BELLINGHAM – Perhaps Randy Farmer said it best while broadcasting the game Friday night for AM 790 KGMI. Coming back from a commercial break during the third quarter of Sehome’s convincing 31-7 win over Burlington-Edison he said, “Welcome back to the Tommy Funk Show here at Civic Stadium.”
The 5-foot-11 195-pound senior, who has had a handful of great games in his varsity career, had a career-night with 178 yards rushing, and three touchdowns, on 20 carries. He also led defensively with seven tackles, three quarterback sacks, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.
It was the Tigers, though, that started the scoring when senior running back Francisco Sanchez-Mendoza took the handoff on the first play of Burlington-Edison’s second possession, and raced 65 yards for a touchdown.
Sehome senior Carson Neff returned the ensuing kickoff into Tiger territory to give the Mariners great field position, and Funk capitalized moments later on a 15-yard touchdown run. Sophomore kicker Grady Evans connected on the extra point to tie the game, 7-7, with 4:16 remaining in the first quarter.
A few possessions later, Sehome was then able to turn Burlington-Edison over on downs, and marched down the field once again. This time a powerful 10-yard touchdown run by Funk culminated the drive.
The Tigers were hoping to score a touchdown of their own to close out the first half, but Funk forced a fumble in Tiger territory and it was recovered by senior safety Jackson Dew at the Burlington 29-yard line. One play later, freshman quarterback threw a deep fade down the right sideline which sophomore wide receiver Andre Watson timed perfectly, and the duo paired up for the Mariners’ third touchdown of the contest.
Sehome held a 20-7 lead at halftime, and the Tigers got some momentum back immediately when they recovered their own kickoff to begin the third quarter.
The Mariner defense held strong, and was able to force a turnover on downs, and get the ball back at their own 27-yard line.
The two teams traded punts, and Sehome was then able to put together a long, sustaining drive with big run after big run. It ended with Funk finding the end zone for the third time, on a 2-yard score. Wright rolled to his right on the two-point conversion following the touchdown and found senior right end Malachi Swanson in the back of the end zone to give Sehome a 28-7 advantage.
Evans then put the final stamp on the scoring in the fourth quarter with a powerfully-kicked 25-yard field goal.
It was a tremendous overall game for the Mariners (3-1), who have gone through a lot recently, and it won’t get any easier next week when they host the defending 2A State Champion Lynden Lions (4-0) next Friday at 7:00 at Civic Stadium.
Sehome 31 Burlingon-Edison 7 BE 7 0 0 0 - 7 SEH 7 13 8 3 - 31 BE - Sanchez-Mendoza 65 run (Gonzalez kick) SEH - Funk 15 run (Evans kick) SEH - Funk 10 run (kick blocked) SEH - Watson 29 pass from Wright (Evans kick) SEH - Funk 2 run (Swanson pass from Wright) SEH - Evans 25 FG BE SEH 32-156 Rush Att-Yards 43-263 5-16-1 Comp-Att-Int 6-13-0 11 Passing Yards 50 Individual Leaders RUSHING - BE: N/A. SEH: Funk 20-178, Neff 16-64, Wright 6-22, Hall 1-(-1). PASSING - BE: N/A. SEH: Wright 6-13-0-50. RECEIVING - BE: N/A. SEH: Watson 4-41, Malo 1-10, Funk 1-(-1).
