For Blaine football team, ‘potential’ has been a ‘bad word’

The Blaine football team struggled on both sides of the ball in its 2A Northwest Conference opener at Sedro-Woolley Friday, as the Borderites fell 42-7.

“We didn’t play very well at all,” Blaine coach Jay Dodd said. “Give them credit; they did play well. They made a lot breaks and took it to us.”

Dodd said Blaine (0-3, 0-1) struggled to stop the Cubs’ rushing attack, but part of the problem was four turnovers by the offense created a short field. That resulted in a 35-0 deficit by halftime, and “I think they only had to go the length of the field twice,” Dodd said.

But Dodd said he was pleased with the progress his team made as the game went along, particularly at linebacker, where the Borderites had one player seeing his first varsity action and two others in their second game.

“We talked about this, that this team has a lot of potential,” Dodd said. “But ‘potential,’ in a lot of ways, is a bad word. We have a lot of talent, but we’re not reaching our full potential. ... I need to do a better job of getting the players to reach their potential. I think this team can be very good by the time October rolls around.”

This story was originally published September 15, 2017 at 9:54 PM with the headline "For Blaine football team, ‘potential’ has been a ‘bad word’."