BY JEFF WOOD – For Whatcom Preps
BELLINGHAM – On a record-breaking night at Civic Stadium, the Sehome Mariners beat the visiting Chief Sealth Seahawks 48-17 and advanced to the 2A State Playoffs for the first time since 2018. Nolan Wright threw for a school record 467 yards in the victory. 345 of those yards came on passes to Andre Watson which is a Whatcom County all-time high in one game.
Sehome jumped out to a 7-0 lead just over a minute into the game on a Solomon McAlister 3-yard TD run. The Mariner defense, getting both starting safeties back, forced two consecutive 3-and-outs to start the game. A Wright to Watson 10-yard connection made it 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Seahawks then put together their best drive of the game before stalling in the red zone. Chief Sealth had some success with jet sweep plays and a short passing game. However, a Logan Rogers tackle for loss thwarted their progress and Sealth had to settle for a 40-yard field goal.
The kick barely cleared the cross bar but gave the Seahawks their first points of the game. Sehome led 14-3 at that point but would put up two more scores before halftime.
Both were touchdown passes from Wright to senior receiver Grady Evans, who was returning from an illness. The catches were sandwiched by Evans’ own interception, which he returned 35 yards. Senior tight end Cooper McAtee made two long receptions to get the Mainers down to the red zone on the scoring drives.
Evans connected on both extra points and the Mariners went into the locker room at intermission with a 28-3 advantage.
The Sehome defense continued to swarm and limit the Seahawk offense in the third quarter. The Mariner faithful were then treated to some spectacular catches by Watson. A 26-yard touchdown reception was quickly followed by a 68-yard catch and run on a screen pass, with Watson making a few tacklers miss and then outrunning the rest of the Seahawks to the end zone.
The offensive line blocked well on the night, giving signal caller Nolan Wright plenty of time to find his targets.
The Mariner lead was 41-3 at the end of the third quarter due to Sehome getting sacked on their 2-point try. Chief Sealth answered by putting together their only touchdown scoring drive.
Despite the big deficit, the Seahawks stuck with their running game and moved the ball 70 yards down to the Mariner 1-yard line. A final short plunge by quarterback MJ Filitaula got the Seahawks into the end zone.
After the Seahawks scored, making their lead 41-10, the Mariners put together a final scoring drive, with three rushes and five passes. The culmination was a 23-yard Wright to Watson touchdown reception, Wright’s 30th and Watson’s 21st on the season. The Seahawks did return the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown extending the game a few more minutes much to the chagrin of the teams waiting to play the 7PM game.
Sehome (7-3) looked sharp on both sides of the ball in the new round of 32, winning by a final score of 48-17 and advancing to the WIAA 2A State Playoffs where they will take on Othello (9-1). Time, date and location have yet to be determined.
Sehome 48 Chief Sealth 17 CS 0 3 0 14 - 17 SEH 14 14 13 7 - 48 SEH - McAlister 3 run (Evans kick) SEH - Watson 10 pass from Wright (Evans kick) CS - 40 yard field goal SEH - Evans 3 pass from Wright (Evans kick) SEH - Evans 6 pass from Wright (Evans kick) SEH - Watson 26 pass from Wright (Evans kick) SEH - Watson 68 pass from Wright (run failed) CS - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good) SEH - Watson 23 pass from Wright (Evans kick) CS - 81 yard touchdown kickoff return (kick good) CS SEH 35-116 Rush Att-Yards 23-87 10-23-2 Comp-Att-Int 23-34-0 74 Passing Yards 467 Individual Leaders RUSHING - ATM: N/A. SEH: McAlister 16-77, Watson 1-6, Wright 5-4, Smith 1-0. PASSING - ATM: N/A. SEH: Wright 23-34-0-467. RECEIVING - ATM: N/A. SEH: Watson 15-345, Miller 3-29, McAtee 2-69, Evans 2-9, Goodman 1-15.
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