Mossyrock knocks Mules out of playoffs

The Wahkiakum Mule football season came to end last Saturday as the Mossyrock Vikings won a three-way tiebreaker for the Central League's third and final playoff berth.

The Mules ended the regular season with a 34-8 loss to the Toutle Lake Ducks on November 1. The two teams entered the game tied for second; the win put the Ducks in second place and left the Mules tied with Mossyrock and the Napavine Tigers for third. The teams met Saturday in Toutle to use a Kansas CIty Tiebreaker format. The first two teams to lose two matchups were eliminated.

The Mules opened the tiebreaker by defeating the Tigers. The Mule defense stopped the Tiger offense on downs, and when the Mules got the ball, they took nine plays to score, with Blake Andreson scoring on an off tackle run.

The Mules then took on Mossyrock who claimed a win. The Mules turned the ball over on a pass interception, and the Vikings used a long pass to the two-yard line to set up their scoring run.

The Vikings then eliminated the Tigers. The Tigers scored first but couldn't covert on a run try for two points. The Tiger kicker had a broken foot, Mule Coach Eric Hansen explained. Then Mossyrock scored and kicked the conversion to eliminate the Tigers.

Next, the Mules faced Mossyrock a second time and came up with their second loss. The Mules fumbled away the ball on their first possession, but the defense stopped the Vikings and got the ball back for the Mule offense. The Mules had a pass dropped in the endzone, and with fourth and long, elected to kick. Michael Weiler's 29-yard field goal put the Mules up 30. The Vikings responded with good sweep run to score the winning touchdown and eleminate the Mules.

Last Thursday, the Mules made an early threat against the Ducks, but a long drive came up short. Toutle then took control of the game with a strong running game and built a 34-0 lead at the end of three quarters, when the coaches put their junior varsities on the field.

The reserves put the Mules on the board in the fourth quarter. Number 8 scored on a five-yard run; Bryce McClain ran the two-point conversion.

"I was impressed by Toutle's tremendous speed," Hansen said. "Toutle was fired up; we were an inexperienced team and didn't play as well as we could have.

"We didn't tackle very well, and we made some mistakes in blocking."

Toutle piled up 312 yards rushing; the Mules had 167. Anderson led the Mule running attack with 56 yards on 17 carries; Joel Fudge had 34 yards, Cameron Elliott 31, Alec Sealund 19, and Bryce McClain 17. Anderson also led the defense with five tackles and four assists; Sealund had five tackles, four assists and intercepted a Duck pass.

The Mules started the game missing strong tackle Bobby Ferguson, who was injured against Vancouver Christian; they then lost tight end Bobby Helms to a cracked collar bone. Neither were able to play in the tiebreaker.

"Now it's time for next season," Hansen said. "We've got five juniors, six sophomores and 10 freshment coming back. I'm excited about our future."

The Mules' seniors were Matt Willete, Mike Mogusth, Alec Sealund, Ferguson, C.J. Bridges, Helms and Weiler.

Summary

Wahkiakum0008--8

Toutle Lake713140--34

MulesDucks

First downs1311

Rushes/yards50/16737/312

Passes/yards5/992/37

Total offense266349

Passes/complete/intercepted

8/5/26/2/1

Punts/avg.3/313/37

Penalties6/324/20

Fumbles/lost1/10