BELLINGHAM – After never holding the lead for the first 47 minutes of the game, the Bayhawks scored a touchdown in the final minute to capture the lead an ultimately win the game against Granite Falls 17-14 on Friday night at Civic Stadium.
The Tigers scored first after Bellingham coughed up the ball deep in its own territory in the first quarter. Granite Falls took advantage, and scored a 13-yard touchdown on a shovel pass.
The Bayhawks countered with a long drive that ended up stalling inside the Tiger 5-yard line, but Bellingham would still pick up points when sophomore kicker Cameron Boak booted a 22-yard field goal.
Both teams traded punts in the second quarter, and Granite Falls broke through with the first giant play of the game with a 64-yard touchdown run which gave the Tigers a 14-3 lead.
The Bayhawks were able to score once more just before halftime when sophomore quarterback Ben Leonard threw a jump ball into the end zone to his new favorite target, Joe Harward. The 6-foot-4 junior outjumped his opponent and came down with the 15-yard touchdown reception.
He finished the game with 11 catches for 155 yards.
The rest of the game showed pronounced defensive prowess by both schools, with the biggest moment being a goal line stand by the Bayhawks late in the third quarter. Senior Bly Henderson made a touchdown-saving tackle at the 1-yard line, which brought up a 4th-and-goal on the next play, which was snuffed out by junior Eli Goodbuffalo, and the Bayhawks were able to regain possession, still down 14-10.
Bellingham’s next drive gained a lot of yards, due to some strong runs by senior Tyler Frost, and a first-down reception my junior wide receiver Myllo Wright, but it ended with an interception.
The Tigers now had possession, and the lead, with half of the fourth quarter already gone, but the Bayhawk defense went on the attack and forced a quick three-and-out.
After forcing the punt, Bellingham was back on offense, and it looked to be now or never for the the Bayhawks who were still chasing their first victory of the season.
After crossing midfield, Bellingham elected to go with a “Wildcat” look wit Harward taking direct snaps, and finding lanes to run between as he picked up 5-7 yards at a time.
Once in the Bayhawks were inside the 20-yard line, it was time to feature Frost once again, and he came through with a 7-yard run, as well as the eventual game-winning touchdown run from three yards out.
Frost finished with 112 yards on 24 carries.
The Tigers were unable to pick up a first down on their final possession, and Bellingham came away with the victory.
The Bayhawks (1-4) will return to conference play on Friday when they travel to Burlington-Edison (2-3) to take on the Tigers at 7:00.
Bellingham 17 Granite Falls 14 GF 7 7 0 0 - 14 BEL 3 7 0 7 - 17 GF - 13 yard touchdown pass (kick good) BEL - Boak 22 FG GF - 64 yard touchdown run (kick good) BEL - Harward 15 pass from Leonard (Boak kick) BEL - Frost 3 run (Boak kick) GF BEL 19-80 Rush Att-Yards 37-138 7-22-0 Comp-Att-Int 21-33-1 63 Passing Yards 234 Individual Leaders RUSHING - GF: N/A. BEL: Frost 24-112, Harward 5-31, G. VanHofwegen 3-8, Hanstead 2-(-2), Leonard 3-(-11). PASSING - GF: N/A. BEL: Leonard 20-32-1-222, Harward 1-1-0-12. RECEIVING - GF: N/A. BEL: Harward 11-155, Hanstead 5-25, Wright 3-36, C. VanHofwegen 1-12, G. VanHofwegen 1-6.
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