BELLINGHAM – A tremendous effort by the Red Raiders gave them a 9-2 halftime lead. Mistakes, turnovers and complete exhaustion in the second half ended with a 51-30 loss to Evergreen on Saturday night at Civic Stadium.
Bellingham scored first on a 5-yard run by senior quarterback Morgan Cavalier, which was set up by an 87-yard completion from Cavalier to wide receiver Andre Triplett. The Plainsmen scored a safety when Cavalier was sacked in the end zone and junior Red Raider kicker Juan Alten booted a 22-yard field goal just before halftime to give Bellingham the touchdown advantage.
Even though it was a strong second quarter for the Red Raiders, they were doing it without key players. Junior defensive end Tom Busch, who had a sack in the first quarter, went down with an injury early in the contest. Starting running back and linebacker Jack Fields suffered a leg injury in the second quarter and backup running back, and starting linebacker, Jackson Taylor was forced to leave the game as well. Third string running back Liam Swanson filled in admirably, rushing for 48 yards on 12 carries.
The second half started well for Bellingham, as Swanson and Cavalier drove them down the field with big runs. Cavalier then scored on a 2-yard keeper, but an inadvertent whistle was blown, and the ball was placed at the time of when the whistle was blown. Evergreen stuffed the next two plays at the goal line, and took over possession. The would-be Cavalier touchdown would have given the Red Raiders a strong 16-2 advantage. Instead, the Plainsmen drove down and scored on a touchdown run.
Cavalier countered back with a 44-yard touchdown run of his own, but the wheels came off after that. Two-way senior lineman Thai Nguyen suffered an injury, as did Alten who had been filling in at linebacker. Sophomore two-way starter Finn O’Malley was also taken off the field, and Evergreen was able to score in bunches.
The effort put forth by the Red Raiders, especially in the fourth quarter, made me proud to be a Whatcom County football fan. Extreme hustle was shown, and there was no sign of quit in the team.
Cavalier completed 16-of-33 passes for 294 yards, and Triplett caught eight of them for 217 yards. Triplett also scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and became the fifth player in school history to have over 200 yards receiving in a game.
Bellingham (1-4) is off this week and will host Mountlake Terrace (1-3) on Friday, October 18th at Civic Stadium.
Evergeen 51
Bellingham 30
EVER 2 0 21 28 – 51
BELL 6 3 7 14 – 30
BELL – Cavalier 5 run (run failed)
EVER – Safety, Cavalier tackled in end zone
BELL – Alten 22 FG
EVER – 10 yard touchdown run (kick good)
BELL – Cavalier 44 run (Alten kick)
EVER – 18 yard touchdown run (kick good)
EVER – 15 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
EVER – 76 yard touchdown run (kick good)
EVER – 23 yard touchdown run (kick good)
EVER – 6 yard touchdown run (kick good)
BELL – Triplett 3 run (pass failed)
EVER – 9 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
BELL – Triplett 25 pass from Cavalier (Cavalier run)
EVER BELL
41-425 Rushing Att-Yards 32-162
16-28-0 Comp-Att-Int 16-32-2
151 Passing yards 294
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – BELL: Cavalier 15-73, Swanson 12-48, Fields 2-16, Taylor 1-16, Triplett 2-9. EVER: N/A.
PASSING – BELL: Cavalier 16-33-2-294. EVER: N/A.
RECEIVING – BELL: Triplett 8-217, Tolle 3-56, McKay 2-11, Swanson 1-13, Quinlan 1-3, Cavalier 1-(-6). EVER: N/A.
Prod to be associated with red raiders very coached the boys played it out on the feild. No quit. Whatcom county holds their heads high for our families and proud of all Ya’all