Yellow Pages
SEDRO-WOOLLEY — As the rest of the players on Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley football teams gingerly fought for every foothold, Cubs junior Clayton Johnson seemed immune to the treacherous mud pit that sat where Sedro-Woolley’s home field once stood.
On a day where no one else could get traction, Johnson ran for 105 yards, scored a touchdown and set up the game-winning field goal as the Cubs beat Mount Vernon 10-7 Friday in a Northwest Conference game.
“I love it,” said Johnson, his uniform, like most of his teammates, caked in mud. “This is how Sedro-Woolley Cub football is supposed to be.”
The win gives Sedro-Woolley (1-1 classification, 3-3 conference, 4-4 overall) the inside track for the second Class 3A district berth. Mount Vernon (0-1, 3-2, 5-3), which lost its third straight, must beat Ferndale next week to force a three-way playoff for the two district berths.
A downpour that lasted most of the day turned the middle two-thirds of the field, extending from midfield down close to both end zones, into mud. Every so often a quick shower passed through, not allowing any of the turf to dry.
The weather conditions seemed to energize the Sedro-Woolley defense, which held Mount Vernon to six net rushing yards.
“Our defense was smothering,” Cubs coach Bryan Alexander said. “They were flying around, making stops. Offensively, we did just enough to get it done.”
The difference turned out to be a 32-yard Joe Janicki field goal late in the second quarter on a fourth-down play from the 15 where the Cubs had originally decided to go for a first down.
Alexander called time out when he didn’t like the Mount Vernon defense, then called for the kick. With the wind at his back, Janicki was able to get traction with his plant foot and nailed the kick through with at least five yards to spare.
And that turned out to be it. Neither team put together much of a sustained offense throughout.
