MOUNT VERNON — The Concrete football team left Mount Vernon High School planning trips to the hospital instead of to another playoff game.
The Lions lost quarterback Chris Smith to a neck injury just before halftime and lost their Class 2B first-round state playoff game 56-27 Friday to a powerful Adna squad.
Smith left the field on his feet, but was taken to Skagit Valley Hospital after complaining of pain in his head and neck. Concrete Principal Don Beazizo said Smith also had some swelling around the base of the neck and some memory loss. He sat on the bench for the remainder of the first half, but was then taken to the hospital.
“We didn’t want to take chances, especially with the hospital being as close as it is,” Beazizo said.
The hospital is just a few blocks from Mount Vernon High School, where the game was played.
“With the symptoms he was showing, there’s no way he could have played,” Lions coach Ron Rood added.
Smith was injured at the end of the first half, just as it looked like the Lions might be ready to withstand an offensive onslaught from the Pirates. Adna had marched up and down the field at will, with much of the damage by senior running back Jered Rodgers. Rodgers had already run for 124 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Yet, for as methodically as Adna had marched up and down the field, the Lions had come up with big plays to match.
Smith had already thrown for two touchdown passes and rushed for 52 yards, Kyler Howell had 105 yards on just four carries and a touchdown, and the Lions were driving down 28-21 in the waning minutes of the second quarter.
On a fourth-and-2 at the Adna 6-yard line, Smith scrambled right, then cut back and tried for the first down. An Adna player was flagged for a facemask on the tackle, and Smith lay on the ground for several minutes.
“It seemed to take a lot out of us,” Rood said. “We have a lot of good players, but he (Smith) was making key plays.”
The Lions, who finish the season at 8-3, did not appear to be the same on offense after that.
Freshman Tyler Clark replaced Smith, a senior, and the Lions were unable to score on four running plays from the 1-yard line.
“He’s a great player for us,” Howell said. “He makes a lot of big plays for us. We had confidence in Tyler Clark, but we just didn’t step up.”
The Lions’ offensive struggled in the third quarter as well, losing yards on six straight plays to open the third quarter as Adna picked up the intensity and moved defenders closer to the line of scrimmage.
“If Chris Smith had stayed in there, this game might have been 56-55,” Adna coach K.C. Johnson said. “You hate to see a kid go out. Concrete was a class act. They competed hard until the end.”
The Adna offense didn’t give Concrete a chance to recover, scoring on three of its four possessions in the second half and adding a defensive touchdown.
Rodgers finished with 215 yards on the ground and 297 total yards, including four touchdowns. Anthony Tatum finished with 100 yards on eight carries and scored three times. Adna finished with 506 yards of total offense. Quarterback Kyle Grosshans was 9-of-10 for 157 and two touchdowns.
“We knew they were fast and quick, but we thought our quickness could match them,” Howell said. “We just didn’t come to play.”
Howell finished with 107 yards on the ground on 16 carries, including a 39-yard touchdown, and caught a 58-yard touchdown pass from Smith. Smith’s other completion also went for a touchdown, 22 yards to a wide-open Luke Scherer in the back of the end zone.
Clark found Derek Rice for a diving touchdown late in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.
“I’m proud of the kids for doing well,” Rood said. “They had a great season. I just wish it could have kept going.”
• Eric Francis can be reached at 360-416-2131 or by e-mail at
