Cale Millen accounts for all three touchdown as the top-ranked Wildcats hold off the Wolves 21-7.
Check another box. Put another stamp of validation on its lofty status.
Top-ranked Mount Si passed another big test and Eastlake proved tougher than any of the rest.
Cale Millen, the University of Oregon-bound senior quarterback, overcame an ordinary opening 20 minutes and relied heavily on his defense as the Wildcats remained unbeaten with a hard-fought 21-7 victory on Friday night in a KingCo 4A Crest Division game at Mount Si High School.
Millen played well in spurts, finishing 22-of-28 passing for 328 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for a clinching 1-yard TD in the fourth quarter.
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“I still personally think that KingCo is the best conference in the state for 4A,” said Millen after his team moved to 5-0 and 1-0 in the Crest Division. “That was a true test. They know we’re No. 1 in The Seattle Times, and they’re going to give us their best shot and every team’s going to give us their best shot.
“We have to be prepared for that. We’ve got a target on our backs, and we have to prepare every week like it’s a championship.”
In a Crest Division opener for newly anointed top team in the Class 4A ranks, things were tough offensively for a team that came in averaging 46 points. The Wildcats are coming off 27-17 win over defending KingCo 4A champion and state runner-up Woodinville last week.
The Mount Si defense stiffened whenever Eastlake (1-1, 3-2) threatened.
“We’re not going to be able to score every time and we just kind of grinded it out,” Wildcat coach Charlie Kinnune said. “We have to show ourselves that we can do that. Eastlake’s been averaging 30 points a game, and so to hold them to a touchdown is pretty good.”
Millen’s 1-yard quarterback sneak into the pile pushed the Wildcats ahead 21-7 with 8:47 left to play in the game.
Wildcat receiver Colby Botten had a big night on both sides of the ball, catching five passes for 117 yards and a TD. He also had an interception.
The Wolves defense went long stretches putting pressure on Millen and sacked him three times and hurried him several more times.
Eastlake pulled with 14-7 on Nate Sutter’s catch-and-foot-drag on an 8-yard TD pass from Grady Robison with 1:10 left in the third quarter.
The Wildcats offense sputtered most of the first half and looked headed for its first scoreless half of the season. But they perked up in the final 3:59 of the first half to take 14-0 lead into halftime.
Botten hauled in a 35-yard TD strike from Millen in the back of the end zone for a 7-0 lead at the 3:59 mark of the second quarter.