Sehome routs Blaine with balanced attack, showing potential for a high-quality season
With a display of explosive plays that would have been a challenge to execute in a practice session, Sehome showed why it has one of Whatcom County’s most intriguing football teams in quite a while.
Potential-laden freshman quarterback Nolan Wright demonstrated why the Mariners (2-0) are fortunate to have him, and his teammates showed why he’s lucky to have them in Class 2A Sehome’s 49-6 win over Class 1A Blaine on Friday.
The air wasn’t the only thing that was smoking, although the shrouded views of the sun and moon close to the horizon were almost as fascinating to watch as Wright‘s remarkably accurate arm.
Passing only in the first half, Wright went 9 for 9 for 210 yards and four touchdowns, including scores of 60 and 50 yards to junior Brad Duckworth, who did a fine job of getting open downfield, and 56 yards to sophomore Andre Watson, whose elusive running turned a short pass into a 56-yard touchdown and set up Duckworth‘s second score with the game‘s only interception.
Watson displayed plenty of potential himself by scoring on a game-opening 86-yard kickoff return.
“Nolan plays beyond his years,” said Mariners coach Kevin Beason. “We’re very blessed to have him. He’s a smart kid, a good leader. But the best thing about this game was no injuries, since we have to get ready for our (Northwest Conference Class 2A) league opener at Sedro-Woolley.”
Max Malo and fellow senior two-way standout Tommy Funk agreed.
“I could tell Nolan was a great kid, very real, when I would give him rides to practice,” said Malo, who can share much with Wright about the pressure of playing for an ambitious, well-developing team as a freshman.
“Nolan just has this humble confidence. He‘s just a raw athlete” said fourth-year standout Malo, who caught a beautifully executed 2-yard touchdown pass to cap a nicely executed 14-play, 58-yard drive for a 20-0 lead. A perfectly done 14-yard connection to the 18-yard line from Wright to Malo on fourth-and-11 was a work of football art.
“That TD pass had some spin on it,” said Malo, noting Wright is stylish as well as strong.
“Nolan is a great fit for us,” said Funk, who rushed 10 times for 101 yards, including a 16-yard run on Sehome’s second play of the third quarter. Wright then turned a conversion snap that went awry into a 2-point conversion pass to Malo and the running clock started at 42-0.
Malo, Funk and standout senior lineman K.J. McDowell were elected co-captains by their mostly younger teammates and they all showed why.
“I just love football,” said Funk, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in his fourth game last season. The Mariners missed the personable senior leader badly as they finished 3-6 after three playoff-qualifying seasons.
The Mariners limited the Borderites (0-2) to 80 total yards, including three catches for 56 yards by junior Riley Ihde, who caught a 26-yard touchdown pass in the game’s last minute from backup quarterback Colin Davis, a sophomore. Colby Shipp, another sophomore, displayed spirited running on special teams.
Grady Evans kicked five extra points and fellow Sehome soph Solomon III Mcalister scored on an 8-yard run.
“Sehome is one of the best teams we’ll face,” said Blaine coach Jay Dodd. “We’re a young team (only six seniors) and we’re still trying to figure things out. We have to get better at making our (defensive) reads.”
SATURDAY’S GAMES
FERNDALE 47, OAK HARBOR 6: Isaiah Carlson rushed for 124 yards and three touchdowns on only nine carries as the Golden Eagles (1-1) were impressive both ways in their 3A Wesco opener at Blaine.
Junior Conner Walcker, in his first start at quarterback, threw a 67-yard pass to Damien Toney to set up Carlson’s second score and quick sophomore Zach Nielsen, a transfer from Sehome, scored his first varsity touchdowns in the second quarter on a 7-yard run and a 48-yard pick six for a 28-0 lead. Sophomore Talan Bungard scored on a 43-yard run and a 54-yard pass from junior Bishop Ootsey, capping a 35-point second quarter.
“Defensively, we played really well. Our front four was just outstanding,” Ferndale coach Jamie Plenkovich said of Landen Hatchett, Jake Mason, Trevor Fetty and junior Camden Raymond. In less than three quarters, they led a charge that limited Oak Harbor to minus 13 yards rushing while the ferocious foursome was in action.
Starting senior running back Jason Nowak — who had a game-high 101 yards in Ferndale’s 24-7 loss to Lynden — is out indefinitely with a knee injury sustained in the second quarter.
Carlson ended the game for Ferndale’s offensive starters with a 51-yard score on the opening play of the second half for a 47-0 lead. Carlson set up his first score, a 4-yarder, with a 46-yard burst.
“He’s getting stronger every week,” Plenkovich said of Carlson, who rehabbed a knee injury he suffered last season. I was happy that we cleaned up some things from our loss to Lynden.”
NOOKSACK VALLEY 21, CONNELL 0: Jackson Bennett caught touchdown passes of 35 and 74 yards from fellow junior Joey Brown as the Pioneers (2-0) scored a significant non-league road win, showing they may be title contenders in the five-team 1A division in the Northwest Conference.
Brown scored the other touchdown on a 15-yard scramble and the Pioneers’ improving defense did the rest, including an interception by Cory Olney. Jorgen Vigre kicked all three extra points.
“Wayne Silves (a junior defensive back) played well and our entire defense gave us a good effort,” said Nooksack coach Craig Bartl.
“We played together as a team even though it was really hot. We battled through it well,” said Bartl. “We still have a lot of things to correct (to be a contender). We celebrated on the bus ride home but we’ll be right back at work.”
LIBERTY BELL 54, LUMMI 0: The visitors from Winthrop came in with a much more experienced eight-man team than the Blackhawks, who have only three seniors.
The halftime score of the non-league game was 46-0 but Lummi kept fighting despite giving up four touchdowns of at least 25 yards. The team’s most experienced player, Richie Wilson, had runs of 7, 16, 6 and 7 yards and advanced to the 8-yard line before time ran out.
FRIDAY’S OTHER GAMES
LYNDEN 33, CHEHALIS W.F. WEST 7: The defending state champion Lions (2-0), ranked No 1 in at least one 2A poll, again came up huge defensively after Lynden’s 24-7 win over Ferndale.
“Last week our special teams outscored our opponent and this week our defense did,” said Lions coach Blake VanDalen, pointing to Lane Heeringa’s game-clinching fumble recovery in the end zone and Trey Smiley’s safety for the game’s final points.
Heeringa scored on a 6-yard run and had a game-high 72 yards on 16 carries. Quarterback Kaedan Hermanutz also scored on a 6-yarder and had 49 yards on 14 carries. Campbell Nolte picked up 54 yards on eight carries as the Lions finished with 203 yards on 43 rushes.
Troy Petz kicked a 40-yard field goal for a 16-7 halftime lead, matching his distance against Ferndale. Sophomore quarterback Brant Heppner scored on a 2-yard run for his varsity score.
“Lane had two sacks and played really well at linebacker,” said VanDalen. “Luke Winterberg applied great defensive pressure at nose guard.”
MOUNT BAKER 42, WENATCHEE 14: The 1A Mountaineers (1-1), coming off a 15-12 loss to Sehome, thoroughly dominated 4A visitor Wenatchee (0-2).
“We took a big step forward with all three running backs — Marcques George, Wilhelm Maloley and Brady West — running very hard behind a solid performance by our offensive line,” said Baker coach Ron Lepper. “This was a big step forward. Our defensive front seven did a nice job.”
Marcques George scored Baker’s first touchdown on a 10-yard run and junior Tanyen Staton kicked the first of six conversions. Maloley made it 28-0 at the half with a short scoring burst.
In between, junior Landen Hanstead scored on a 10-yarder from Landon Smith and Hanstead followed with a 35-yard pick six.
“Hanstead made one of the best catches I’ve seen in a long time, at the right pylon where no one else could catch Smith’s pass,” Lepper said, noting that Smith was efficient while completing five of eight passes as the Mountaineers worked hard on their running game.
Marcques, who surpassed 100 yards rushing, and Maloley capped the effort with their second touchdown runs.
LYNDEN CHRISTIAN 42, ARCHBISHOP MURPHY 0: The 1A Lyncs (2-0) scored an impressive win against a 2A team as LC scored five different ways.
LC, with 102 points in its first two games for new coach Greg Terpstra, received 7-for-13 passing for 132 yards by junior Jeremiah Wright, who threw touchdown passes of 25 yards to Braden Kuik and 60 yards to Tyler Sipma.
Sipma also returned a punt 95 yards to score, while Brody Bouwman produced a 20-yard pick six and Kade Eldridge blocked a punt and returned the ball 55 yards to score.
Eldridge also scored on a 2-yard run.
“Our line was outsized, but our guys just kept fighting and fighting and fighting,” said Terpsma, praising senior Tommy Meyer for his “willing switch from quarterback to center in order to help the team.
“And our linebackers, Brody Bouwman and Kayden Stuit, along with Braden Kuik ,were outstanding for a defense that really played well,”the coach added.
Terpsma was also proud that the Lyncs overcame numerous penalties.
BELLINGHAM 15, MEADOWDALE 10: Returning senior quarterback Max Rasset threw a game-winning 30-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Cousens — his third scoring catch in two games — early in the fourth quarter, and the two combined for a two-point conversion for a 15-8 lead at Edmonds-Woodway.
Kalana Utu made a game-ending tackle at midfield for the Bayhawks (2-0), who have already matched last season’s win total for new coach Adam Leonard. A Meadowdale lineman picked up his own team’s fumble and threatened to score until Utu chased him down at the final horn.
Sophomore Tyler Frost scored Bellingham’s first touchdown on a 25-yard run in the opening quarter and Liam Poulton-Claypool kicked the extra point.
“Liam sacked the quarterback and the ball popped up to give that Meadowdale lineman a chance to run,” Leonard said of the final play.
“I can’t say enough about Tyler Frost at middle linebacker,” Leonard said. “We had a complete team effort on defense, but Frost was just lights out as definitely the player of the game. He had at least 10 tackles”
Bellingham’s 2-0 start has helped give Whatcom County teams a 13-4 record in the first two weeks against out-of-county competition.
FIFE 23, SQUALICUM 14: In a matchup of perennial playoff qualifiers at Civic Stadium, new starting quarterback Josh Leonard threw two first-half touchdown passes that gratified Storm coach Nick Lucey.
Leonard, who threw for more than 150 yards and has five scoring passes in his first two starts for the Storm (1-1), found Marcus Nixon for 49 yards and Jacob Sorenson for 26 yards, both in the second quarter.
“But we gave up what amounted to 16 points on self-inflicted wounds,” said Lucey, who noted that mistakes cost the Storm the chances they needed in the second half.
“Our defense was just outstanding,” Lucey added. “Nick Watt, Jacob Donnelly and Chase Nelson were all outstanding at linebacker.”
Lucey said the Storm faces a lot of work in preparation to meet Lynden at Civic Field on Friday night in a 2A NWC opener that matches 2021 state qualifiers.
CHELAN 27, MERIDIAN 8: The Trojans (1-1) took an 8-3 third-quarter lead with a 12-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Jaeger Fyfe to Hunter Jones, but visiting Chelan scored the game’s final 24 points.
Landen Downey caught three passes for 49 yards as Fyfe completed 13 of 30 for 103 yards, including 13 attempts in a long fourth quarter. Josh Elmer led Meridian with 62 yards rushing.
Meridian had six turnovers.
“It was a pretty good example of a bigger, more experienced team coming back against a smaller, younger team,” Meridian coach Patrick Ames said.
WEEK 3
Thursday, Sept. 15
Bellingham vs. Granite Falls at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 16
Lynden vs. Squalicum at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Sehome at Sedro-Woolley, 7 p.m.
King’s at Nooksack Valley, 7 p.m.
Neah Bay at Lummi, 6 p.m.
Blaine at Vashon, 6 p.m.
Mount Baker at Toppenish, 6 p.m.
Meridian at King’s Way (Vancouver, Wash.), 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 17
Ferndale vs. Glacier Peak at Seattle’s Lumen Field, 2:20 p.m.
Lynden Christian vs. Bellevue Christian at Sammamish High School, 6 p.m.
This story was originally published September 12, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
