Rainier Beach rushing attack grounds Mountain View in season-ending loss

SEATTLE — Even when Mountain View’s football team knew exactly what was coming, Rainier Beach made it near impossible to stop.

Behind Scottre Humphrey and a bruising rushing attack, Rainier Beach punished the Thunder for 262 rushing yards en route to a 38-7 win in a 3A state preliminary playoff game on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Thunder’s season ends at 5-5.

“When they run something so many times, you know they’re going to be good at it,” Mountain View coach Adam Mathieson said. “You know it’s coming, and you’re like crap, we couldn’t do much about it.”

The talented Beach running back ran for 155 yards on 20 carries, including touchdown runs of 9 and 50 yards. He also added a 37-yard receiving score to put the Vikings up 24-0 at the halftime whistle.

While the Thunder made adjustments in the second half and performed much better, Beach’s opening two drives — 14 plays, 80 yards and 12 plays, 67 yards — showcased how things were going to go the rest of the evening in the shadow of The Space Needle.

“If you don’t capitalize early, they can get away from you,” Mathieson said.

Mountain View’s offense never quite got in rhythm, amounting just 64 first-half yards. But 51- and 66-yard drives in the second half both ended just yards from the end zone — one on downs, the other with a fourth-down interception — as Beach clung to a 24-0 lead.

Mitch Johnson finished 19-of-33 passing for 198 yards. He had a 1-yard touchdown run late in the affair. Kyle Chen caught five passes for 77 yards and Jacob Martin hauled in six catches for 62 yards.

“I thought we were a little clunky on offense early on, and missed some things,” Mathieson said. “You’re playing catch up the rest of the game from that standpoint.”

The Thunder entered the 2022 season with lofty expectations. And while, not all of those goals were eventually met, Mathieson draws a lot of positives from the year.

“Sometimes it doesn’t go as planned,” Mathieson said. “It’s a disappointing way to end, but we’re proud of their effort.”

RAINIER BEACH 38, MOUNTAIN VIEW 7

MV 0 0 0 7—7

RB 7 17 0 14 — 38

Scoring summary

First quarter

RB — Scottre Humphrey 9 run (Brandon Smith kick)

Second quarter

RB — Brandon Smith 28 FG

RB — Caleb Presley 66 pass from Chance Guadiz (Smith kick)

RB — Humphrey 37 pass from Guadiz (Smith kick)

Third quarter

RB — Humphrey 50 run (Smith kick)

Fourth quarter

RB — Damari King 40 run (Smith kick)

MV — Mitch Johnson 1 run (Owen Purvis kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — MV: Kedyn Bolds 6-31, James Thompson 1-3, Mitch Johnson 13-2, Porter Drake 8-27; RB: Damari King 4-66, Caleb Presley 1-5, Scottre Humphrey 20-155, Chance Guadiz 4-25, Zevion Watkins 3-10.

Passing — MV: Mitch Johnson 19-33-2-198; RB: Chance Guadiz 9-19-0-179.

Receiving — MV: Akili Kamau 3-20, Kyle Chen 5-77, Jacob Martin 6-62, James Thompson 2-19, Porter Drake 3-20; RB: Daizhantae King 5-64, Caleb Presley 1-66, Ray Ray Proctor 1-7, Scottre Humphrey 2-42.