After 45-year wait, Mount Tahoma tops Lincoln to return to state semifinals
The last time Mount Tahoma was in the state tournament semifinals, Blondie’s “Call Me” and Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” were No. 1 songs. Big hair, tube socks and tracksuits were in. “The Empire Strikes Back” was dominating the box office. Gas was about $1 per gallon.
It’s been a while — 45 years, to be exact. The last time Mount Tahoma was in the state tournament semifinals was 1980. The T-Birds won it all that year and all these years later, have the pieces to do it again. That much was clear after a 42-14 rout of league and Tacoma city rival Lincoln on Saturday night.
In every phase of the game, Mount Tahoma was better, more physical, more dynamic. The T-Birds beat the Abes 28-7 in the regular season meeting, but Saturday’s performance was even more dominant.
“I’d definitely say we were more prepared,” Mount Tahoma quarterback Mikkah Cordero said. “We look at the last game, fix what we wanted to fix and execute what we needed to. It was just dominance. Our defense started getting in rhythm and our offense, we just kept going.”
Mount Tahoma set the tone early, marching down for a drive without a single pass, capped off by a 19-yard Felix Diaz score. Lincoln evened it up with a 1-yard touchdown run from Jadeon Scranton, but the T-Birds answered shortly after with a 4-yard touchdown run from Keshawn Hines.
The game’s defining moment came late in the second quarter. From its own 14-yard line, Lincoln unsuccessfully ran a fake punt, turning the ball over to Mount Tahoma with 33 seconds left in the half, in prime scoring position. The T-Birds capitalized on a 13-yard touchdown throw from Cordero to Kane Roy, putting Mount Tahoma up by a pair of touchdowns heading into the break.
If Lincoln had a chance to stage the upset, the fake punt fiasco felt like it put that goal out of reach.
“That touchdown at the end of the half kind of put the nail in the coffin,” Mount Tahoma coach Keith Terry said. “We know with the way that we get after the quarterback, you get down by two touchdowns and you’ve gotta start throwing, we’re gonna be able to generate pressure. We’ve got really good DB’s and they’re gonna make plays when the ball is in the air.”
The 3A Metro League awaits. Mount Tahoma, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, will host No. 3 Eastside Catholic next Saturday. In Eastside Catholic, Mount Tahoma faces a program it has mirrored, in many ways, though perhaps more by coincidence than design. Both teams pride themselves on defense, are physical up front, want to establish the run and hit explosive plays in the passing game.
“It seems like that style of football is the recipe,” Terry said. Again, Air Raids and all of that is cool, but are you gonna be able to compete with the guys that are winning state championships year in and year out? The only way you’re gonna compete with them is you’ve gotta be as physical as them.
“So that’s what we want to be and we’ll continue to do that and build our program that way. We’re gonna have great athletes that can make plays on the perimeter, but we’re gonna have a great o-line and a great running back corps that’s gonna be able to respond when needed.”
Terry’s squad finds itself one win away from playing for a state championship.
“We’re making history and we know we can go to (the state championship) for it,” Cordero said.
This story was originally published November 23, 2025 at 12:19 AM.
