The Borderites are winless no more.
Blaine’s receivers looked as though they were shot out of a cannon at times, torching Bellingham’s secondary in a 44-18 non-conference win at Civic Field on Oct. 14.
It was a much-needed confidence-booster for a team that has fought all year long, but struggled to get a notch in the win column, Blaine coach Jay Dodd said.
“It feels great. Credit to our kids, especially our seniors,” Dodd said. “It’s been a long time coming; we’ve been involved in a couple of close games earlier this year. One thing that they haven’t done is they haven’t quit.”
Blaine’s previous season-high in points was 20, and the team more than doubled that in Friday’s win.
Blaine senior quarterback Kael Evinger completed 20-of-32 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. Blaine’s top two junior wide receivers had a night, with two scores going to Riley Ihde, and a third brought in by Hunter Vezzetti.
The Borderites were looking for an excuse to detonate, and they finally had their night.
“It feels good,” Evinger said. “It feels good to finally win.”
Bellingham came out of the gates hot when senior running back Logan Steeves broke free on a 62-yard touchdown scamper on the game’s third play from scrimmage. A failed two-point conversion attempt left it at 6-0.
Blaine quickly put together a counter, marching down the field and capping the drive off with a 7-yard rushing score by sophomore running back Colby Shipp. The point-after attempt was good, and the Borderites jumped in front by one.
That was the beginning of a string of 30 unanswered points by Blaine, spanning more than two quarters.
The Borderites picked off a Bellingham pass with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. Evinger and Ihde made good on the opportunity, connecting on a 34-yard touchdown a few plays later.
Blaine took a 14-6 lead into halftime; the quiet portion of the game for the Borderites.
A 27-yard field goal opened up the second half, extending Blaine’s lead to 11. Near the end of the third quarter, Evinger found Vezzetti deep downfield for a 70-yard catch-and-run touchdown reception.
“I think everything was just starting to click together,” Vezzetti said. “The line was giving [Evinger] time, and I was running the routes pretty well, I think. He just found me open, gave me a great ball.”
The Borderites kept pouring it on. Junior defensive back Jesse Deming nabbed Blaine’s third interception of the night — this time returning it for six points. It was 31-6 at the end of the third quarter.
Amid all the scoring, Blaine’s defense was impenetrable most of the night. After allowing 71 yards rushing on two of the first three plays of the game, the Borderites gave up 32 yards on the ground for the remainder of the contest. Much of Bellingham’s scoring and big plays came late in the game after Blaine deployed their bench.
Evinger tossed a high-arcing ball to Ihde for a 35-yard touchdown with eight minutes remaining in the game. Steeves got in the end zone for Bellingham’s second touchdown 43 seconds later on a 15-yard dash. The Bayhawks failed another two-point attempt to make it 37-12.
Shipp followed up a 32-yard run with a 2-yard touchdown on the very next play midway through the fourth quarter for Blaine’s final points. Bayhawk sophomore quarterback Gabriel Hofwegen connected with senior wide receiver Lucas Cousins for a 44-yard score with three minutes left. Blaine shut down Bellingham’s third and final two-point attempt to close it out.
“Our kids have continued to do the hard stuff,” Dodd said. “Hats off to them for just being really tough.”
Ihde totaled 115 yards receiving on eight catches in addition to his two scores. Vezzetti also brought in eight balls, finishing with 119 yards through the air. Shipp compiled 126 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries.
For Bellingham, Hofwegen completed 12-of-26 passes for 161 yards. Steeves rushed for 104 yards on 21 carries, as Cousins caught four balls for 61 yards.
Blaine advanced to 1-6 overall (0-2 NWC) and will host Lynden Christian (7-0, 2-0 NWC) at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21. Bellingham dropped to 2-5 overall with the loss as the Bayhawks have Friday Harbor (3-4 overall) coming to town at 7 p.m. on Oct. 22.
