BELLINGHAM – The Storm never got on track as Archbishop Murphy came to town and defeated Squalicum 38-6 at Civic Stadium on Friday night.
Two Storm turnovers turned into 10 quick points for the Wildcats in the first quarter, and Squalicum was never able to recover after that.
The Storm put together their best drive in the second quarter, behind some big runs from junior quarterback Marcus Nixon. The drive ended with a 14-yard pitch-pass from Nixon to junior Joaquin Ortiz for a touchdown.
Nixon finished the game with 111 yards on the ground, and 42 through the air.
Archbishop Murphy played steady throughout the game, and also played relatively error-free football.
The Squalicum inside linebackers had a big night against the run-heavy Wildcats, as senior Deandre Dunmore finished with nine tackles, including three for a loss and one forced fumble, and junior Malaki Smith had a team-high 10 tackles, and one tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
The Storm (2-2) will try to get back on track next week when they host Burlington-Edison (0-3) on Thursday at 7:00.
Archbishop Murphy 38 Squalicum 6 ATM 10 14 14 0 - 38 SQU 0 6 0 0 - 6 ATM - 22 yard field goal ATM - 22 yard touchdown run (kick good) ATM - 6 yard touchdown run (kick good) SQU - Ortiz 14 pass from Nixon (kick failed) ATM - 11 yard touchdown run (kick good) ATM - 14 yard touchdown pass (kick good) ATM - 18 yard touchdown pass (kick good) ATM SQU 44-222 Rush Att-Yards 34-198 6-8-0 Comp-Att-Int 7-19-1 110 Passing Yards 59 Individual Leaders RUSHING - ATM: N/A. SQU: Nixon 14-111, Dunmore 8-34, Smith 9-29, Ortiz 3-24. PASSING - ATM: N/A. SQU: Nixon 5-15-1-42, Lamm 2-4-0-17. RECEIVING - ATM: N/A. SQU: Ortiz 3-33, Smith 2-17, Nelson 1-9, Knowlton 1-0.
