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.
The kick for the extra point hit the right crossbar to leave the score at 6-0 with only 20 seconds elapsed in the first quarter.
After Auburn-Riverside scored 10 unanswered points lightning struck again for Mount Rainier with 2:50 left in the quarter.
Running back Amani Brown took a handoff from Wagner and broke through the middle, running for an 80-yard touchdown with one defender to his rear on both sides of him.
Alberto Cervantes then booted the extra point to make it a 13-10 game in favor of the Rams.
"We had some things planned for them," said Mack of the two big plays against Auburn-Riverside.
But the Ravens turned to running back Joey Lucchesi and he ground out 126 yards on 28 carries to slowly take the Rams out of the game.
Lucchesi had scored on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Thomson with 8:34 on the first quarter for a 7-6 advantage at the time, with Gavin Starks kicking the extra point and then adding a 26-yard field goal at the 3:05 mark to make it 10-6.
After Brown's score for the Rams, Auburn-Riverside did not take the lead back until 7:11 to go in the second quarter.
Adam Hanes ran for a 15-yard touchdown on the right side and Starks' kick made it 17-13.
Thomson then scored on a 9-yard quarterback keeper with 19 seconds to go in the half and Starks' kick upped the Ravens' lead to 24-13.
Lucchesi added a 6-yard touchdown run on the right side at 3:54 to play in the third quarter and Stark made it 31-13. Thomson threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Hanes at the 10:16 mark of the fourth quarter and Stark helped put the game more out of reach with the extra point to make it 38-13.
Hanes then returned an interception 51 yards for a score with 9:17 left in the game and Starks' kick was no good to leave the score at 44-13.
Mount Rainier got the last word in with 2:42 remaining.
Wagner faked a handoff and then ran around the left end himself for a 4-yard score. Brown ran for a two-point conversion as the Rams closed the final gap to 44-21.
"I'm pleased with the guys fighting and not giving up," Mack said.
But Mack hopes for even bigger returns in the future -- like wins.
"Every time we step on the field, we expect to win," he said. "We have 15 others coming out, and that's a lot to build on and grow. We've got a lot of work to do."
The Rams have a home game against the Auburn Trojans scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday at Highline Memorial.
"Auburn will be a fight, and we're ready for a challenge," said Mack.
Mack takes over the team after one season as defensive coordinator and two years at Tyee, which does not have a team this year but has some players on the Rams' roster.
"So I've been with some of these kids for three years," Mack said.
Brown rushed for 163 yards on 20 carries to lead the Rams and Totems' offense Thursday, while Wagner completed four of 13 passes for 91 yards. Pham caught the one big touchdown pass to lead the receivers with 81 yards.
