SEATTLE – Little was known about the Bellingham football team going into this season. A new coach, a new offense, a new defense and a lot of new faces.
A lot more is now known about the 2022 Bayhawks, after Bellingham defeated Cleveland 48-14 at the Southwest Athletic Complex on Saturday.
The Bayhawks racked up three quick touchdowns in the first quarter, all in different phases of the game.
The first being a quick bubble pass from senior quarterback Alex Wells to senior slot receiver Lucas Cousens, who then took it 11 yards for the score. A few plays later Bellingham was able to block an Eagles punt, which was recovered in the end zone by senior Liam Poulton-Claypool, and the third was a 41-yard interception return for a touchdown by senior cornerback Kalani Utu.
Cleveland had trouble moving the ball all game, and finished with zero yards on the ground, on 19 attempts. The Bellingham defense was led by sophomore middle linebacker Tyler Frost, who finished with two tackles for loss and an interception.
Frost also accounted for 67 yards rushing, and a touchdown, on five carries, but it was senior running back Logan Steeves who had a huge game on the ground. He covered 140 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, while also having two long touchdown runs called back because of penalties.
Wells looked sharp in his varsity debut at quarterback, completing all three of his attempts, with two of them resulting in touchdowns. He also ran for 25 yards.
Freshman safety Owen Hanstead also had a pick-six in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland was able to score two touchdowns late in the contest after Coach Adam Leonard emptied his bench.
The Bayhawks (1-0) will travel to Meadowdale (0-1) on Friday to take on the Mavericks at 5:00.
Bellingham 48 Cleveland 14 BEL 21 14 7 6 - 48 CLE 0 0 0 14 - 14 BEL - Cousens 11 pass from Wells (Poulton-Claypool kick) BEL - Poulton-Claypool recovered block punt in end zone (Poulton-Claypool kick) BEL - Utu 41 interception return (Poulton-Claypool kick) BEL - Cousens 24 pass from Wells (Poulton-Claypool kick) BEL - Frost 24 run (Poulton-Claypool kick) BEL - Steeves 11 run (Poulton-Claypool kick) BEL - Hanstead 41 interception return (kick failed) CLE - 88 yard touchdown pass (kick good) CLE - 20 yard fumble recovery (kick good) BEL CLE 29-223 Rush Att-Yards 19-0 3-3-0 Comp-Att-Int 3-10-3 44 Passing Yards 105 Individual Leaders RUSHING - BEL: Steeves 16-140, Frost 5-67, Wells 5-25, Cousens 1-2, VanHofwegen 1-(-5), Lopez 1-(-6). CLE: N/A. PASSING - BEL: Wells 3-3-0-44. CLE: N/A. RECEIVING - BEL: Cousens 2-35, Poulton-Claypool 1-9. CLE: N/A.
