You might have wondered what they were booing about when you heard the Tomahawks won the game 49-7.

Well they weren’t booing. It might have sounded like that when they say “DREEEEEEW.”

They are referring to Drew Hatch, the middle linebacker for M-P.

Against Seattle Prep Nov. 7 it seemed like he and the Tommies defense was everywhere, holding the Panthers to 161 yards on 44 plays.

Everyone knows about the M-P offense, and they should. Running back Austin Joyner was his usual explosive self scoring four touchdowns in the first half. And when he needs a breather, Killian Page filled in really well as usual, scoring twice himself and running for 111 yards on just seven carries.

But to win in the state playoffs, M-P will need a strong defense. And the Tommies sure looked like one against Seattle Prep, holding them to 64 total yards when playing against the starters in the first half.

“We’ve been pretty good at stopping the run all year,” Coach Brandon Carson said.

Besides Hatch, leading the defense on this night were 6-4, 240-pound senior defensive lineman Bryce Vitcovich, Corbin Ferry, JJ Valencia and Nick Alonso.

M-P will enter the state playoffs Friday, Nov. 14, with a home game at 7 p.m. against the winner of Saturday’s Capitol vs. Mountlake Terrace contest.

To excel at state, M-P also will need strong special teams play.

The Tommies had that also in the Class 3A District 1 playoff game against Seattle Prep.

M-P kicker Sebastian Navarro did a lot of kicking off and boomed almost every one into the end zone, keeping the Panthers pinned back in their own territory. And Joyner scored on a 78-yard punt return to open the scoring in the game.

“We need to play well in all three phases of the game” to do well at state, Carson said.

On offense, he said he tried to have quarterback Erik Lind throw more to balance out the attack. He finished the game 6-for-10 for 96 yards. His two longest pass plays were bubble screens to Joyner for 25 and 30 yards.

Joyner finished with 118 rushing yards on six carries and Page 113 yards on seven carries as M-P piled up 328 yards rushing on 31 attempts.

Against the Panthers, M-P scored the first three times it touched the ball.

After holding Seattle Prep to a three and out, Joyner took the punt and ran 78 yards for a score. After holding the Panthers on downs again, Seattle Prep kicked away from Joyner so the Tommies took over at their own 44. But Joyner took the handoff on first down and ran off-tackle for another score. Seattle Prep held the ball for 10 plays but only gained a net 15 yards before punting. On the first play again, Page took the handoff and scored on a 65-yard off-tackle play.

Joyner scored his third TD on a 2-yard run to make it 28-0 with nine seconds left in the first quarter. Highlighting that drive was a 14-yard pass from Lind to Hunter Trueax, a bubble screen to Joyner for 25 yards and a 14-yard sweep by JJ Valencia.

The Tommies cruised from there, adding a 5-yard Joyner run and a 23-yard Page run in the second quarter to make it 42-0 at halftime. A 21-yard run by Joyner and a pass from Lind to Drew Hatch for 13 more preceded Joyner’s TD. Highlighting the drive Page scored on was a 30-yard bubble screen to Joyner, a 10-yard run by Page and a 9-yard run by Valencia.

With a running clock in the second half, Garrett Anderson scored on a 1-yard run for the home team, and Seattle Prep finally got on the board with 39 seconds left in the game on a 1-yard run by quarterback Jonathan Khalfayan.

Prior to Anderson’s score, Keshaun King had a run of 14 yards, and Lind hit Tristan Southard on a slant for 16 more. Valencia added runs of 7 and 9 yards.

What led to the Panthers getting on the scoreboard was a fourth-down pass from Khalfayan to Jack Price for 34 yards. Jacob Terao had a 13-yard run and  Sam Kopf added 18 yards on a reverse to set up the score.

Seattle Prep, which finished 4-6, had just 91 yards rushing. The Panthers were only 2-of-8 passing for 60 yards.

Seattle Prep         0  0 0 7 –  7

Marysville-Pilchuck 28 14 7 0 – 49

 

MP-Austin Joyner 78 punt return (Sebastian Navarro kick)

MP-Joyner 56 run (Navarro kick)

MP-Killian Page 65 run (Navarro kick)

MP-Joyner 2 run (Navarro kick)

MP-Joyner 5 run (Navarro kick)

MP-Page 23 run (Navarro kick)

MP-Garrett Anderson 1 run (Navarro kick)

SP-Jonathan Khalfayan 1 run (Nathan Post kick)

RUSHING: M-P: Austin Joyner 7 carries 118 yards, Killian Page 7-111, JJ Valencia 4-39, Garrett Anderson 5-15, Keshaun King 3-24, Galdino Fajardo 1-9, Eian Adcock 1- (3), Eli Black 2-9.

PASSING: M-P: Erik Lind 6-10-96-0.

RECEIVING: M-P Joyner 3 catches for 53 yards, Hunter Trueax 1-14, Drew Hatch 1-13, Tristan Southard 1-16.