Here’s who stands between Mount Baker and a sixth straight trip to the state playoffs

Time: 7 p.m. Friday

Site: Mount Baker High School, Deming

Knights (3-6) update: The Knights enter as the No. 2 seed out of the 1A Cascade Conference and lost 21-7 to Stanwood in a non-league game Friday. The Knights may not have the record the program usually puts up, but they should not be overlooked. Two of their losses came to 2A powers Burlington-Edison and Archbishop Murphy and two more were to 3A schools Lakeside and Stanwood. Last week Brennon Blevins passed for 98 yards and a TD, which was caught by Chase Root. The Knights also are known for blitzing on defense.

Knights previous state appearances (last): 16 (2015).

Mountaineers (6-3) update: Mount Baker enters as the No. 2 seed out of the 1A NWC and lost to Meridian 52-29 Friday. Carson Brandland ran for 100 yards, while Carson Engholm scored a pair of touchdowns. The duo have combined to pile up 1,542 yards and 25 touchdowns this season. Kaleb Bass has thrown for 813 yards but only six touchdowns. The Mountaineers defense struggled against Meridian, allowing 493 yards of total offense, including 389 yards and five TDs through the air, something they’ll look to shore up Friday.

Mountaineers previous state appearances (last): 14 (2016).

Key to the game: The Knights have averaged 41.0 points per game in their three wins and 11.7 points in their six losses. Sounds simple, but if the Mountaineers keep them out of the end zone, they win this game and head to state for a sixth straight year.

Player to watch: Thomas Barbo has been the only real pass catching threat to develop for Mount Baker this year, but he’s a really good one. He’s caught 44 passes for 638 yards and five TDs. Nobody else has reached triple digits, yet.

Prediction: Mount Baker 24-13.

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Here’s who stands between Mount Baker and a sixth straight trip to the state playoffs."