BELLINGHAM - The Squalicum Storm defeated the Bellingham Red Raiders 42-20 in a Northwest Conference 2A/3A game on Friday Sept. 14, behind 164 yards rushing from Luke Weber.
Weber and the rest of the Storm offense wore down cross-town rival Bellingham in the second half, and pulled away after leading by one point at halftime.
Bellingham quarterback Justin Pruett kept the Red Raiders close in the first half, finding receiver Darice Haywood for 10 receptions, 143 yards and a touchdown. Pruett finished with 21 completions on 43 attempts for 244 yards.
Squalicum (3-0) double-covered Haywood in the second half, and Pruett was unable to find him for any more completions.
"They're (Squalicum) just stronger than we are," Bellingham coach Steve Wilson said. "Facts are facts, and they just wore us down."
The Storm rushing attack of Weber, Brandon LeDoux, Nick Manchester, Mac Novak and Clark Hazlett accounted for 289 yards of offense. Hazlett, the Storm quarterback, only attempted 11 passes, but threw for 202 yards and three touchdowns. Squalicum advances to 3-0 as a result of the victory.
"(Receivers) Ben Garcia and Blaze Yetter really caught the ball well," Hazlett said.
The Red Raiders were led by the returning Marques Reynolds, who amounted 81 yards on 12 rushing attempts. Melvin Deal also rushed for 51 yards after his big performance last week against Burlington-Edison. Bellingham moves to 0-3.
"I'm really glad we played Bellingham early in the season," Squalicum coach Reed Richardson said. "That's a good football team, they have a lot of offensive weapons, and they showed us that."
Bellingham 14 6 0 0- 20
Squalicum 14 7 14 7- 42
First quarter
Squ - Nick Manchester 47 run (Quinn Carpenter kick)
Bel - Darice Haywood 3 pass from Justin Pruett (Kaleb Smartt kick)
Squ - Ben Garcia 54 pass from Clark Hazlett (Carpenter kick)
Bel - Pruett 13 run (Smartt kick)
Second quarter
Bel - Noah Silverman 9 pass from Pruett (Kick failed)
Squ - Garcia 28 pass from Hazlett (Carpenter kick)
Third quarter
Squ - Blaze Yetter 31 pass from Hazlett (Carpenter kick)
Squ - Luke Weber 1 run (Carpenter kick)
Fourth quarter
Squ - Weber 5 run (Carpenter kick)
Bel Squ
First downs 32 34
Rushing Att-Yards 26-150 42-289
Comp-Att-Int 21-43-2 9-11-0
Passing yards 245 202
Penalties-yards 1-5 6-55
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-2
Individual leaders
RUSHING - Bellingham: Marques Reynolds 12-81, Melvin Deal 9-51, Justin Pruett 5-18. Squalicum: Luke Weber 27-164, Nick Manchester 5-85, Brandon LeDoux 7-30, Mac Novak 1-9, Clark Hazlett 2-1.
PASSING - Bellingham: Justin Pruett 21-43-2-245. Squalicum: Clark Hazlett 9-11-0-202.
RECEIVING - Bellingham: Darice Haywood 10-143, Nicholas Estrada 5-56, Scott Tang 2-22, Austin Bavaro 1-9, Noah Silverman 1-9, Melvin Deal 1-6, Marques Reynolds 1-0. Squalicum: Ben Garcia 3-97, Blaze Yetter 3-55, Brandon LeDoux 1-25, Luke Weber 1-13, Nick Manchester 1-12.
