayake; Liam Moore PAT kick no good

Records: Mountlake Terrace 5-1 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 6-4 overall; Eastside Catholic 6-1 in Metro League, 8-1 overall

Mountlake Terrace next game: 2024 season completed

Eastside Catholic next game: versus opponent to-be-determine; date, time and location to be announced (WIAA 3A State Football round-of-16 playoff game)

— Story and photos by Doug Petrowski