BLAINE – There’s a difference when you know it that it could be your last game, and when you know that it is your last football game. For the Borderites and the Bayhawks, especially the seniors, it would be their last football game, and they made it a memorable one as Blaine defeated Bellingham 34-27 in double overtime on Thursday night.
The hometown team got on the scoreboard first by driving down the field methodically, which took up the majority of the first quarter. Senior quarterback Colin Davis finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run, a drive which knocked out nearly nine minutes off the clock.
The Bayhawks returned the favor with a long drive of their own, but started to stall in the red zone. On fourth down, sophomore quarterback Ben Leonard took the shotgun snap and fired over the middle to junior wide receiver Joe Harward broke inside to catch the 8-yard touchdown pass in the end zone.
Blaine was able to drive the ball past midfield on its next possession, but was turned over on downs when senior linebacker Gabe VanHofwegen made a stop on fourth down to give the ball back to Bellingham with eight minutes left in the first half.
Both teams traded punts, and the Bayhawks then took advantage of back-to-back defensive pass interference calls, and scored two plays later on a 2-yard dive play to VanHowfwegen. The extra point was blocked, but Bellingham took a 13-6 lead.
Blaine threatened to score at the end of the first half, but barely ran out of time.
The Bayhawks received the second half kickoff, but was forced to punt it away. The Borderites had a few big plays on the following drive, but none bigger than the double-pass executed to perfection.
Senior wide receiver Logan Villarreal caught a backwards pass, which drew the defense in, and then unloaded a deep pass which resulted in a 32-yard gain to junior wide receiver Kai Kerwin. One play later, senior running back Jaiden Paez scored on a 10-yard run after getting the edge on the right side. Villarreal’s extra point tied the game at 13-13.
Leonard and Harward then connected for a touchdown for the second time in the game, this time from five yards out, but a personal foul resulted in a 35-yard extra point attempt which was missed. Bellingham now held a 19-13 lead.
As the third quarter turned into the fourth quarter, it became the Jaiden Paez show. Complete with first down runs, a wardrobe change and two long touchdown runs.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Paez’s jersey was torn apart, and had to replace with #16, but he still ran as if he was #23. His two touchdown runs, one of 20 yards and the other covered 34 yards, gave Blaine a 27-19 lead with 5:47 left in the game.
The Bayhawks drove past midfield, and found themselves in a 4th-and-2 situation, that was when senior wide receiver Bly Henderson found a small opening in the zone, and as he turned around, Leonard rifled the ball to him for a first down.
It wouldn’t be the last big play on fourth down.
Just a few minutes later, Bellingham was starting at 4th-and-seven, and called a timeout. The Bayhawks decided to roll the dice and go for the deep ball, and when Leonard let it fly, it fell perfectly into the arms of Harward for a 34-yard touchdown.
Needing to go for the two-point conversion to tie the game up with just 1:49 left in the game, Bellingham came up with a play that it hadn’t ran all season.
Leonard went into motion to his left, leaving 250-pound Tyler Frost all alone in the backfield. For a second, everyone in the stadium would think it was going to be a power run by the massive senior fullback. Instead, Frost took the direct snap, faked like he was going to run, then shot-put a jump-pass to VanHofwegen who came down with it in the end zone for two points.
The Borderites were unable to score in the final seconds of regulation, and the game fittingly went into overtime, as numerous seniors on both sides were deserving of playing just a little more high school football.
Bellingham possessed the ball first, and went for it all on the first play as Harward came around on a reverse and launched the ball into the end zone, but it was knocked away at the last second by senior cornerback Thomas Cox.
Three incomplete passes later, and it was Blaine’s turn to possess the ball at the 25-yard line. The Borderites were able to pick up a first down, but a fumble on a pitch-play was recovered by VanHofwegen and send the game into a second overtime where Blaine would now have the first possession.
The Borderites made the most of it just three plays in when Paez sprinted through the right side of his line and scored from 22 yards out.
Bellingham still had its chance and sent Harward into the backfield. On the first play, he took the handoff and picked up 11 yards and a first down. It would be the only first down the Bayhawks would pick up in overtime as a fourth down pass was tipped by senior linebacker Colby Shipp and when the ball hit the turf, the game was over.
Paez finished with 272 yards rushing on 28 carries, as he closed out his magical season with 1,815 yards.
Frost also had a huge game on defense, as he finished with 10.5 tackles, including six tackles for loss and a forced fumble. It brought his career number of tackles for loss to 42, which is more than any other player in Whatcom County over the last eight seasons.
The Borderites finished with their best record in 12 years at 7-3, and Bellingham closed out its campaign with a 2-8 record.
Blaine 34 Bellingham 27 (2 OT) BEL 0 13 6 8 0 0 - 27 BLA 6 0 7 14 0 7 - 34 BLA - Davis 4 run (run failed) BEL - Harward 8 pass from Leonard (Hanstead kick) BEL - G. VanHofwegen 2 run (kick blocked) BLA - Paez 10 run (Villarreal kick) BEL - Harward 5 pass from Leonard (kick failed) BLA - Paez 20 run (Villarreal kick) BLA - Paez 34 run (Villarreal kick) BEL - Harward 34 pass from Leonard (G. VanHofwegen pass from Frost) BLA - Paez 21 run (Villarreal kick) BEL BLA 27-89 Rush Att-Yards 54-351 17-30-0 Comp-Att-Int 5-10-0 114 Passing Yards 84 Individual Leaders RUSHING - BEL: Frost 8-34, Harward 4-26, Jackson 10-17, G. VanHofwegen 5-12. BLA: Paez 28-272, Davis 22-66, Shipp 3-8, Villarreal 1-5. PASSING - BEL: Leonard 17-29-0-114, Harward 0-1-0-0. BLA: Davis 4-9-0-52, Villarreal 1-1-0-32. RECEIVING - BEL: Henderson 9-38, Harward 5-57, Wright 2-15, G. VanHofwegen 1-4. BLA: Cox 2-40, Kerwin 1-32, Bouma 1-6, Koreski 1-6.
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