La Salle-Peru’s Mason Lynch steps in, leads win over rival Ottawa

OTTAWA – If Mason Lynch never plays another game of football in is life, let alone another at quarterback, he can still smile and know that the one game he did play under center will go down in the annals of one of the state’s greatest gridiron rivalries.

Filling in for injured junior quarterback Brenden Boudreau, Lynch made the most of his one-time start there by rushing 18 times for 108 yards and a touchdown, while on defense picking off three Ottawa passes to lead the Cavaliers to a 31-7 victory over the Pirates at King Field on Friday.

Lynch ran six times for 23 yards and completed his only pass of the night – an 11-yarder to Gage Starkey – to set up the game’s first score that, with a 33-yard Seth Adams field goal, gave the visitors a 10-0 edge at the half.

Lynch later broke a 58-yard TD run while also ending three of four Ottawa series in the fourth period with picks, his first three of his varsity career. In between those, Caleb Burrell returned an interception 28 yards for a score as the Cavs rolled on both sides of the ball, posting 292 yards of offense to the Pirates’ 99 and possessing the ball for a whopping 34 minutes, 35 seconds to just 13:25 for the hosts.

In fact, Ottawa had the ball for just 33 seconds the entire second quarter, thanks to Lynch and backfield mates Peyton Ellermeyer (14 carries, 60 yards) and Maalik Madrigal (15-84).

“I just tried my best to be confident because that’s a big factor in how well you play, and it worked,” Lynch said with a laugh. “Brendan will probably be back next week, and while I hope he’s healthy and stays that way, I just want the team to know I’m ready to step in whenever it needs me.

“With both of us 4-2, this was a playoff game for each of us, whoever won, and tonight we got the job done.”

The win, the Cavs’ eighth in a row over the Pirates, sets the L-P record at a playoff-eligible 5-2. Ottawa, which turned the ball over an uncharacteristic five times, falls to 4-3.

“This gets us playoff eligible,” L-P coach Jose Medina said. “Our defensive line is probably one of the best in the conference and showed it can force teams to do things they don’t want to do. That’s what happened tonight. We took out the run game and forced them to pass. We did a great job defensively … And Mason played great tonight. It could be just a one-time thing (at quarterback), but he really came through for us tonight. He’s one heck of an athlete.”

In the second quarter, L-P took an Ottawa punt with 11:46 showing and 16 straight plays later came Ellermeyer’s 6-yard TD with 1:38 to go. Four incomplete passes by Ottawa gave the Cavs enough time for the Adams field goal with 8.6 seconds left.

A 2-yard dive by Madrigal and another Adams PAT kick made it 17-0 in the third, but a fumble recovery by Ottawa’s Branden Aguirre gave the hosts the ball at the L-P 14. From there, quarterback Colby Mortenson found Levi Sheehan on an 18-yard deep slant for the Pirates first and only TD.

The catch marked Sheehan’s 11th career scoring reception, tying the school record held by Cody Stokes (2012-13). Mortenson finished the night 7 of 22 for 45 yards, while Julian Alexander paced the home team in rushing with 15 tries for 44 yards.

But after the TD, the Pirate turnovers started. Lynch made his first pick, then cashed it in from 58 yards away to make it 24-7. Two plays later came Burrell’s pick-6 to widen the gap to 31-7. Lynch later intercepted Mortenson two more times to lock up the win.

“I thought our kids played with great effort, great competitiveness. Unfortunately, the breaks went L-P’s way tonight,” Ottawa coach Chad Gross said. “We really didn’t get much sync in the second half and it was tough sledding for us offensively. Defensively, I was happy with how we played. The score really wasn’t indicative of how close this game was and how our kids played tonight. It was with the late turnovers that the score got out of hand, but I’m proud of our effort.”