Sports - High Schools

POSTED: Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009

PREP FOOTBALL: Statham leads Borderites past Red Raiders

BELLINGHAM - In four years as head coach at Blaine, Jay Dodd already has the Borderites faithful and players using words like "dynasty."

And who could blame them?

Blaine's 51-0 victory over Bellingham on Thursday, Oct. 29, at Civic Stadium was the program's 25th win during Dodd's four-season tenure.

"Coach Dodd deserves a lot of the credit for turning the program around and creating a dynasty here," said running back Caleb Statham, who is a member of the first Borderites senior class to spend all four years working for Dodd. "He's believed in a lot of us, and we believe in him."

There's plenty to believe in at Blaine these days.

Thursday's victory ensures that Blaine (6-3, 5-3 NWC, 5-2 NWC 2A) will receive no worse than the NWC's No. 3 seed into the 2A district playoffs, meaning the Borderites will not have to face Cascade Conference power Archbishop Murphy next week. Blaine also put itself in position to get the No. 2 seed if a couple of other NWC games go their way, meaning they could host a district playoff game next week.

No wonder Dodd chose to downplay the coaching milestone.

"This is just another win, and 25 is just another number," Dodd said of the milestone. "I think this shows the support that we've gotten from our community and all the hard work the players have put in to get to this point. It's also a reflection of our coaching staff - we have some of the hardest working assistant coaches around. I think this is a reflection of a lot more than just me."

Thursday was definitely a reflection of the running skills of Statham and the blocking ability of his offensive line, fullbacks and wide receivers.

Statham rushed for 186 yards and a season-high four touchdowns on 15 carries (12.4 yards per carry) - all in the first half.

"He's a very talented runner," Bellingham coach Doug Trainor said. "Possibly the best we have here in the conference."

Following his coach's lead, Statham was quick to give credit for his big night to his teammates, who opened huge holes for him to run through up front and held their blocks down field so he could chew up big chunks of yardage.

"None of it would have been possible without my line," said Statham, who has followed his blocks to 1,229 yards rushing this year. "They did a great job up front, and all I had to do was find the holes."

Blaine left little doubt early, scoring three touchdowns in each of the first two quarters to take a commanding 44-0 lead into the halftime locker room.

Statham picked up most of the yardage on Blaine's eight-play, 60-yard opening drive and capped it off with a 1-yard run.

It took Statham only one play to cover 68 yards on the Borderites' next possession, as he made a nice cut inside Bellingham's outside containment and sprinted down the right sideline.

After a Bellingham long snap went out of the back of the end zone for a safety, Statham completed the first-quarter hat trick on Blaine's ensuing possession with a 10 yard run around right end to make it 23-0.

By the end of the first quarter, Statham had 132 yards and the three TDs on nine carries. He would add 54 yards and another 21-yard TD run in the second quarter.

The Borderites also picked up a pair of scoring tosses - one on a fake-punt direct snap to Sean Allen, who found Andrew Miller down the right side for a 47-yard TD strike - to end any doubt with a 44-0 halftime lead.

"We're very confident where we're at right now," Statham said. "Things are clicking for us right now."

That includes on defense, where Blaine limited the Red Raiders to 73 total yards of offense in the first half and forced a pair of turnovers - a fumble recovery by Brad Johnson and an interception by Tucker Morgan. The shutout was the third Blaine has pitched this season - all coming against the three Bellingham city schools.

Bellingham (1-8, 1-8, 1-6) will wrap up its season in a non-playoff crossover game next week.

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2271.

Blaine 23 21 0 7- 51

Bellingham 0 0 0 0- 0

First quarter

Bla - Caleb Statham 1 run (Keith Sentkowski kick)

Bla - Statham 68 run (Sentkowski kick)

Bla - Safety

Bla - Statham 10 run (Sentkowski kick)

Second quarter

Bla - Andrew Miller 47 pass from Sean Allen (Sentkowski kick)

Bla - Statham 21 run

Bla - Al Bohnson 15 pass from Jordan McCarty (Sentkowski kick)

Fourth quarter

Bla - Shafter Hicks 2 run (Sentkowski kick)

Bla Bel

First downs 22 5

Rushing Att-Yards 47-360 22-35

Comp-Att-Int 7-11-0 5-18-1

Passing yards 114 70

Penalties-yards 7-68 4-37

Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-1

Individual leaders

RUSHING - Blaine: Caleb Statham 15-186, Tusapa Laolagi 1-10, David Craig 4-28, Jordan McCarty 1-(-12), Cody Dampier 9-55, Shaffer Hicks 3-19, Tyler Chau 10-54, Cliff Crews 3-21, Sean Allen 1-(-1). Bellingham: Dominic Franklin 12-43, Evan Sobjack 1-(-2), Bobby Funkhouser 6-(-4), Oliver Dougherty 2-(-2), Ray Taumaoe 1-0.

PASSING - Blaine: Jordan McCarty 5-9-0-57, Sean Allen 2-2-0-57. Bellingham: Bobby Funkhouser 5-18-1-70.

RECEIVING - Blaine: Todd Bird 2-25, Andrew Miller 2-57, Trevor Chau 2-17, Al Bohnson 1-15. Bellingham: Evan Sobjack 1-0, Walker Storrer 1-9, Cole Goodridge 2-29, Dakota White 1-32.