By Doug Petrowski/MLT News editor

With a starting quarterback not back to full strength yet, the Mountlake Terrace Hawks headed into their non-league game with the Lynnwood Royals Friday night wanting to run the football.

It would be an opportunity for senior Chance Ragsdale to shine, and the Hawk running back responded with his best game of the year – and one of his best ever – rushing for 176 yards on 31 carries and three touchdowns, leading Terrace to a 30-14 win over the Royals.

The victory, Mountlake Terrace’s first of the season, was significant, but perhaps more so was the lost of sophomore Tanner Munnis who broke his right fibula on the last play of the first half. Munnis was transported first to Swedish Edmonds Hospital, then to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, to have surgery performed on the fractured leg.

The injury to Munnis is just the latest to hit Terrace this year as running back Devante Downs is out for the season with a torn ACL, and lineman Jevin Pahinui missed his second game-in-a-row due to a possible bone fracture in a foot.

Quarterback Justin Hopkins did start after missing last week’s tilt against Edmonds-Woodway, spending most of the game handing the ball off to Ragsdale. Hopkins threw only five passes, completing four for 80 yards. “We didn’t want to leave Justin in the pocket too much,” head doach Tony Umayam explained, saying his quarterback still wasn’t 100 percent recovered from a sprained ankle suffered Sept. 6.

Also playing hurt was senior linebacker Brett Potter, who had been listed as questionable going in to Friday’s game with a bad knee. Potter would normally line up on the offensive side of the ball too, but the play of sophomore Miles Allen enabled the senior to get some rest while the Hawks had possession of the ball.

Umayam was impressed with Allen stepping in and contributing. “It was just a plenty surprise because he played a good solid game for a kid that had no idea that at this point of the season he’d be playing,” Umayam stated.

Strong efforts from unexpected sources will be necessary for a team hit so hard by injuries, Umayam said. “We’re going to have to be a very resilient team as the season wears on,” he added.

The Royals had to show some toughness and flexibility in preparing for Friday matchup also after going 0-2 to start the season and losing their head coach this past week; former head coach Adam Fermstad was released from his contract on Wednesday after being on administrative leave three weeks for an undisclosed incident over the summer.

Lynnwood co-head coach Keauntea Bankhead said the tumult over Fermstad’s firing didn’t influence the team’s performance Friday night. “We’ve been one unit,” Bankhead said. “That situation really didn’t affect us at all. We’ve been doing what we’ve been doing since Day 1.” Instead, Bankhead blamed the loss on himself and his fellow coaches. “I put that one on the coaches, man. We got to get these guys ready. They came out slow; that’s our fault. “

After holding previous opponents to 20 points per game, the Royals gave up 30 to a Mountlake Terrace team that had been shut out the week before. “Defensively we just we’re consistent enough, giving up 30 points,” Bankhead admitted. “You’re not going to win a game giving up 30 points.”

The Royals offense didn’t do their defense many favors, fumbling five times, losing three of them; Lynnwood quarterback Justin Cachopo also threw two interceptions..

The turnovers overshadowed an otherwise strong passing attack of the Royals as Cachopo threw for 251 yards and one touchdown on 19 completions of 33 attempts. He also scored on a one-yard run. But Lynnwood’s overall rushing game was non-effective, gaining only 39 yards on 28 attempts.

In addition to Ragsdale’s big night, the Hawks got scoring efforts from Ryan Lacasse, who had a 55-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, and Michael Jenson, who hit a 26-yard field goal that hit the goalpost crossbar and bounced through in the fourth quarter.