MR Football
AUBURN--Two lightning quick early strikes did not hold up for the Mount Rainier High School football team against the big play defense and patient offense of Auburn-Riverside in the season opener for both teams Thursday, Aug. 30.
After taking leads of 6-0 and 13-10 on long plays the Rams came away on the short end of a 44-21 score against the Ravens at Auburn Memorial.
"The biggest thing was the fatigue factor," said Mount Rainier head coach Tremain Mack of what went wrong as the game wore on. "We had offensive linemen missing so we did not have the proper substitutions. And we've got to get better on defense. We will be better."
The Rams' offense looked sharp when they first unwrapped it.
Quarterback Logan Wagner found Christian Pham wide open on the left side on the game's first play from scrimmage and connected with him for an 81-yard touchdown pass. Pham outran one last defender until he dove at him and clipped his heels at about the 10 yard line, but Pham kept just enough balance to get over the line before falling.