BELLINGHAM – When turnovers turn into touchdowns, that’s a huge momentum swing. And, when Storm senior cornerback Trevor Keeley returned his second interception 85 yards for a touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter, that pretty much ended it for the Mariners as Squalicum shut Sehome out 27-0 at Civic Stadium on Friday night.
Keeley had a pick-six in the first quarter, a 62-yard return, that saw him weave in and out of traffic on his way to the end zone, and it put the Storm up 7-0.
It was the first time in school history that a player had two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the same game. And he became the fifth player in Whatcom County history to accomplish that feat since 1975. The other players to do so were Eric Jacoby (Mount Baker in 1983), Cory Boyd (Sehome in 2008), Anthony Reese (Nooksack Valley in 2009) and James Hinson (Ferndale in 2016).
Fellow senior cornerback Kai Posey intercepted a pass in the second quarter, and then promptly scored a receiving touchdown on the very next play, on a 39-yard pass from senior Reed Richardson. Posey led Squalicum in receiving with 70 yards on three receptions.
Senior running back Djouvensky Schlenbaker returned after missing last week due to an ankle injury, but he wasn’t 100%. He was still able to pick up 52 yards on 18 carries. Fellow senior Leyton Smithson was used in many ways offensively, sometimes lining up out wide, sometimes coming in motion and sometimes in shotgun formation. The ladder saw him score a 3-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Sehome was without a few key players. Junior Tommy Funk is out for the season due to a knee injury sustained last week, and sophomore Alden Jacobs was also out. Replacing Funk at outside linebacker was junior Max Malo (who moved from his strong safety position), and he had a huge game, leading the Mariners with 8.5 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks.
Squalicum senior outside linebacker Bryson Lamb had another great performance, with 6.5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a half of a sack.
Richardson had a sharp passing night for the Storm, completing 8-of-10 passes for 116 yards.
Squalicum (2-2) will host Archbishop Murphy (3-2) on Friday night at 5:00 at Civic Stadium, and Sehome (1-4) will travel to Burlington-Edison (3-1) to take on the Tigers at 7:00 on Friday.
Squalicum 27 Sehome 0 SQU 7 7 6 7 - 27 SEH 0 0 0 0 - 0 SQU - Keeley 62 interception return (Smith kick) SQU - Posey 39 pass from Richardson (Smith kick) SQU - Smithson 3 run (kick failed) SQU - Keeley 85 interception return (Smith kick) SQU SEH 36-81 Rush Att-Yards 24-47 8-10-0 Comp-Att-Int 14-23-4 116 Passing Yards 92 Individual Leaders RUSHING - SQU: Schlenbaker 18-52, Dunmore 7-35, Smithson 4-25, Heaton 2-(-14), Richardson 5-(-17). SEH: Neff 13-35, L. Ortega 10-10, Sangha 1-2. PASSING - SQU: Richardson 8-10-0-116. SEH: Neff 8-13-2-67, Sangha 6-10-2-25. RECEIVING - SQU: Posey 3-70, Smithson 3-27, Takabe 1-10, Schlenbaker 1-9. SEH: Duckworth 4-26, Evans 3-23, Chisolm 3-11, Malo 2-17, Heyward 2-15.
