<< Previous   of   Next >>

ADVERTISEMENT

CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Grizzlies bear down on Hawks

Mountlake Terrace struggles against first-year school

By Al Rose
For The Enterprise

EDMONDS

Glacier Park coach Rory Rosenbach received what was perhaps his best birthday gift yet.

His team presented him with a convincing win over Mountlake Terrace 35-7 in a non-conference football game Sept. 26 at Edmonds Stadium.

More remarkable than the one-sided victory is the fact that Glacier Park is a brand new school whose roster is made up of an almost equal number of sophomores and juniors, with no seniors.

Mountlake Terrace was presumed by many to have had a distinct advantage going into this game, but the Grizzlies were not to be denied.

Behind the leadership of their quarterback, Zach Richter, the Grizzlies rolled over the Hawks.

Taking advantage of a Hawks' fumble on the third play of the game, Richter threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Luke Westberg with 9:53 left in the first quarter.

Zach Karels scored the Hawks' only touchdown of the game on a 6-yard run midway through the second quarter. After that, it was all Grizzlies.

Richter threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jake Bonner and a 28-yarder to Westberg as Glacier Peak took a 21-7 lead at halftime.

The Grizzlies added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

A strong pass defense kept Mountlake Terrace from mounting much offense throughout the game.

Mountlake Terrace coach Tony Umayam knew his team was facing a tough opponent that had battled hard in all three of their previous games.

The Grizzlies' offense is unique among Wesco teams.

"They spread the ball out and do a nice job of throwing the football around," Umayam said. "They executed their offense and they were able to slow and shut down ours. We had a few opportunities. We had some very costly mistakes in the form of turnovers and penalties in the red zone. We can't squander those opportunities to put points on the board like we did Friday night."

Glacier Peak also converted on some crucial third-and-long situations, Umayam added.

An elated Rosenbach and a happy group of Grizzlies wildly celebrated their first win in their brief history in front of their enthusiastic fans.

Rosenbach said that "our players bought into our program from the beginning. Their determination plus their athletic skills made this possible tonight. We have a varied offense and our passing and running game kept their defense guessing. Mountlake Terrace is a good team, so our first win is really big for us."

The Grizzlies (1-3) have some 90 students participating in the program.

For the Hawks (2-2), it was a night that brought them back to reality after their previous exciting overtime win over Meadowdale.



Enterprise sports editor David Pan contributed to this story.

Grizzlies best Hawks

•Quarterback Zach Richter threw for three touchdowns to lead Glacier Peak to a 35-7 victory over Mountlake Terrace in a non-conference game Sept. 26 at Edmonds Stadium.
•Mountlake Terrace hosts Cascade at 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3 at Edmonds Stadium.