Interlake football wins shootout at Mercer Island

By Joel Willits • September 26, 2009 1:35 am
Saints WR Bobby Mueller (80) makes a catch for a two-point conversion over Islanders DB Ben Emmanuels (3) at Mercer Island on Friday. Interlake won a 51-45 shootout at Islander Stadium.
Saints WR Bobby Mueller (80) makes a catch for a two-point conversion over Islanders DB Ben Emmanuels (3) at Mercer Island on Friday. Interlake won a 51-45 shootout at Islander Stadium.

There really wasn’t much to be said after Mercer Island’s final drive came crashing down Friday night.

When quarterback Jeff Lindquist’s final pass skipped off the turf on fourth-and-nine on the Saints’ 33-yard line with 27 seconds remaining, Interlake had survived a 51-45 marathon contest, and the Saints didn’t have many words to describe the feeling.

“It felt like a blessing from heaven,” said Interlake senior Brett Kirschner.

Defense went out the window on the island, as the two teams combined for 96 points, 68 first downs and 1,080 yards of total offense Friday.

Though Interlake trailed for less than four minutes, the game still came down to the wire, as Mercer Island forced the Saints to turn the ball over on downs with 1:53 left in the game on the Islander 29-yard line. All that stood between an Islander offense that couldn’t be stopped and a huge come-from-behind win were 72 yards.

“You just cross your fingers and hope that someone will make a play,” said Saints coach Sheldon Cross.

Fortunately for the Saints (4-0, 2-0 KingCo 3A/2A), it came down to the plays that the Islanders couldn’t make.

Lindquist, who passed for 296 yards and three touchdowns in the game, quickly moved the ball downfield but the drive stalled once hitting the Interlake 34. Twice Lindquist hit receiver Ben Emanuels in the hands for first downs, and twice Emanuels couldn’t haul in the pass.

On fourth down, Mercer Island’s final shot, Lindquist desperately flung a shovel pass that skipped off the turf to give Interlake the win.

“It took every ounce of heart, courage, belief, attitude and teamwork, everything that we stand for,” Cross said. “My hat’s off to Mercer Island and coach [Brett] Ogata. They took every one of our punches.”

The night was full of video game-like numbers for the Saints. Malos went 14 of 22 for 344 yards and three touchdowns, tossing scores to Kirschner, Ricky Aaron and Jordan Todd. Kirschner rushed for 185 yards on 23 carries and scored three rushing touchdowns.

All in all, Interlake rolled up 574 yards of offense in the game, yet they could not stop the Mercer Island (1-3, 0-2) offense.

Lindquist accounted for 408 of the Islander’s 506 yards of total offense, adding 112 rushing yards to go along with his 296 passing yards.

“Honestly, after last week’s win over Mount Si, we were a little overconfident,” said senior lineman Patrick Lindsley. “We thought we were going to come in here and roll over these guys.”

The Saints host Sammamish this Friday in the annual Crossroads Cup. Interlake has won two-straight against the Totems.

“We’re not going to sneak up on anybody now,” Cross said.

Other games

Bellevue 28, Mount Si 14

Bellevue rushed for 228 yards and Joey Mangialardi scored two rushing touchdowns as Bellevue beat Mount Si 28-14.

The Wolverines (2-2, 1-0), missing several starters due to injury, passed for 118 yards in the game, including a 78-yard touchdown pass from Kendrick Van Ackeren to his older brother Brayden in the first quarter. Bellevue led 21-0 before Rossco Castagno hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Mount Si quarterback Chris Clark in the second quarter.

Sean Coley scored on an 18-yard run in the third quarter. The only score in the fourth came on a 1-yard run by Clark for the Wildcats (1-3, 0-2).

Liberty 38, Sammamish 0

Trey Wheeler passed for two touchdowns and Dan Eck returned a fumble for another score as Liberty shut out the Totems 38-0.

Chandler Jenkins and Jay Chakravarty both scored rushing touchdowns for the Patriots (4-0, 2-0 KingCo 3A/2A). Dean Byron hit a 31-yard field goal in the game for Liberty.

Sammamish fell to 1-3 overall with the loss, and 0-2 in conference play.

Skyline 55, Newport 6

The Spartans, coming off their first loss in two seasons, scored 42 points in the first half to defeat Newport 55-6 on the Sammamish Plateau.

Spartans (3-1, 1-0 KingCo 4A) quarterback Jake Heaps, a BYU commit, threw five touchdown passes and ran for another score in the win. Heaps hit Kasen Williams (twice), Jordan Simone, Cooper Pelluer and Michael Ford for scores. He was 17 of 22 for 272 yards.

The only score for Newport (2-2, 0-1) came on an 80-yard fumble return for a touchdown.