MC D saves day
By Jason Turner
Winning the turnover and field position battles have always been key components to success on the football field.Just ask the Mustangs.
Mountain Crest helped force six turnovers and scored three touchdowns on drives that started in Highland territory en route to earning a hard-fought 26-21 victory over the Rams in the season opener for both schools Saturday afternoon at Romney Stadium.
“We don’t have a chance if we don’t get those turnovers,” MC head coach Mark Wootton said. “You know, the thing I was excited about was just the effort our kids gave. You look at Highland and they’re so big and physical and we were so outmanned size-wise, but these Mountain Crest kids, they don’t ever back down.”
Despite struggling against Highland’s vaunted rushing attack, the Mustangs indeed didn’t back down defensively when they really needed to. In fact, Mountain Crest held firm in the final two minutes of the contest, preventing the Rams from scoring the game-winning touchdown.
After they were penalized 15 yards on their third sideline warning, the Mustangs made three straight huge defensive plays to preserve the victory. First, grossly undersized defensive tackle Raider Lofthouse sacked Highland quarterback Nick Orchard for a four-yard loss at the Mountain Crest 40-yard line. One play later, MC safety Chandler Smith knocked the ball away from wide receiver Josh Anderson at the last second. Had Anderson caught the ball, he would have scored.
“I was a little nervous on that, I thought he was gonna catch it maybe because he was behind everyone,” MC senior Ethan Rasmussen said. “But that was a good play by Chan.”
Mountain Crest’s secondary made several big plays Saturday, with Mitch Jessop sealing the victory by intercepting an Orchard pass inside the 5-yard line following Smith’s heroics. The Mustangs picked off three passes, including one by Rasmussen less than five minutes into the first quarter.
Rasmussen stepped in front of a pass intended for Nate Fakahafua and took it 70 yards to paydirt, giving the Mustangs a 7-0 lead.
“We’ve been watching film. I know they go with the stick route to try and get the first (down),” Rasmussen said. “I just read it and took it to the house.”
The Mustangs struck again with 3:57 remaining in the first quarter when sophomore signal caller Alex Kuresa eluded the Highland pressure and found Alex Knowles wide open for a 19-yard TD. The Mustangs began that drive at the Ram 42, thanks to a fumble recovery by Hayden Snow — one of two the senior had on the day.
Mountain Crest’s momentum didn’t last for long, though, as Highland’s Travis Walzer returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards to paydirt.
The Rams knotted things up at 14-apiece on a Muli Kinikini 7-yard TD run with 7:32 remaining in the second quarter. Kinikini repeatedly used his size to rough up the Mustangs, carrying the ball 16 times for a game-best 121 yards.
Highland ended up amassing 271 yards on the ground, including 84 by Orchard and 49 by Bridger Walzer. However, Highland’s running backs also coughed the ball up five times, losing three of them.
“There’s not a lot of adjustments,” Wootton said of his team’s defensive front. “All we can do is ask our kids to play hard. We’re going to get pounded on a little bit because of our size, and there’s not a lot you can do.”
On the flip side, the Rams struggled to stop the Mustangs’ passing attack, so long as Kuresa had time to throw. Kuresa was sacked five times for a combined loss of 42 yards.
However, the sophomore carved up Highland’s secondary otherwise, completing 13-of-17 passes for 173 yards and three TDs.
The Rams had an especially difficult time with MC 6-foot-4 wideout Jessop, who had 77 yards receiving. Jessop gave the hosts a 20-14 advantage just before halftime when he outjumped Orchard for a 25-yard TD. Jessop effectively used his height and athleticism a couple of times against Highland’s cornerbacks.
“Coach told me ahead of time that he didn’t think that their corners were going to be as aggressive or as tall as most corners would be,” Jessop said. “He told me to be ready for a couple of fades, so I think he was planning on it early.”
Rasmussen hauled in Kuresa’s third touchdown pass — a 25-yarder in the third quarter — as he found himself all alone behind the Ram secondary after a nice pump fake by the QB.
Highland’s third trip to the end zone was a 1-yard dive by Bridger Walzer with 4:27 remaining in the fourth. It capped off a time-consuming, 14-play drive.
“Great football team,” Rams head coach Brody Benson said of MC. “When we were driving on them, when we were being mistake free, I thought we were moving the ball well, I thought that we controlled the ball well.
“I thought that it boiled down to them causing them or us giving them away, the turnovers. You can’t win doing that.”
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