Mercer Island appeared poised for victory in their week 10 season finale against Nathan Hale Friday night. Their first game in two weeks, the Islanders led the Raiders 28-24 heading into the game’s final quarter. They had possession, and they were driving.
But a few costly turnovers late in the game afforded the Raiders the final momentum swing they needed to pull away.
Behind four touchdowns from senior running back William Sanders and a pair of field goals from Dylan Macduff, Nathan Hale beat Mercer Island 33-28 Friday at Northeast Athletic Complex in Seattle.
The Raiders capitalized off two fourth-quarter takeaways to score the game’s final nine points and come away with the win.
In defeat, Mercer Island coach Brett Ogata simply wished the result could’ve played out differently for his graduating players.
“The seniors played their hearts out. I just wish I could give them a win,” he said. “They’re a bunch of great kids that worked hard. It’s just the darndest season, just one of those things where if it could go wrong, it went wrong for us.”
The game wasn’t without any magic for the Islanders. Both teams were scoring nearly at will in the first half. Sanders scored three of his four rushing touchdowns in the opening half, two from one yard out and the other a 57-yard TD run, while Jordano Mark paced the Islanders (3-7, 2-4) with two touchdown receptions of 74 yards and 16 yards. With just over two minutes left in the half, Mercer Island’s Will Krause executed the flea flicker to perfection, finding quarterback Cole Miller for a 48-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 21-21.
But the half ended with a bit of controversy. With the Raiders (8-2, 3-1) staring at a fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line and the final seconds ticking away, Mercer Island stuffed Nathan Hale’s rush and came up with the ball, which defensive back Giovanni Rocha ran back to the end zone.
No touchdown was signaled, as the referees convened and called for a replay of the down due to an inadvertent whistle. The Raiders would kick a 12-yard field goal to end the half ahead 24-21.
Rocha would pick off Nathan Hale quarterback Nathan Cooprider on the first play of the second half. Eight plays later, Miller found Mark from 13 yards out for their third touchdown connection of the game. But it was the last time Mercer Island would score.
On the Islanders’ opening drive of the fourth quarter, Miller was picked off on third-and-10 at the Nathan Hale 11-yard line to send the action the other way. Two plays later, Sanders broke away for a 51-yard touchdown run to put the Raiders ahead 30-28.
Mercer Island’s next possession lasted three plays and ended with a fumble on third down. The Raiders capitalized with a 14-yard field goal, which was ultimately their winning points.
It was a crushing end to a season that posed much adversity to the Islander squad. But the Mercer Island upperclassmen did their best to make the most of their final moments together on the gridiron.
“Going out in my last game, I just wanted to play hard and play for my teammates,” senior lineman and captain Joe Williams said. “Obviously, we faced a lot of injuries and had to bring a lot of young guys up, but I feel like the record doesn’t show how much we grew as a team.”
“We never gave up. We always fought and made the most of the opportunities that we had,” senior wide receiver Griffin Kane said. “It was a lot of fun to play with the seniors and the team that we had this year. Best group of guys I’ve ever been around.”
