BELLINGHAM – It was a mismatch from the get-go as the Bayhawks could do little wrong in their 40-8 victory over La Conner on Friday night at Civic Stadium.
One fumble, a few incompletions and a small handful of penalties would be the only misfortunes for Bellingham who is playing with the upmost confidence at the moment.
Senior quarterback Josh Leonard completed 14 of his 15 pass attempts, which established a new school record for completion percentage in a game (breaking the old record that stood for 37 years), for 240 yards and five touchdowns. His five touchdown passes tied a school record, which he also tied last week.
Senior Josh Tolle was the main recipient, as he also broke two records in the second quarter when he became the first player in school history to catch four touchdown passes in one game. On that very same play he also established a new school record for receiving touchdowns in a season with nine.
Senior Wyatt Stephan caught the other Leonard touchdown pass, a 42-yarder in the second quarter.
Senior running back Holden Bates showed off his speed by gaining a team-high 81 yards rushing on just seven carries, which also included a 33-yard touchdown scamper in the second quarter.
Bellingham’s offense averaged over 10 yards per play. In contrast, the Bayhawk defense also did its job by allowing just 3.4 yards per play.
Junior inside linebacker Tyler Frost led the way with seven tackles, two sacks and a tackle for loss, and sophomore safety Owen Hanstead did it again by intercepting a pass in his fifth game in a row.
Senior defensive end Elias Togagae had his second big game in a row with two stops behind the line of scrimmage, and senior defensive lineman Tanner Laub had 1.5 tackles for loss.
The Bayhawks (2-3) will host Coupeville (1-4) on Friday at 7:00.
Bellingham 40
La Conner 8
LAC 0 0 0 8 - 8
BEL 14 26 0 0 - 40
BEL - Tolle 13 pass from Leonard (Isaly kick)
BEL - Tolle 10 pass from Leonard (Isaly kick)
BEL - Tolle 24 pass from Leonard (kick failed)
BEL - Bates 33 run (Isaly kick)
BEL - Stephan 42 pass from Leonard (run failed)
BEL - Tolle 34 pass from Leonard (Isaly kick)
LAC - 16 yard touchdown pass (2pt run good)
LAC BEL
17-72 Rush Att-Yards 17-114
8-28-1 Comp-Att-Int 16-18-0
79 Passing Yards 252
Individual Leaders
RUSHING - LAC: N/A. BEL: Bates 7-81, Jackson 3-19, Frost 2-12, Bryant-Pearson 2-6, Goodbuffalo 1-4, Leonard 2-(-8).
PASSING - LAC: N/A. BEL: Leonard 14-15-0-240, Goodbuffalo 2-3-0-12.
RECEIVING - LAC: N/A. BEL: Tolle 7-102, Stephan 3-79, Henderson 2-27, Bates 1-34, VanHofwegen 1-9, Hanstead 1-7, Ilagan 1-5.
