BELLINGHAM – It was a tight game for the first 36 minutes of football. In fact, it was tied after each of the first three quarters, but the Mariners made big plays when they needed to in the fourth quarter and walked away with a 48-28 win over Cascade (Everett) at Civic Stadium on Friday night.
After forcing a punt on the opening drive, Sehome went to work running the ball on its first possession, and finished it off with a 3-yard touchdown run by senior Carson Neff. Neff’s score came two plays after senior running back Tommy Funk popped a 50-yard carry.
The Bruins answered back with a strong running drive of their own, and found the end zone moments later to tie the game.
Sehome then drove down the field with a great mix of run and pass plays, and scored a 29-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter when freshman quarterback Nolan Wright lofted a jump ball for sophomore Andre Watson. Watson timed his jump perfectly, caught the ball at its highest point, and pulled in his ninth touchdown reception of the season.
Cascade used the rest of the second quarter to tie the game up at 14, and then ultimately take the lead on a rare pass attempt that went 47 yards for a touchdown.
The Mariners quickly went to work with less than two minutes remaining until halftime. The quick strike offense was working well with Wright finding his 6-foot-6 junior receiver Braddock Duckworth over the middle of the field for numerous first downs, coupled with the Sehome offense hustling up to the line of scrimmage so Wright could spike the ball and stop the clock.
Wright’s final clock-stopping spike came at the 3-yard line with 0.1 seconds to go. The freshman then called his own number on an option run and scored to tie the game at 21 at the half.
Funk ripped off his second longest run of the game in the third quarter, this time a 47-yarder that crossed the goal line. The Bruins answered once again, using unbalanced lines and a strong running game to get down the field and score on a 3-yard touchdown pass, and the score was again tied, this time at 28, at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter began with Funk scoring his second touchdown of the contest, this time on a 16-yard counter run. Cascade drove past midfield on its next possession, but on 4th-and-6, the pass could have been intercepted by Neff, who wisely knocked it down to give his team better field position.
The field position didn’t matter too much as Neff took the handoff on the very next play and sprinted 61 yards for a touchdown.
Neff then scored his third touchdown of the game, as he rumbled 36 yards through the middle of the Bruin defense to cap the scoring.
Funk led the Mariners on the ground with 202 yards rushing on 16 carries, and Neff ran for a career-high 133 yards on just eight carries. Wright completed 13-of-19 passes for 180 yards, and his main targets were Duckworth (six receptions for 85 yards) and Watson (five receptions for 75 yards).
Sehome was led defensively by senior linebackers Malachi Swanson (11.5 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble receovery) and Max Malo (14 tackles, one tackle for loss).
The Mariners finished the season with a 7-3 record.
Cascade 28 Sehome 48 CAS 7 14 7 0 - 28 SEH 7 14 7 21 - 48 SEH - Neff 3 run (Evans kick) CAS - Thomas 1 run (Gardner kick) SEH - Watson 29 pass from Wright (Evans kick) CAS - Lopez 18 run (Gardner kick) CAS - Gilbert 47 pass from Sowards (Gardner kick) SEH - Wright 3 run (Evans kick) SEH - Funk 47 run (Evans kick) CAS - Gilbert 3 pass from Sowards (Garnder kick) SEH - Funk 16 run (Evans kick) SEH - Neff 61 run (kick blocked) SEH - Neff 36 run (Evans kick)
CAS SEH 46-233 Rush Att-Yards 31-347 4-7-1 Comp-Att-Int 13-19-0 80 Passing Yards 180 Individual Leaders RUSHING - CAS: N/A. SEH: Funk 16-202, Neff 8-133, Wright 4-9, Watson 2-3, Hall 1-0. PASSING - CAS: N/A. SEH: Wright 13-19-0-180. RECEIVING - CAS: N/A. SEH: Duckworth 6-85, Watson 5-75, Neff 1-15, Funk 1-5.
