3A Prep Football: Kelso’s Mintonye marches for 7 TDs in comeback win over Prairie

Ground Game: Aden Mintonye scores every TD, tops 300 yards in Hilanders 49-35 victory

Kelso senior Aden Mintnoye throws on the brakes to avoid would-be tacklers during a game against Prairie, Friday, Oct. 11, at Schroeder Field. Mintonye rushed for 301 yards and seven touchdowns in a 49-35 win. — Photo courtesy of Skyler Smith / Framed Photos

Jordan Nailon / blastzonenews@gmail.com

It was the Aden Mintonye Show in Kelso, Friday night when the senior Hilanders running back rushed for seven touchdowns and more than 300 yards in a 49-35 win over Prairie in a 3A Greater St. Helens League blockbuster presentation.

Competing in what amounted to a must-win game in Week 6 of the high school football season Kelso found itself playing from behind for most of the first half against a Prairie team with its own league title aspirations. It was a fraught position for the Hilanders’ throng of faithful fans as they wondered quietly, and mostly to themselves, if the kids in the golden domes might see their playoff odds wiped off the table almost entirely in just the second week of the 3A GSHL schedule.

But the Hilanders clearly believe in riding the hot hand, especially when they’re down, because when they found something that worked they went back to it time and time again until the job was done. And the strategy paid off in spades. Specifically, those dividends came in the form of Mintonye’s 301 rushing yards on 33 carries, with each and every one of their touchdowns on the evening mixed in with that heavy lift.

“The most I’ve ever had is five (touchdowns)… seven is crazy,” Mintonye said after the game as his peers set about launching elaborate homecoming proposals near the grandstand.