On Thursday, October 19, the Mountainside Mavericks hosted the Jesuit Crusaders in the de facto Metro League championship game. Both teams were 3-0 in League play entering the night and a win for either team would guarantee them at least a share of the Metro League title. The Mavs were attempting to win their first league title and get their first win over Jesuit in 6 tries. It was an electric atmosphere at Mountainside for this big showdown and the student section, dressed in pink in honor of breast cancer awareness, was rowdy early on. Throughout the game, however, the Crusaders were able to silence the MHS crowd, rolling to a 31-14 victory.
Jesuit (4-4, 4-0 Metro League) has been one of the state’s best programs for many years. “They’ve known what they’re doing for a long time and they’re pretty good at it, like run game, pass game, they’re good at it all,” defensive back Payton Lawson said. The Crusaders have dominated the Metro League with a 60-2 record in league play over the last 11 seasons, which includes a perfect 6-0 record against Mountainside (5-3, 3-1 Metro League). Lineman Tate Sebesta cited Jesuit’s coaching as a big part of their success “I think they just have good coaches and they’re, like, a well-rounded team.”
Both offenses got off to a slow start with Mountainside going 3 and out on each of their first 2 drives and Jesuit going 3 and out on their first drive as well. The Crusaders would get on the scoreboard first with a 2-yard touchdown run by Julius Christensen, putting the visitors up 7-0 midway through the 1st quarter. The Mavericks would respond with a lengthy drive that took over 6 minutes and they capped it off with a 4th and goal touchdown on a quarterback keeper by Alex Ingalls, tying the score at 7-7.
The teams would exchange punts on their next 2 drives but Jesuit was able to regain the lead with a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trey Cleeland to receiver Jace Burton, putting Jesuit up 14-7. With just a few minutes left in the first half, Jesuit was able to force a fumble against Mountainside running back Jordan Hicks and recovered the ball in Mavericks territory. After the fumble, Jesuit went backward on 2 plays and was forced into a 3rd & 17. It appeared as if the Maverick’s defense had the Crusaders stopped, but they were able to pick up the first down on a deep pass to Burton. This allowed Jesuit to get into field goal range at the end of the half and they made the field goal which meant that the Mavs would enter the locker room down 17-7.
A big problem for the Mavericks in this game was penalties. There were several times in the first half and throughout the game as a whole where Mountainside moved the ball well but had the drive stalled out by penalties. “Throughout the first half, there was probably, like, more than 60 yards in penalties alone.” Payton Lawson said.
Jesuit got the ball to start the second half but the Mountainside defense quickly stopped them and the Mavs got the ball back and moved it down to the Jesuit 19-yard line. It looked like Mountainside was about to make it a one-score game, but the Jesuit defense stopped quarterback Alex Ingalls on a 4th and 1 run and the Mavericks turned the ball over on downs after they had the ball for over 5 minutes. The Crusader’s offense took full advantage of the stop as Cleeland found Joe Stimpson for a 74-yard touchdown, extending the margin to 24-7 for Jesuit.
The Mavs moved the ball into Jesuit territory, but penalties were once again Mountainside’s downfall as they were forced into a 4th and long which they couldn’t convert, turning the ball over on downs. Jesuit running back Lonnie Burt put the final nail in the coffin with a touchdown run with 3 minutes left in the game, extending the Jesuit lead to 31-7. The Mavs would find the end zone with 6 seconds left on a run by backup quarterback Cade Mitchell to cut the deficit to 31-14, but it was too little too late and Jesuit clinched another Metro League title. There is still an outside chance that Mountainside could share the league championship with Jesuit, but it would require the Crusaders to lose to Beaverton (2-6, 1-3 Metro League) next week, which has been blown out in the vast majority of their games.
With the loss, the Mavericks dropped to 5-3 on the season and had their 4-game winning streak snapped. Mountainside will play their final regular season game of the year on the road against the Aloha Warriors (0-8, 0-4 Metro League) next Friday as they prepare for the playoffs. Mountainside is currently ranked #17 by the OSAA, one spot out of the main playoff bracket. They will hope to move into the top 16 after next week and earn their place in the championship bracket, if they don’t move up then they will participate in the Columbia Cup, a secondary playoff tournament for the #17-32 ranked teams in the state. The Mavericks will hope to move on from this loss and keep up the success they have had this season.
