BELLINGHAM – It used to be the one game you had to be at every year. Bellingham versus Sehome at Civic Stadium. Times have changed over the years, but the heat of the rivalry was back at the highest temperature it’s been for a while. The Red Raiders scored 21 points in less than eight minutes, but the Mariners never wavered, going on a 54-6 run, ultimately winning 54-27 on Friday night.
The Mariner win caused a three-way tie between Sehome, Bellingham and Mountlake Terrace for the NWC 2A Lake Division Championship.
As soon as the crowd could gather itself after standing for the National Anthem, it was Bellingham’s speedy senior that brought them back to their feet with an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
Sehome drove down the field on its first possession but a Bellingham junior defensive back Connor McKay forced a fumble that senior Jacob Hallock recovered. Two plays it was junior fullback Jack Fields rambling 63 yards for a touchdown.
A nifty bootleg by Morgan Cavalier for a 5-yard touchdown gave Bellingham the early 21-0 advantage, but the Mariner offense was on point, and rattled off big chunks of yards at a time.
Junior running back Dawson Smith was able to get into the end zone from a yard out to get Sehome on the board in the first quarter. A quick pass over the middle from Jacob Kaepernick to H-back Christian Knudtson for an eight-yard score brought the score within a touchdown.
Bellingham would counter by doing something it rarely does, going to the air. Cavalier hit Spencer Lee in the corner of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown pass, but that would be the last score of the game for the Red Raiders.
Sehome senior Dylan Roberts began to run wild, totaling 180 yards on 23 carries and two scores. He also had a darting 35-yard touchdown run called back. Smith also found the end zone two more times.
Kaepernick had the best statistical game of his young career, passing for 320 yards and three touchdowns. In addition to Knudtson, he also found Austin Roberts and Brett Meggyesy on a pair of 13-yard touchdown passes.
Bellingham was able to drive into Sehome territory a few more times, but the Mariner defense clamped up when it needed to. Outside linebacker Dylan Roberts was able to force a fumble that he himself recovered, and safety Jay Travier intercepted his Whatcom County-high seventh pass of the season.
The Mariners (5-3) and the Red Raiders (5-3) will do it all again this Friday night in a district playoff game at Civic Stadium at 7:00.
Sehome 54
Bellingham 27
SE 7 14 20 13 – 54
BEL 21 6 0 0 – 27
BELL – Harrington 84 kick return (Kongshaug kick)
BELL – Fields 63 run (Kongshaug kick)
BELL – Cavalier 5 run (Kongshaug kick)
SE – Smith 1 run (F. Arreola kick)
SE – Knudtson 8 pass from Kaepernick (Arreola kick)
BELL – Lee 17 pass from Cavalier (kick failed)
SE – D. Roberts 5 run (F. Arreola kick)
SE – A. Roberts 13 pass from Kaepernick (F. Arreola kick)
SE – Meggyesy 13 pass from Kaepernick (kick failed)
SE – D. Smith 13 run (F. Arreola kick)
SE – D. Roberts 43 run (F. Arreola kick)
SE – D. Smith 10 run (kick blocked)
SE BEL
31-219 Rushing Att-Yards 44-296
18-26-2 Comp-Att-Int 3-12-2
320 Passing yards 31
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – SE: D. Roberts 23-180, Smith 7-37, Kaepernick 1-2. BELL: Kongshaug 9-99, Harrington 11-69, Fields 2-66, Goodman 5-31, Taylor 3-23, Edwards 4-16, Cavalier 6-2, Johnson 1-(-2) Ninneman 3-(-8).
PASSING – SE: Kaepernick 18-26-2-320. BELL: Cavalier 3-11-2-31, Tolle 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING – SE: Meggyesy 7-107, A. Roberts 3-48, D. Roberts 2-65, Malo 2-62, Travier 2-20, McLin 1-10, Knudtson 1-8. BELL: Lee 2-26, Johnson 1-5.
