Reed, Mullan Dismiss Council 56-32 Tigers Face Deary In Kibbie Dome After Mustangs Beat Lakeside 50-0

Nerves got the best of a handful of Mullan players prior to the team’s arrival at the Kibbie Dome for Saturday afternoon’s first round of the State A-4 eight-man football playoffs.

But a double-dose of senior David Reed was all the Tigers needed to soothe their upset stomachs.

Reed piled up 405 all-purpose yards, including six touchdowns, and made 11 tackles in Mullan’s 56-32 victory over Council.

Deary, meanwhile, knocked the wind out of Lakeside early in a 50-0 mismatch that ended on the 45-point mercy rule on the Mustangs’ final play of the first half.

That sent Mullan (8-1) and Deary (9-0) back to the Kibbie Dome in a semifinal matchup next Saturday as the last game of a triple-header at about 4:30 p.m.

“We got beat,” Lakeside coach Ron Miller shook his head. “I think they’d beat us 30 times in a row. Right now we’re not quite at that level Deary is. We are down here, and we saw what it takes.”

But Deary coach Darrah Eggers hasn’t been able to evaluate an entire game from the Mustangs who have ended each early by the 45-point rule.

Deary won the state title in 1993. The Mustangs bounced Mullan 70-38 in last year’s playoff opener, then wound up second to Carey. Deary, ranked No. 2 in the state’s final poll, returns five starters off those teams.

“I would like to go four quarters,” Eggers said. “We haven’t played it yet … mentally, is it going to be such a shock? Every game has been kinda like this game.”

Mullan, ranked No. 5, hasn’t forgotten that drubbing by Deary. “This is as good as we played all year,” Tigers coach John Drager said. “It was a big win. We needed the win; last year, we embarrassed ourselves.”

Mullan 56, Council 32

Junior quarterback Dan Fritz complemented Reed’s offensive effort and junior end Al Sisk did the same defensively.

Fritz passed for 201 yards, completing 9 of 19 attempts, including TDs of 54 and 67 yards to Reed.

Sisk, a lanky 6-foot-1, 162-pounder, tipped five passes, including three Lumberjacks PATs, recovered a fumble and made eight tackles.

“We’ve got a good offense; if our defense could hold up, we could play with anybody,” the 6-foot, 195-pound Reed said.

Council (7-2) forced Mullan to come from behind twice in a first quarter filled with big plays.

A 46-yard run by Gary Hasselstrom put the Lumberjacks on the scoreboard on their second possession. Reed answered, capping an eight-play, 75-yard drive with a 54-yard TD reception.

Council countered with a 70-yard pass play to Craig Hasselstrom, who was chased down and tackled by Reed on the Tigers 9-yard line. Rob Ogden threw the lead block that put Gary Hasselstrom into the end zone on the next play, but Sisk tipped the conversion pass and Council led 12-8 at 1:52.

Reed responded with three straight TDs in about 90 seconds of work.

“The Reed kid, he’s the real thing,” Council coach Murray Dalgleish said. “We’ve seen some fast kids … he was better than we were today. He’s quick and big. He’s got real good moves.”

The go-ahead TD was a 67-yard pass to Reed thrown by a scrambling Fritz at 1:13 in the first quarter. The conversion pass to Steve Greenfield gave Mullan a 16-12 lead.

Reed tacked on a 71-yard TD run 9:52 before halftime. The Lumberjacks fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which Mullan’s Aaron Murphy recovered on the Council 42-yard line. Reed bulled into the end zone from the 4-yard line two plays later to make it 30-12 with just less than 9 minutes to go in the half.

“We played a pretty good first quarter, then we played a lousy second quarter,” Dalgleish added. “It’s hard to get your kids to come back.”

Mullan 56, Council 32

Council 12 0 8 12 - 32 Mullan 16 14 12 14 - 56

C-G. Hasselstrom 46 run (pass fail)

M-Reed 54 pass from Fritz (Angle pass from Fritz)

C-G. Hasselstrom 9 run (pass fail)

M-Reed 67 pass from Fritz (Greenfield pass from Fritz)

M-Reed 71 run (Greenfield pass from Fritz)

M-Reed 4 run (pass fail)

M-Siri 5 run (pass fail)

C-Ogden 19 run (DeHass pass from Jensen)

M-Reed 78 kickoff return (pass fail)

M-Fritz 23 run (pass fail)

M-Reed 30 run (pass fail)

C-DeHass 43 pass from Jensen (pass fail)

C-C. Hasselstrom 2 run (pass fail)

Deary 50, Lakeside 0

The Mustangs scored on seven of nine offensive possessions.

Lakeside managed to cross midfield twice, as the Knights mustered just 40 yards rushing and 83 passing. Deary tallied 352 yards offense.

“They’re just a darn good team,” Miller said of the Mustangs. “I don’t know if there’s anything we could have done on our best night out there. They’re quick everywhere.”

Inexperience took its toll on the Knights (8-2), as mainstays Mario Falciani, Ken Pluff and Sam Lozeau were staggered by injuries. In addition, leading running back Buck Allen was benched for unspecified disciplinary reasons with 6:07 left in the second quarter.

Deary put the game out of reach with a 30-point first quarter.

The Mustangs’ clincher was a five-play, 45-yard drive that started with 1:33 to go in the second quarter. Junior Joe Workman spun away from two tacklers and went 22 yards over the right side ending not only the half, but the game.

Aaron Workman led Deary with 124 yards rushing, including three TDs, on just five carries.

Deary 50, Lakeside 0

Lakeside 0 0 X X - 0 Deary 30 20 X X - 50

D-Wood 39 pass from Holden (A. Workman run)

D-Griffin 35 run (Holden run)

D-Henderson 16 pass from Holden (run fail)

D-A. Workman 60 run (Wood pass from Holden)

D-A. Workman 33 run (pass fail)

D-A. Workman 10 run (J. Workman run)

D-J. Workman 22 run (game ended by 45-point mercy rule)