Photo by Brooks Kahsai

The MIHS Football team fell 38-6 to the Juanita Ravens in a one-sided affair during the 2021 Homecoming football game on Friday, Oct. 15.

This loss changes their overall win-loss record to 1-3 in the 3A KingCo division, and 3-4 overall.

“[The game] was rough,” senior Nick Chatalas said. “We couldn’t get together the team and figure it out, I don’t know, I’m kinda shocked right now. I don’t understand what happened.”

Through the first quarter of the game, the teams were pretty evenly matched, trading time in each other’s halves. However, a good throw from the Ravens put the Islanders down 7-0 six minutes into the second quarter. 

The rest of the quarter remained fairly tame, until another good throw put Juanita up 14-0 with a minute and a half left, and an interception by Garrett Rogan on the one-yard line a minute later prevented another Juanita touchdown. 

While the third quarter carried little excitement for the Ravens, the Islanders managed to get tantalizingly close to Juanita’s endzone, even spending a few minutes there before Juanita eventually worked the ball out. In the fourth quarter, however, the tables turned. 

A field goal with a little under halfway to go in the fourth quarter led to Juanita going up 17-0, and a touchdown pass from a blocked punt led to Juanita going up 24-0 just a minute later. 

Another Juanita touchdown off an Islander’s fumble led to the Islanders going down 31-0, and a running touchdown with two and a half minutes that put Juanita up 38-0 only succeeded in knocking spirits down further.

Even a last-minute Islanders touchdown failed to soften the loss, and the game finished an unfortunate 38-6. 

 “[As] a team, we just need to come together and actually work,” Chatalas said. “As a team, we just need to figure our [stuff] out right now.”

Although the game didn’t go quite the way that Mercer Island fans and players alike had hoped for, a performance from the MIHS Marching Band during halftime offered a welcome distraction. The band performed a few songs in their normal repertoire, along with some songs from the movie Shrek, to celebrate this year’s Homecoming theme of “Once Upon a Time.” 

The Islanders will hope to even out their overall win-loss record against Lake Washington Friday, Oct. 26 during their penultimate game of the season.