Squalicum’s Schlenbaker breaks school rushing record as Storm clinch playoff berth
Squalicum can boast one of the most productive and flashiest local groups of senior skill players in many years and the Storm proved it, of course, on Senior Night.
Capping a remarkable comeback from an injury-plagued 0-2 start in the Northwest Conference Class 2A division, the Storm (6-2, 4-2 NWC 2A) earned coach Nick Lucey his sixth state tournament berth in seven opportunities.
Appropriately for the Storm, they needed a comeback with all five touchdowns in fitting fan-pleasing fashion by different stellar seniors to beat Burlington-Edison 34-13 Friday at Civic Stadium. The win gave Squalicum the league’s No. 2 berth in the 2A state tournament Round of 16.
“We just have some really good seniors,” Lucey said.
Just to show they have plenty of defensive pride, too, the Storm found ways to limit speedy Burlington star Calvin Absten after he gave the Tigers a 6-0 lead on the game’s second play with an 80-yard catch-run touchdown on a short pass by quarterback Zach Watson.
Indomitable Storm linebacker Bryson Lamb, an all-state candidate, was all over the field and all over the Tigers, helping to hold Absten to 53 yards on eight more catches.
“I felt no sorrow,” Lamb said of his team’s shaky starts, both in Friday’s game and in the two league losses in Weeks Three and Four by a combined 29-25 score to Lynden and Lakewood.
Against the talented Tigers (6-2, 3-2), Lamb led a ferocious charge that shackled Burlington to 152 total more yards after Absten’s 80-yard stunner. Absten also had an interception to stifle the Storm on their first series.
But the Storm simply would not be denied. They scored on a 13-yard run by Ben Schlenbaker and a 46-yard end-around by Kaleb Hawkinson — the wingback’s longest varsity score — plus a perfectly executed 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Leyton Smithson to Reed Richardson with 11 seconds left in the first half for a 19-6 advantage.
“Our (senior) guys are all heart and determination. They know what they want and they have the passion to take it,” said Schlenbaker, who gained six yards on his last carry of the night to finish with 65 yards rushing on 17 carries.
That was two more yards than the crowd was informed the third-season ground-gainer needed to break former national rugby star Chad Clark’s career rushing record for the Storm. Clark had 4,135 yards on 613 carries in four seasons. Schlenbaker has most of his yardage since his sophomore season in 2019.
But the Storm needed yet more senior heroics when Tigers quarterback Watson capped an 84-yard, 16-play third quarter drive with a 9-yard touchdown scramble, cutting Squalicum’s lead to 19-13. Watson ran and passed for all but five yards on that drive.
From that point on, the Tigers netted zero yards on their final 14 plays while the Storm scored on Smithson’s 40-yard pass to Kai Posey — when Posey got amazingly wide open — and tallied on Smithson’s 4-yard power run. Hawkinson’s conversion run following Posey’s touchdown catch put the Storm up 27-13 with 8:13 remaining.
Smithson finished 7 for 10 for 139 yards with one interception.
Lucey smiled as he finished his verbal salute to his team and left it up to popular assistant coach Brian Young, as usual, to lead the team in its old-school anthem: “Groovy, Groovy, Groovy.”
As if the seniors didn’t cover themselves with enough glory, it was also Homecoming. Schlenbaker was named King of the Court.
Schlenbaker and Smithson were both injured in the third quarter against Lynden in Week Three and then both missed the tight loss to Lakewood. Also invaluable on defense, the two Division I prospects helped the Storm win its final four league games by a 121-33 bulge.
There were many other standouts against Burlington, including junior defensive back Nick Watt, senior linebacker Rizon Takabe and first-year senior defensive back Trevor Keeley.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
MONROE 29, FERNDALE 27: In a matchup of the Wesco South 3A champion and the Wesco North 3A tri-champion at the Blaine Stadium, the Bearcats clinched the win with an interception at their 2-yard line by Moi Emmsley with 49 seconds remaining.
Both teams will move on to begin elimination games in the state 3A Round of 32 in Week 10. Ferndale will face Garfield at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov.6, at Seattle Memorial Stadium.
Ferndale (7-2, 5-1) matched Monroe with four touchdowns, but the Bearcats made all their conversions, including a 2-point pass from quarterback Blake Springer to Trent Bublitz following a snafu on the snap.
Senior running back Ryan Pelton scored on runs of 14 yards and 6 yards while quarterback Mark Schlichting scored from the 4 and J.J. Nowak tallied from the 3 for Ferndale’s final touchdown with 6:36 remaining.
Monroe (6-3) was more spectacular, with Springer throwing for touchdowns of 20 yards to Evan Leggett and 45 to Iseah Canizales. Leggett took a toss from Springer and turned it into a 48-yard touchdown pass to Cole Pruett with 10:09 left for a 29-20 lead.
“They made a lot of big plays and we hurt ourselves with penalties,” Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich said. “Give Monroe credit.”
Ferndale, minus injured rushing star Isaiah Carlson, still managed 375 total yards on 68 plays to Monroe’s 297 yards on 48 plays. Pelton gained 92 yards on 18 carries, while Thomas Broselle had 74 on 14 and Nowak ran for 60 on 10.
The Golden Eagles displayed grit with scoring drives of 75, 66, 88 and 75 yards.
“Our energy level wasn’t there but I believe 100 percent we can come back,” said Pelton. “I’m going to try to make sure we bring the energy.”
LYNDEN CHRISTIAN 41, SPOKANE EAST VALLEY 0: The Lyncs (5-2, 2-0 NWC 1A) will face Meridian (5-4, 1-2) Thursday at 7 p.m. at LC in a 1A makeup game to begin Week 10.
If the Lyncs win, they will claim a state 1A berth along with Mount Baker. If the Trojans score an upset, a three-way mini playoff may be needed to solve a complicated situation.
The non-league home win was Lynden Christian’s third consecutive shutout.
Senior quarterback Will Colwell ran for touchdowns of 25 and 3 yards and threw a 21-yard scoring pass to Jamison Hintz, who also had an 85-yard fumble return for a score. Kade Eldridge ran for a score from 1 yard out and Isaac Paxton had a 5-yard rushing touchdown.
Colwell completed 6 of 10 passes for 90 yards and his 15th touchdown pass of the season. Colwell rushed 11 times for 94 yards and Eldridge had 78 yards on 13 tries. Lucas VonHofwegen made good on 5 of 6 conversions.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
LYNDEN 14, SEDRO-WOOLLEY 6: After the Cubs scored first, Kaleo Jandoc returned a kickoff 95 yards to score and Troy Petz gave the visiting Lions (8-1, 6-0) the lead for good with the extra point.
The Lions drove 90 yards with the second-half kickoff to score on a 1-yard run by junior standout Lane Heeringa, who accounted for 50 yards on the drive. Heeringa finished with 130 yards on 21 carries.
“With less than three minutes left, Collin Anker made a game-saving pass breakup inside our 5-yard line,” Lions coach Blake VanDalen said.
“Against a quality opponent, this was our best and most disciplined defensive game,” the coach said. “I felt our defense was amazing and we got a dominating effort from junior Luke Winterberg. He was just outstanding.”
VanDalen called Jandoc’s kickoff return “gorgeous, just beautiful. He used our wall at about the 50 perfectly, then broke back and did a great job on the run.”
The Lions will have a bye in Week Ten along with Squalicum as the two NWC 2A state qualifiers will wait until the Round of 16 is selected on Sunday, Nov. 7.
MOUNT BAKER 54, MERIDIAN 22: The Mounties (5-3, 3-1) appear headed for their ninth consecutive berth in the state playoffs (not counting the abbreviated winter 2021 season). Because Lynden Christian has played only two league games and Meridian (5-4, 1-2) could still win two league games with an upset of Lynden Christian on Thursday at LC, the 1A situation is not yet certain (see Lynden Christian game above).
Junior running back Marquis George scored on runs of 17 and 44 yards and gained more than 100 yards in the first quarter alone. Jesse Sande tallied four touchdowns as the senior running back combined with George for more than 300 yards on the ground.
Baker’s other scores were quarterback Davin Beason’s 45-yard kickoff return and Brady West’s touchdown run from midfield. Beason ran for a 2-point conversion and Joel Robles kicked four conversions.
For Meridian, Daniel Short scored on two touchdown passes of more than 30 yards from Tucker Harrison and freshman Jaeger Fyfe threw a scoring pass of more than 25 yards on a trick play to Bryce Johnson. The Trojans, who trailed 27-14 at the half, got two conversion kicks from Eli Jensen and also scored a safety.
SEHOME 44, CEDARCREST 0: The Mariners (2-6, 0-5) received touchdowns from six different players in the non-league win, including a 100-yard interception return by junior Jackson Dew for a spectacular first varsity touchdown.
Carson Neff threw scoring passes of 7 yards to Derrick Heyward and 4 yards to Braddock Duckworth. Zach Chisholm also scored in the first half on a 22-yard pass from Jovyn Sangha for a 23-halftime advantage.
The second-half scores were a 7-yard scramble by Neff, Dew’s interception and Sanga’s 6 yard pass to freshman Andre Watson. Aidan Andrews kicked all six extra points and the Mariners also had a safety when Banning Dirks blocked a punt out of the end zone.
“Dew had the first pick six for Sehome since (Los Angeles Rams player) Taylor Rapp had one six years ago,” injured running back Tommy Funk said he was told.
Sophomore Lucas Ortega rushed six times for 37 yards and freshman Zach Nielsen ran five times for 29 yards as the young prospects displayed potential. Neff went 8 for 9 for 59 yards and Sangha was 5 for 6 for 65 yards. Chisholm caught five passes for 70 yards to help the Mariners amass 363 yards.
“This was a nice way for our seniors to go out in their last game on this field,” Sehome coach Kevin Beason said. “We sure were glad to send them off this way.”
BLAINE 35, NOOKSACK VALLEY 21: “Our two defensive ends, Alex Welch and Anden Holley, were the stars of the win,” said Borderites coach Jay Dodd. “They were absolutely great, constantly making tackles for a loss.”
Avery Dohner got the Borderites (4-3, 1-2) going with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Kortlever and a 2-yard touchdown run. Larry Creasey helped rally the Borderites from a 14-13 halftime deficit when he scored a pair of 2-yard touchdowns. Welch scored on a 12-yard interception return. Kortlever also contributed a 2-point conversion from Dohner and Preston King booted three conversions.
Nooksack Valley (3-5, 1-3) scored on an 84-yard run by sophomore quarterback Joey Brown and a 75-yard pass from Brown to Kaleb Kingma, plus a 6-yard run by Jordan Silva.
The Pioneers will finish with a non-league game at Anacortes on Friday in Week Ten. The Borderites have finished their season.
NEAH BAY 40, LUMMI 30: The injury-plagued Blackhawks (6-1, 3-1 Northwest Eight-Man League) could not hold a 22-14 halftime lead. They will play Saturday on the road in a Week Ten state elimination game against Quilcene.
Sammy Bumatay tossed a lateral to Duncan Toby for a 50-yard touchdown after Tucker Rawlins found Bumatay with a pass. Richie Wilson caught a 40-yard scoring pass from Rawlins, who also threw a 30-yarder to Toby for his second score.
Rawlins, a freshman, also scored on a 2-yard run. The 2-point conversions were by William Elzey, Bumatay and Wilson.
Lummi had been Whatcom County’s last remaining unbeaten team. The county is 38-20 against out-of-county competition.
MOUNT VERNON 50, BELLINGHAM 6: Alex Breeding scored on an 8-yard run for the independent Bay hawks (2-6) against the 3A Bulldogs.
Bellingham will finish on the road Friday at Granite Falls.
WEEK TEN
Thursday’s game
Meridian at Lynden Christian, 7 p.m.
Friday’s games
Sehome at Burlington-Edison, 7 p.m.
Bellingham at Granite Falls, 7 p.m.
Nooksack Valley at Anacortes, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s game
Ferndale vs. Garfield at Seattle Memorial Stadium, 2 p.m.
Lummi at either Quilcene or Evergreen Lutheran, 1 p.m. (elimination game).
Playoff Byes — Lynden, Squalicum and Mount Baker. No game — Blaine.
This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
