Mules blank Trojans; taking on Braves

The Wahkiakum Mule football team shut out the Pe Ell Trojans 32-0 last Friday in a battle for a state playoff berth.

The 8-1 Mules will head to Mount Vernon for a 7 p.m. Friday game with the LaConner Braves.

The Mules dominated the line of scrimmage against the Trojans, and that opened the way for a good offensive showing.

The Mules opened the scoring when Lars Blix passed to Steven Doumit who broke a tackle and scored on a 36-yard run at 4:07 of the first quarter. Gunnar Blix kicked the conversion point for a 7-0 lead.

L. Blix passed to Doumit for a 51-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left in the first quarter. G. Blix kicked the conversion for a 14-0 Mule lead.

Michael Dault recovered a Pe Ell fumble with 17 seconds left in the first quarter at the Trojan 17-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage in the second quarter, L. Blix passed to Austin Good for a 20-yard touchdown. The conversion kick failed, leaving the Mules up 20-0 at 11:54.

At 3:21 of the third quarter, L. Blix connected with Seth Doumit on a 22-yard pass play for another touchdown. A pass attempt for the conversion failed, leaving the Mules up 26-0.

Austin Good closed out the scoring at 9:12 of the fourth quarter on a 60-yard run. The conversion kick failed, leaving the score 32-0.

The balanced Mule offense gained 201 yards rushing on 29 runs and 197 yards on 12 passes. The Mules had 13 first downs. Pe Ell gained 78 yards on the ground and 17 yards in the air with four first downs.

Good gained 138 yards on 13 carries; L. Blix picked up 34 yards on five runs; Steven Doumit gained 33 yards on six carries and Travis Wegdahl had nine yards on five runs.

L. Blix completed 12 of 22 passes, with no interceptions, for 197 yards and four touchdowns. Steven Doumit caught four for 98 yards and two touchdowns; Good had four for 47 yards and one touchdown; G. Blix caught two for 16 yards; Seth Doumit caught one for a 22-yard touchdown, and Wegdahl caught one for seven yards.

The Mules had eight penalties for 80 yards; the Trojans had one penalty for 15 yards. Each team fumbled twice and lost one.

Bubba Calvert led the Mule defense with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery. G. Blix had nine; Dault, Mason Mackey, Trystan Mendez and Brandon Burdick all had seven, and Steven Doumit made six.

"I was pretty pleased with the play of our defensive line," said Mule Coach Eric Hansen. "On offense, we have some things to work on. We need to sustain our blocks better."

The Mules take on the LaConner Braves this Saturday, 7 p.m., at Mount Vernon High School. The Braves are the number one seed from the Northwest region.

"They run spread and shotgun formations," Hansen said. "They have a good quarterback and running back. As for size, they're a bit bigger than we are.

"We're going to have to play well."

The winner will advance to a quarterfinal matchup the following weekend against the winner of the Raymond-Napavine game, which will be played Saturday evening in Aberdeen.