Blaine gets by Bellingham in 2A NWC thriller
The Blaine football team defeated visiting Bellingham 24-17 on Friday, Sept. 23, in Blaine, taking the lead in the final minute.
A career-long 40-yard field goal by Blaine’s Kyle Sentkowski with 3:02 left drew the Borderites even with the Red Raiders at 17-17.
A quick three-and-out by Bellingham put the ball back in Blaine’s hands with 1:58 remaining, and a subsequent drive ended with Riley Fritsch’s 3-yard touchdown run to put the Borderites on top for good with 59 seconds remaining.
Bellingham was able to get back to its own 45-yard line on the game’s final drive, but ran out of time.
Star of the game
Blaine’s Fritsch had a terrific night, scoring three touchdowns and rushing for 209 yards on 31 carries.
Play of the Night
Bellingham struck first, as the Red Raiders’ Connor Wallace scored on a 95-yard run.
What it means
The Borderites (3-1, 1-1 2A NWC) and Red Raiders (2-2, 0-2) figure to be two of the teams competing for the final postseason spot out of the Northwest Conference. With the win, Blaine now has the first tiebreaker and has a definite leg up in that battle.
Up next
Bellingham will look for its first league win when it hosts Burlington-Edison on Saturday, Oct. 1, while Blaine will travel to Anacortes on Friday, Sept. 30.
Wallace’s 95-yard touchdown corrected to a run Sept. 26, 2016.
Bellingham | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | 17 |
Blaine | 0 | 14 | 0 | 10 | — | 24 |
First quarter
Bel – Connor Wallace 95 run (Joseph Worley kick)
Second quarter
Blaine — Riley Fritsch 11 run (Kyle Sentkowski kick)
Blaine — R. Fritsch 7 run (Sentkowski kick)
Bel – Ethan Fields 3 run (Worley kick)
Third quarter
Bel – Worley 12 FG
Fourth quarter
Blaine — Sentkowski 40 FG
Blaine — R. Fritsch 3 run (Sentkowski kick)
Bel | Blaine | |
First downs | 6 | 14 |
Rushing Att-yards | 28-97 | 35-228 |
Comp-Att-Int | 4-14-0 | 9-21-1 |
Passing yards | 23 | 130 |
Penalties-yards | 7-55 | 13-80 |
Fumbles-lost | 2-1 | 2-1 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Bellingham: Ethan Fields 13-53, Connor Wallace 11-137, Joseph Worley 1-1, Rand Bentley 1-5, Dakota Johanson 2-6. Blaine: Riley Fritsch 31-209, Garrett Adams 2-6, Jalen Kortlever 2-13.
PASSING — Bellingham: Ethan Fields 4-7-0-(31), Rand Bentley 1-3-0-(-8). Blaine: Jalen Kortlever 9-21-1-(130)
RECEIVING — Bellingham: Connor Wallace 2-97, Ethan Fields 2-73, Joseph Worley 2-13. Blaine: Anthony Bell 3-47, Chase Abshere 3-29, Cruz Rodriguez 2-35.
This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Blaine gets by Bellingham in 2A NWC thriller."