In the first half of Elma’s non-league contest against the fifth-ranked Mt. Baker Mountaineers, the Eagles did just about everything right.
But it was Mt. Baker that made the plays in the second half to pull away and hand Elma a 28-13 loss on Saturday at Davis Field in Elma.
In what was a hard-fought, physical battle, Elma struck first on the opening possession of the game. The Eagles (2-1 overall) drove 65 yards on a 13-play drive that included two fourth-down conversions, including a touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Carter Studer to senior wide receiver René Duran.
Canon Seaberg’s point-after gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead at the 5:37 mark of the first half.
And for the entirety of the first half, Elma made the league stick as the game turned into a defensive struggle.
In the second quarter, Elma defenders forced Mt. Baker running backs to fumble on three consecutive drives. The Eagles recovered each time, including a recovery at the 3-yard line as it appeared the Mountaineers were driving for a game-tying touchdown.
Just before the half, Mt. Baker (2-2) was on the move once again, penetrating deep into Eagles territory. After a completed first-down pass at the Eagles 9-yard line, time appeared to have expired and Elma players began to head to the locker room for halftime. But officials called for two seconds to be placed back on the clock as per rule the clock stops on a first down.
Mt. Baker lined up to take the snap as soon as the clock started to take one last shot at the end zone before the half expired. But the clock read 0.2 seconds and the halftime buzzer sounded before the Mountaineers could get the play off, causing more confusion.
After the two teams lined up again for one final play of the first half, the referee called the half over in a bizarre ending to the first 24 minutes of play.
In the second half, it didn’t take long for Mt. Baker to show why it deserves its state-ranking. The Mountaineers scored on a 51-yard pass from quarterback Davin Beason to receiver Landen Hanstead less than a minute into the third quarter, but the point after kick fluttered wide right as Elma held on to a 7-6 margin.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Mt. Baker receiver Landen Hanstead (12) breaks free from the grip of Elma defensive back Manuel Hernandez for a 51-yard touchdown during a non-league game on Saturday in Elma.
After Elma went three-and-out on the following possession, Mt. Baker struck again, taking the lead when running back Marques George broke through the middle for a 22-yard TD. George followed with a two-point conversion run to give Mt. Baker a 14-7 lead at 8:28 of the third quarter.
With all the energy and momentum of the first half sapped from their sideline, Elma caught a proverbial bolt of lightning in the form of Jarred Bailey. The senior speedster took a handoff on the first play of the ensuing drive and broke down the right sideline for an enthralling 71-yard touchdown run that brought Elma fans to their feet and left the Mountaineers stunned.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma running back Jarred Bailey (37) is met by Mt. Baker defender Marques George (9) during a game on Saturday at Davis Field in Elma.
But in the back-and-forth style of a heavyweight fight, Seaberg’s game-tying point-after attempt was blocked as the Mountaineers held a 14-13 lead with 8:09 left in the third quarter.
Elma, which had controlled the turnover margin in the first half, saw the pendulum swing the other way in the second half. A fumble by running back Conan Baxter in Mountaineers territory killed one Elma drive and a Studer interception gave Mt. Baker the ball deep inside Eagles territory on the following Elma possession.
Mt. Baker converted on a key fourth-down play at the Elma 18 and Beason punched it in from 2-yards out a few plays later to put Elma in a 21-13 deficit with 10:50 left to play.
Studer’s second interception gave Mt. Baker the ball back at their own 10-yard line, and the Mountaineers scored just four plays later on a Beason 25-yard touchdown pass to receiver Wyatt Pettigrew to go up 28-13 with 5:42 left.
But aside from Bailey’s long TD run in the third quarter, Elma couldn’t get anything going on offense in the second half as their final few drives sputtered and the Eagles fell 28-13.
Mt. Baker racked up 359 yards of offense, most of it coming in the second half.
Running back Jesse Sande carried the ball 21 times for 81 yards while Beason went 7-of-16 passing for 151 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead Mt. Baker.
Elma managed just 182 yards of offense — 84 passing and 98 rushing — and was led by Bailey, who carried the ball 13 times for a game-high 100 yards.
Studer went 6-for-18 for 84 yards, a touchdown and two picks for Elma.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma defensive lineman Tucker Potts (65) tackles Mt. Baker running back Jesse Sande during the second half of Elma’s 28-13 loss on Saturday in Elma.
“They played really hard. That was a really physical game,” Elma head coach Ron Clark said of his team, adding facing a highly-ranked opponent was “just what we needed.”
“We told them it’s the best thing to happen for us, it really is. Not the loss but the toughness of the game and that its a perennial playoff team and it’s what we needed.”
Clark added that on Friday he told his team that “win or lose, when we walk off that field tomorrow we are going to be better football players.”
“This should give the kids confidence, but more importantly how to execute when its crunch time and how physical you have to be to beat a team like that,” he said, citing the play of Nathan Coomer, Donovan Bishop and Bailey. “We told them ahead of time ‘This is a heavyweight fight. They are going to land their punches and so are we. It’s going to go back-and-forth,’ and that’s kind of the way it went.”
Mt. Baker 0 0 14 14 — 28
Elma 7 0 6 0 — 13
