Power outage delay no problem for Mount Baker as electric offense short-circuits Blaine
One night after a massive power failure forced Mount Baker to postpone its football game on short notice, the Mountaineers were absolutely electric and enlightening.
How can a spirited squad be stopped when it has different runners capable of more than 200 yards rushing in consecutive games against teams that came in with winning records? Not to mention a quarterback who has developed fast enough at his new position to produce seven touchdowns in only his third and fourth starts.
That’s the Mountaineers powerhouse Lynden Christian will try to shut down Friday, Oct. 22, at LC in the game that seems likely to produce the Northwest Conference Class 1A champion.
Junior Marques George rushed for 253 yards on 20 carries and scored two long touchdowns in Baker’s 48-14 win over Blaine on Saturday night.
Fellow running back Jesse Sande contributed 106 yards on 22 carries and displayed his versatility with a touchdown catch and a pick six, one week after Sande had 246 yards rushing and three scores in Baker’s 40-34 win over Nooksack Valley.
Add former line star Davin Beason’s three touchdown passes against Blaine — two to Wyatt Pettigrew — and Baker seems capable of offensive explosions aplenty.
But will this also apply against Lynden Christian on Friday? One week after Baker rallied to beat Nooksack Valley 40-34 in the final seconds, the Lyncs stifled the Pioneers 41-0 in a game also delayed by the power failure.
You can bet a huge crowd will show up to find out in the year’s most intriguing game to date.
“Marques was really reading (his holes) well,” Sande said of the elusive junior, who seemed untouchable on many of his runs, including touchdowns of 21 and 59 yards to produce a 14-0 lead for Baker (4-2, 2-0 1A, with losses only to strong 3A programs).
“It was a lot of fun to see Marques do that,” said Sande. “I’d rather split the carries like we did tonight.”
“I really don’t know,” the soft-spoken George said of his best production. “Our linemen were just making their blocks so well.”
Sande’s 9-yard touchdown catch on Beason’s pass in the left flat made it 21-0 in the second period before the Borderites (3-2 0-1) showed competitive spirit in the last seven minutes before halftime.
Blaine quarterback Avery Dohner looked sharp with touchdown passes of 9 yards to Scott Baldwin and 5 to Anden Holley, cutting Baker’s bulge to 21-14 and showing how the Borderites won three of their first four games with a solid offense. Dohner finished 12 for 30 for 145 yards, including six passes for 92 yards to Jaxon Kortlever in the first half until he left with an injury early in the second half.
Baker, however, shut down Blaine in the second half, including Sande’s 31-yard interception return for a score, Beason’s 2-yard score and the 230-pound power passer’s 14- and 25-yard scoring shots to Pettigrew.
Pettigrew, a senior who seems to improve with every game, typified Baker’s second-half dominance when he won the battle for a pass to produce a classic interception while juggling the ball on his way to the ground.
“That was my favorite interception,” said Pettigrew, whose 25-yard diving catch in the end zone beat Nooksack Valley a week earlier.
Sande was especially gratified that his pick six followed a rare lost fumble.
“I think that was my first pick six,” Sande said.
Baker amassed 491 yards, including 404 rushing, with the majority of the effective work by the interior line coming from Joel Robles, Drake Pinkey, Jordon Hughes, Vance Lawrence, Thayer Brown and Jesse Harward.
Beason finished 4 for 9 for 87 yards with no interceptions and the three touchdowns.
Blaine’s Aiden Vezzetti made a touchdown-saving play when he took the right angle to stop George after a 65-yard run.
Other Saturday games
LYNDEN CHRISTIAN 41, NOOKSACK VALLEY 0: Five different players scored for the Lyncs (3-2, 1-0), who wore down the young Pioneers (3-4, 1-2) in the second half at Nooksack.
“Nooksack played their guts out in the first half,” said LC coach Dan Kaemingk, whose team led 7-0 at halftime. “They really played tough with all their good young players.”
Senior quarterback Will Colwell scored on a short run and threw passes for touchdowns of about 45 yards to Caleb Ryan, 50 yards to Jamison Hintz and 30 yards to Tyler Sipma (exact statistics were not available).
Sipma also scored on a 65-yard run and Kade Eldridge scored from about 60 yards away for the Lyncs’ final score with 7:23 to play.
Colwell now has 14 touchdown passes in the senior’s first season as a starter.
(Assistant coach) Trevor Veltkamp did a great job of calling plays,” Kaemingk said.
LUMMI 44, CRESCENT 22: The Blackhawks (5-0, 2-0 Northwest Eight-Man Conference) took their high-scoring show to the Olympic Peninsula as Duncan Toby provided much of the fun with touchdown runs of about 95 and 75 yards (exact statistics were unavailable).
Sammy Bumatay caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Tucker Rawlins, who also scored on runs of 5 and 8 yards. Adam Bellows also produced a touchdown of about 60 yards.
Rawlins also contributed a pair of 2-point conversions.
Lummi‘s win improved Whatcom County‘s record for all 11 teams to 31-15 against out-of-county opponents.
“We had only one turnover, on an interception,” Lummi coach Jim Sandusky said of a mostly smooth effort. “We got a lot of guys in after we scored on our first two offensive plays.”
Lummi next plays Thursday at 7 p.m. against Concrete. The playoff-bound Blackhawks will end their regular season Oct. 29 at home against traditional rival Neah Bay.
Friday’s games
FERNDALE 48, STANWOOD 30: With one league round to go, the Golden Eagles (6-1, 4-1 Wesco 3A North) won on Homecoming to clinch a spot in the Week Nine WESCO 3A seeding game for the state tournament Round of 32.
Ferndale’s win on the Blaine field, coupled with Arlington’s 28-14 victory over Marysville-Pilchuck, left all three title contenders with one loss. If all three finish with one defeat after Week Eight, Ferndale will be seeded No. 1 and will play the Wesco South No. 1.
Ferndale hopes to have junior rushing star Isaiah Carlson back from a knee injury. After scoring two touchdowns against the Spartans, he had to be helped off the field early in the third quarter.
Carlson gave Ferndale the lead for good with a 45-yard score with 5:04 left in the first quarter and his 2-yard scoring run gave the Golden Eagles a 35-14 lead 20 seconds before halftime. He finished with well over 100 yards.
Thomas Broselle scored Ferndale’s second touchdown with a 4-yard burst and his 61-yard catch-run from Mark Schlichting made it 21-7. It was Schlichting’s 12th scoring pass in the senior‘s first year as starting quarterback..
Pelton scored on a 16-yard run for a 28-14 lead and added Ferndale’s final two scores with 1-yard runs. Schlichting’s 26-yard pass to Connor Walcker set up the last score for a 48-14 advantage with four minutes left in the third quarter.
Stanwood scored twice in the fourth quarter and then recovered a Ferndale fumble on a kickoff, but Schlichting’s first interception of the season wrapped up the win with less than four minutes left.
Ferndale is averaging 42 points in its six wins, including an 18-17 comeback win over Arlington. The Eagles lost 49-15 to Marysville-Pilchuck in Week Five.
LYNDEN 23, SEHOME 7: The Lions (6-1, 4-0 NWC 2A) remained in the running for one of two league playoff spots, ahead of four other contenders for either No. 1 or No. 2. Lynden faces contenders in Week Eight and Week Nine — Archbishop Murphy and Sedro-Woolley.
Lane Heeringa scored on a 2-0 yard run for a 7-0 lead in the opening quarter at Civic Stadium and tallied on 3-yard dash for a 20-0 advantage with 7:06 to play.
Kaidan Hermanutz produced Lynden’s second touchdown with a 12-yard pass to Isaiah Stanley, who made a diving catch in the end zone.
Junior kicker Troy Petz booted a 29-yard field goal -- it would have been good from beyond 40 -- with 1:48 remaining..
Sehome (1-5, 0-4) avoided a shutout with 42 seconds remaining when Jovyn Sangha threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Heyward and Aiden Andrews kicked the conversion.
“Sehome’s defense is really good and it was a hard-hitting game, so I was proud of our kids,” Lynden coach Blake VanDalen said. “The physicality of the game was unbelievable.
“Kaiden Hermanutz is really maturing into a solid quarterback who knows how to make great suggestions.”
Taivin VanDalen had a team-high 10 tackles at linebacker for the Lions. Heeringa led the rushers with 64 yards on 18 carries and Hermanutz, a junior in his first season as a starter, completed 5 of 11 passes for 34 yards.
SQUALICUM 34, SEDRO-WOOLLEY 14: Quarterback Leyton Smithson scored on an 80-yard for his third touchdown of the game and Ben Schlenbaker quickly followed with a 90-yard touchdown dash for a 27-7 advantage as the explosive Storm (5-2, 3-2 NWC 2A) stayed in the running for one of the league’s two state playoff spots.
If the Storm beats Burlington-Edison in Week Nine and if Lynden defeats Archbishop Murphy and Sedro-Woolley, Squalicum and Lynden will be the NWC 2A playoff teams.
Sedro-Woolley (5-1, 3-1) responded to the two long scores with a touchdown, but Schlenbaker finished with well over 200 yards rushing including a 20-yard score to wrap up the win with a long fourth-quarter drive.
Smithson scored from the 1 and the 22 for a 14-7 halftime lead. “Ben had an incredible block on which everyone shouted, ‘Oh!!’ to spring Leyton for the second score,” Storm coach Nick Lucey said.
“We had an outstanding defense game,” said Lucey. “Bryson Lamb was everywhere with several sacks and other tackles for loss and Kai Posey shut down Sedro’s best receiver.”
Sebastian Smith kicked the first two conversions and Trevor Keeley booted the last two.
Reed Richardson drew cheers for an outstanding sideline catch but was ruled just out of bounds.
In another game matching NWC 2A contenders, Burlington (5-1, 2-1) won 29-22 at Archbishop Murphy (3-4, 1-2) Saturday.
BELLINGHAM 22, FRIDAY HARBOR 9: The visiting Bayhawks (2-4) led all the way on touchdowns by Finn O’Malley on a 5-yard run, Alex Breeding on a 5-yarder and sophomore Isaac Bates on a 10-yard pass from sophomore Max Rasset.
Bates’ score came with about four minutes remaining after Friday Harbor pulled within 15-9.
Jimmy Quinlan scored a 2-point conversion on a pass from Rasset after the first touchdown. Liam Poulton-Claypool kicked the other two extra points.
“Jimmy Quinlan had a solid effort at outside linebacker and Johnny Twedt had a couple of big catches and played good defense on the corner,” said second-year coach Robb Myhre, who came to Bellingham after 20 seasons at Nooksack Valley.
The Bayhawks, normally a 2A team in the NWC, are playing an independent schedule. Myhre guided them to three consecutive wins to end the abbreviated winter season and now hopes to finish with four wins in a row as he continues to rebuild the program.
EVERETT 34, MERIDIAN 22: The visiting Trojans (4-3, 0-1 NWC 1A) trailed only 27-22 with about five minutes left when the Class 3A Seagulls clinched the win with a defensive touchdown by recovering a fumble in the end zone.
“The coolest thing about this game was our 11½ minute drive to open the second half,” said Meridian coach Patrick Ames. “We drove 75 yards on 20 plays and we converted on four fourth-down situations behind our freshman quarterback, Jaeger Fyfe. He played a great game in place of Tucker Harrison. Tucker was ill and couldn’t play at all and Jaeger didn‘t know he would start until Thursday‘s practice.”
Bryce Johnson capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown reception from Fyfe, whom Ames said went 14 for 20 for 100 yards in a short-passing game.
Junior running back Hunter Jones scored twice, on a 2-yard run for a 6-0 lead and on a 5-yard pass from Fyfe on fourth down for a 14-13 advantage. Jones also made an interception.
Week Eight
Thursday’s game
Concrete at Lummi, 7 p.m.
Friday’s games
Archibishop Murphy at Lynden, 4:30 p.m.
Mount Baker at Lynden Christian, 7:30 p.m.
Nooksack Valley vs. Squalicum at Civic Stadium,5 p.m.
Bellingham vs. Cedarcrest at Civic Stadium, 8 p.m.
Marysville-Getchell vs. Ferndale at Blaine, 7 p.m.
Blaine at Meridian, 7 p.m.
Sehome at Lakewood, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
