COVID can’t keep Mount Baker quarterback from turning in a special senior season
The pandemic will prevent Mason Jacoby from extending one of the state’s most impressive high school football streaks.
However, the pandemic did not stop Mount Baker’s senior quarterback from adding more than 40 pounds of muscle when the school was locked down, all because he kept faith that there would be more football.
In an abbreviated winter season, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound leader won’t have the chance to guide the Mountaineers to their ninth consecutive state playoff spot, although they definitely would have qualified had the postseason not been abandoned.
But in a Northwest Conference campaign packed with heroics from half a dozen outstanding senior quarterbacks, Jacoby and three other Baker senior co-captains will have a shot at a nice consolation prize: The longest unbeaten streak among Whatcom County’s 10 NWC teams.
The records show what a prize this game offers, since in Tuesday night’s games, Mount Baker improved to 5-0 with a 56-35 win over King’s and Lynden Christian emerged at 4-0 with a 28-21 victory over Lynden.
Jacoby is determined that this won’t be his final football game, even if it will be up to Baker’s team this fall to continue the state streak, assuming a regular-length season will be possible by then.
“I definitely want to play football somewhere in college,” said Jacoby, who probably will be playing his final game with wide receiver/defensive back Ayden Rodriguez, defensive end/receiver Garrett Smith and two-way lineman Aiden Corning, who has received a scholarship from Simon Fraser University.
“I just love football,” said Jacoby, who recalls he was “a little jittery” when he threw his first varsity touchdown pass as a sophomore backup forced to play the final three quarters of Baker’s loss to eventual state champion Royal in the 2018 quarterfinals.
That provided only a hint of what was to come as the 160-pound version of Jacoby threw for more than 1,400 yards and 13 touchdowns in Baker’s 10-2 season in 2019, which included an NWC Class 1A co-title with Lynden Christian.
Jacoby came back bigger and better, but Baker’s effective running game behind Jesse Sande and Toby Jefferson has meant Jacoby has averaged, by his estimation, only about a dozen passes per game. Even so, he threw for more than 700 yards in his first five games, with eight touchdowns — six long passes to all-leaguer Rodriguez and two to Smith.
Jacoby and Rodriguez are a remarkably polished pass-catch combo.
“I’d really love it if Mason and I could play on the same college team,” Rodriguez said. “He’s been my best friend since our first day of kindergarten. I was the second kid into the classroom and Mason was the first. Garrett joined us in first grade.”
Jacoby, a lifelong resident of the Mount Baker School District, said he grew up greatly inspired by Baker’s success under longtime coach Ron Lepper and assistant coach Tom Horsmon, who receives much of the credit for Jacoby’s success .
“I remember watching (all-time Baker ground-gainer) Jed Schleimer when he was a senior and I was in eighth grade,” Jacoby said. “When I chose Jed’s No. 4, the coaches asked me if I was sure about taking that number.”
Lepper appreciates how hard Jacoby and his senior buddies set the tone with hard work.
“Mason takes his job seriously,” Lepper said. “He puts in all the work and loves the game. Any recognition those kids get, they’ve earned it.”
Saturday, March 20, games
▪ Ferndale at Sedro-Woolley, 1 p.m.
▪ Meridian at Anacortes, 1 p.m.
▪ Bellingham vs. Nooksack Valley at Civic Stadium, 1 p.m.
▪ Mount Baker at Lynden Christian, 7 p.m.
▪ Sehome at Lynden, 7 p.m.
▪ Oak Harbor vs. Squalicum at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.