With a chance to compete for a berth in the WIAA 2A State Football Tournament on the line, the injury-depleted Mountlake Terrace Hawks saw their playoff hopes evaporate against the Blaine Borderites at Edmonds District Stadium Friday night.

The Hawks were held scoreless in the second half as the Borderites wiped away a
three-point halftime deficit and defeated Terrace 28-10 in a District 1/2 2A Football
Playoffs game on Friday.

After trailing 10-7, the Borderites scored an unanswered 21 second-half points to
advance to a Week 10 playoff game against the Lynden Lions. The winner of the
Blaine-Lynden contest will punch their ticket to the 2A State football tourney that begins
Nov. 8-9.

There will be no further playoff action for Terrace this year as the Hawks will end their
2018 season with a game on either Thursday, Nov. 1, or Friday, Nov. 2, against an
opponent to be named soon.

While the Hawks prepare for their season finale, it may be hard for the team and
coaching staff to put Friday’s loss to Blaine behind them.

“We’ll remember it for awhile, but (we’ll) definitely want to try to forget about it,” said
Terrace Coach Kelly Dougan.

After the Hawks had built their halftime lead with two second quarter scores (a Noah
Thompson 24-yard field goal and a Dominique Latham 15-yard touchdown run), the
team struggled to get any offense going in the second half. Of the team’s 254 yards of
total offense, only 60 yards came after the halftime break.

And Terrace’s defense gave up two Blaine touchdowns in the third quarter that became
the thrust to the Borderites victory.

Dougan expressed disappointment in his squad for their lack of determination coming
out of the locker room for the final 24 minutes of the game. “My immediate reaction was
that we came out flat,” he explained. “(Blaine) came out ready to compete; our guys
weren’t ready to play a tough second half. And it doesn’t take long, you know, once that
momentum shifts.”

“(Blaine) earned it, but I don’t think we put up much of a fight in the second half,”
Dougan added.

Blaine rolled up 230 rushing yards on the Terrace defense on Friday, most coming from
running back Alex Mercado. The senior had missed the Borderites’ Oct. 5 game when
they were crushed by Terrace 40-0 at Edmonds Stadium.

This time around it was the Hawks that were handcuffed by the absences of a number
of key players. Senior leading receiver/defensive back/punter Brandon Bach is out for
the rest of the season after breaking a bone in his right foot, senior lineman Argae
Guiao was out after spraining his left ankle, and senior running back/wide
receiver/defensive back Mustafa Balikci had to sit after suffering a concussion. All three
injuries occurred during the Hawks’ win over Cedarcrest on Oct. 19.

“You probably noticed we were missing quite a few guys on both sides of the ball —
seniors, leaders, really talented guys,” Dougan said.

And the injury bug didn’t end there for Terrace; starting quarterback Jesse James
Martineau came out of Friday’s contest with concussion-like symptoms at the 9:58 mark
of the fourth quarter after getting sacked. Evaluations on Martineau’s possible return to
action will take place over the next five days per concussion protocol procedures.

While the 5-4 Hawks’ season will end with their next game, they will have something to
play for: With a win, Terrace will improve on last year’s record of 5-5.

Prep Football: Blaine at Mountlake Terrace, Oct. 26 (District 1/2 2A Football
Playoffs game)
Blaine 7 0 14 7 — 28
Terrace 0 10 0 0 — 10

First quarter scoring :
:38 — William McKinney (Blaine) 1-yard TD run; Bryce Kamrath PAT kick

Second quarter scoring :
9:14 — Noah Thompson (Mountlake Terrace) 24-yard field goal
4:21 — Dominique Latham (Mountlake Terrace) 15-yard TD run; Noah Thompson PAT
kick

Third quarter scoring :
9:34 — William McKinney (Blaine) 1-yard TD run; Bryce Kamrath PAT kick
1:28 — William McKinney (Blaine) 5-yard TD run; Bryce Kamrath PAT kick

Fourth quarter scoring :
6:35 — Hudson Reid (Blaine) 21-yard interception return for TD; Bryce Kamrath PAT
kick

Records : Mountlake Terrace 5-4 overall; Blaine 5-4 overall

Mountlake Terrace next game : Thursday or Friday, Nov. 1 or 2; opponent, place and
time to-be-determined

— By Doug Petrowski