Knutson leads Bellingham football to first league win since 2012
The Bellingham and Sehome football teams combined for 99 point,s but the Red Raiders came out on top 56-43 on Friday, Oct. 7, at Civic Stadium in a 2A Northwest Conference showdown, marking the first league victory by Bellingham since 2012.
Bellingham (3-3, 1-3 2A NWC), which played unattached schedules in 2014 and 2015, jumped to a 7-0 lead on its first play from scrimmage, as Nick Knutson found Spencer Lee over the top for a 27-yard touchdown. It was the first of five touchdown throws by Knutson.
From there, the Red Raiders maintained control despite having to hold off senior Marcus Montag, who ran 30 times for 182 yards. At one point in the fourth quarter, Bellingham led by 27 points.
Bellingham coach Ted Flint said it was great seeing everyone contribute, especially after losing to Sehome by a couple of touchdowns last year in a non-league meeting.
“It was just a good, well rounded victory,” Flint said. “You have to have everybody playing well to put up that many points.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Knutson put on a passing clinic, as the junior threw for 191 yards and five touchdowns. His favorite target on the night was Lee, who he found for three scores – all on plays of 20 yards or more.
PLAY OF THE NIGHT
The play of the night came from Montag. as the Mariners (0-6, 0-4) stuck him in the shotgun and he rolled to his left. After faking like he was going to run for a 4-yard score, Montag pulled up and found Ben Dauber for a touchdown instead.
THE GAME WAS OVER WHEN
The opening kick of the second half was a squib by Nelson Malloy that the Mariners recovered at the Bellingham 35-yard line. Four plays later, Montag scored on a 2-yard run, and Sehome took the lead 22-21. But Bellingham went on to score three unanswered touchdowns to go up 42-22 and seal the game.
Up next
Bellingham will go for its second straight 2A NWC win when it hosts Anacortes on Friday, Oct. 14, while Sehome try to pick up its first win of the year at Blaine.
Sehome | 0 | 15 | 7 | 21 | — | 43 |
Bellingham | 14 | 7 | 21 | 14 | — | 56 |
First quarter
Bel – Spencer Lee 27 pass from Nick Knutson (Joseph Worley kick)
Bel – Worley 5 pass from Knutson (Worley kick)
Second quarter
Seh – Michael Mindnich 43 run (Sean Graham pass from Nic Roger)
Bel – Ethan Fields 43 pass from Knutson (Worley kick)
Seh – Ben Dauber 4 pass from Marcus Montag (Nelson Malloy kick)
Third quarter
Seh – Montag 2 run (Malloy kick)
Bel – Lee 63 pass from Knutson (Worley kick)
Bel – Fields 48 interception return (Worley kick)
Bel – Knutson 3 run (Worley kick)
Fourth quarter
Seh – Dauber 16 pass from Knutson (Malloy kick)
Bel – Lee 23 pass from Knutson (Worley kick)
Bel – Fields 23 run (Worley kick)
Seh – Anton Arena 1 run (Malloy kick)
Seh – Graham 68 pass from Mindnich (Malloy kick)
Seh | Bel | |
First downs | 21 | 10 |
Rushing Att-yards | 50-337 | 30-168 |
Comp-Att-Int | 14-33-2 | 7-8-0 |
Passing yards | 170 | 191 |
Penalties-yards | 9-80 | 7-65 |
Fumbles-lost | 2-1 | 0-0 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING – Sehome: Montag 30-182, Mindnich 11-120, Lukas Delisle 2-4, Roger 2-9, Arena 5-22. Bellingham: Fields 6-49, Connor Wallace 12-97, Knutson 6-2, Dakota Johanson 3-19, Eric Collado 2-3, Johnny Henry 1-(-2).
PASSING – Sehome: Montag 1-4-0-4, Mindnich 13-24-0-166, Roger 0-5-2-0. Bellingham: Knutson 7-8-0-191.
RECEIVING – Sehome: Montag 6-36, Dauber 3-28, Delisle 1-7, Jack Carbee 1-17, Graham 2-73, Austin Fletcher 1-9. Bellingham: Lee 4-137, Worley 1-5, Fields 1-43, Nich Smith 1-6.
This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 11:59 PM with the headline "Knutson leads Bellingham football to first league win since 2012."