Mercer Island needed to play a couple quarters of football to get going in last week’s season opener. This week, that wasn’t the case.
Capitalizing on two early fumble recoveries, Mercer Island jumped out to an early 21-0 lead over Kentridge Friday night and never looked back, cruising past the Chargers 44-10 at French Field in Kent.
The Islanders recovered four Kentridge fumbles throughout Friday’s contest, creating 17 points off turnovers.
“Our guys have been talking all year about how we have to win the turnover battle and the guys did a good job of that tonight,” said head coach Brett Ogata after the game.
Kentridge opened the game with a 10-play drive before a fumbled handoff inside Mercer Island’s 40-yard line was recovered by the Islanders’ Jackson Caputo. Eight plays later, Alfonso Gonzalez capped a 64-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run to put the Islanders ahead, 7-0. Then a fumble on the ensuing kickoff put Mercer Island at the Chargers’ 30-yard line. Two plays later, Gonzalez found Jack Counihan for a three-yard touchdown pass to put the Islanders ahead 14-0 with 4:13 remaining in the opening period.
After a Kentridge three-and-out, Mercer Island extended its lead to 21-0 in the opening minute of the second quarter, with Gonzalez finding Eric Kim on a 13-yard touchdown pass.
The Chargers reached the end zone on its next possession, finishing a 12-play drive with a two-yard touchdown run by Malik McFerrin. But seven plays later, Mercer Island made it 28-7 on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Scalzo to Patrick Nielson. A 29-yard field goal from Connor King to end the half would be the last points Kentridge would score.
A week after watching a game slip away in the closing minutes to Bishop Blanchet, Ogata said he wanted to see his team cut down on penalties, work cleaner on the transitions in special teams and improve its run defense. Overall, he was pleased with what he saw Friday night.
“We’re getting there. I’m happy we made improvement, we just have to keep getting better every week,” he said. “We’ve still got a ways to go, it’s only game two of the year. Hopefully next week, we’re a lot better.”
Next up, the Islanders travel to Bellevue to take on the reigning 3A state champion Wolverines. The game starts at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19 at Bellevue High School.
