Bellingham’s football resurgence marked by high-scoring offense and ‘touchdown twins’
Josh Tolle and Wyatt Stephan may be football stunners, but they are not athletic surprises.
As freshmen at Bellingham High, Tolle caught one pass on the C team and Stephan did not play football. Now the two seniors have combined to catch 22 touchdown passes — both have broken the school record with 11 — in their only varsity football season.
Along the way on their athletic journey, both became productive varsity basketball starters at guard as juniors and also solid lacrosse players. Stephan was fast enough to qualify for the state 2A track and field meet as a sophomore, but he decided to switch to lacrosse last spring after leaving track.
They will have fans of the Bayhawks (5-4) counting their catches Friday night in a season-ending game against Sultan (6-3) at Civic Stadium. Believe it or not, they have a shot at combining for 100 receptions, since they are 13 catches away.
“That would be awesome,“ the football-loving Tolle said, to which football-loving convert Stephan added, “That really would be cool.“
The “touchdown twins” have no trouble explaining what became a shocking senior success story even without either playing in every game.
“We feel blessed to have Josh Leonard at quarterback,” they both say of their senior buddy, who transferred to Bellingham after passing for a county-leading 16 touchdowns as a junior at Squalicum. All three seniors have been given all the opportunities they could ask for because second-year head coach Adam Leonard, Josh’s father, coached a five-game winning streak with a potent mix of passing and running while Adam tries to build an independent program strong enough to return to the Northwest Conference’s 2A division.
Josh Leonard leads the county with 26 touchdown passes and 2,156 yards passing, according to the Whatcom Preps website.
Tolle tops the county with 61 catches for 897 yards and Stephan, who has played in only six games including the five wins, has 26 catches for 723 yards, including a county record-tying five touchdown catches in one game. He has a county-leading 28-yard average per catch.
Bellingham has been far from spectacular in football since the school reopened in 2000 following a two-year remodel, but the first nine games this season have been far from boring. The Bayhawks have scored 328 points and the opposition has 185.
The Bayhawks finally fit in while playing in a county filled with enough football talent to produce 35 games with at least 30 points by one team, including 25 games with at least 40 points.
“Every athletic high school boy should think about giving football a chance,” said Tolle, to which Stephan added almost as quickly as he sprinted downfield, “Football is more of a ‘family’ sport than any other. I love it!”
Stephan, whose best in the 100-meter dash is a blistering 11.1 seconds, has no trouble explaining his onetime hesitation to join the football team..
“I didn’t want to risk injuries affecting my other sports,” the 6-foot-1, 180-pound dynamo said. “But I saw a couple of games early this season and football looked like fun. Now I’m having a blast.”
Tolle envisioned something special even after he sat out football as a junior with injury concerns.
“I’ve always wanted Wyatt to play,” said Tolle, who admits he was a discouraged 5-foot, 105-pounder as a freshman substitute. He missed the first game this season with an injury.
Since Bellingham scored 82 points in its season-opening three losses — none by more than a touchdown — the Bayhawks might well be 8-1 if they had all been together for every game. Meridian’s last-minute 23-21 win last week snapped Bellingham’s streak.
Did Adam Leonard persist in trying to recruit Stephan?
“I consistently encouraged Wyatt to play football,” the coach said with a grin as all three prodigies laughed.
“You know, all three of these guys can play college football at some level,” Adam added, urging college coaches to take a look-see at his film. “This has been a special season.”
The coach calls the 5-9 Tolle “the strongest guy on the team.” He can bench press more than 100 pounds over his 160-pound weight -- a rarity in high school football.
Leonard said he isn’t surprised by his two primary targets.
“I knew they could play,” he said, noting that he grew up in the Bellingham youth sports community with them. “Wyatt hasn’t surprised me at all.”
When it was suggested that all three players could stay together to help a Division II college team like Central Washington or pretty much any Division III or NAIA squad, all three looked at each other in wonderment.
“That would be awesome,” they all said.
They all credited their parents with strong support — Jeff and Leona Tolle; David Stephan and Kelli Brown; and Adam and Stefani Leonard.
Tolle recalled he led the basketball team with a 7-point average in assists and Stephan topped the squad with a 14-point average, so they’re definitely looking forward to their bid to qualify for district.
But nobody could be blamed for wishing they could participate in the state football playoffs. Even so, reaching the century pass-catching mark as a dynamic duo in their last high school game would be a nice consolation prize.
WEEK TEN
Thursday
Squalicum at Mount Baker, 6 p.m.
Friday
Nooksack Valley at Granite Falls in state 1A play-in game, 7 p.m.
Lynden, Bye before State 2A Round of 16
Lynden Christian, Bye before State 1A Round of 16
Bellingham vs. Sultan at Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Meridian vs. Cedar Park Christian at Juanita H.S., 7 p.m.
Sehome at Mount Vernon, 6 p.m.
Blaine vs. East Jefferson at Port Townsend Memorial Stadium, 6 p.m.
Lummi, season complete
Saturday
Timberline at Ferndale, 5 p.m.
