Undefeated Mount Vernon came from behind in the second half to stop the Oak Harbor High School football team 29-17 Friday in a non-league game at Mount Vernon.
The Bulldogs took an early lead on a 1-yard run in the first quarter; the point after kick failed.
Oak Harbor jumped to a 14-6 lead on two short, second-quarter touchdowns runs by quarterback Clarence Lamont. Ryan Fakkema booted both PATs.
The second Mount Vernon score came just before the half off of a Wildcat fumble. The run for the conversion failed.
The Wildcats took a 14-12 lead into the locker room, but the Bulldogs scored first in the second half with a field goal and never trailed. Mount Vernon tacked on another TD run and PAT kick to go up 22-14.
Oak Harbor answered with a 28-yard field goal by Fakkema to make it 22-17, but never got closer.
Mount Vernon put the game away with a fourth-quarter touchdown.
A bright spot for the Wildcats was its running game. Last week against Everett, the ‘Cats rushed for over 100 yards for the first time this season. Friday, the Wildcats topped the 200-yard mark as Donovan Hunt put up impressive numbers: 164 yards on 17 carries.
Lamont passed for 120 yards, completing 16 of 29 passes. Mike Washington Jr. led the receivers with five catches for 37 yards. Josh Sayre (37 yards) and Hunt (21 yards) each had four catches. In all, Oak Harbor had 322 yards of total offense.
Quarterback Jake Weber-Koetje ran for three touchdowns for the Bulldogs.
Turnovers — six in total — haunted the Wildcats all night. As well as setting up Mount Vernon’s first touchdown with a fumble, Oak Harbor coughed up two other fumbles. Lamont threw three interceptions in Mount Vernon territory, one in the end zone.
The Wildcats moved the ball throughout the night but couldn’t convert.
Assistant coach Mike Fisher said, “We literally out played them, but we made the big mistake at the wrong time.”
Mount Vernon is now 4-0 and Oak Harbor 1-3 for the year.
The Wildcats travel to Snohomish Friday to take on the 3-1 Panthers. Snohomish prefers the ground game. Nick Hund leads the Panthers with 403 yards on 59 carries, nearly 7 yards a carry. Quarterback Luke Perry attempts just seven passes a game, but averages over 20 yards a completion.
