Blaine wins 49–8 on homecoming night

The puzzle pieces are coming together for Blaine football after an on-and-off season with shifts in strategy, positions, and several injuries.

And it’s just in time – After a 49–8 win against Cedarcrest (3–4, 1–3 in conference games) on October 12, Blaine’s record improved to 3–4, and 1–3 in conference games. If the Borderites win the final regular season game this week against Anacortes (0–7), they’ll advance to the first of two loser-out post-season games.

If Blaine keeps playing the way it did against Cedarcrest, they’ll advance to the state tournament, said head coach Jay Dodd.

“I think we played our best game of the season last week,” he said. “I think we’ll be a tough out in the district playoffs and there’s a legitimate chance we could make it past that.”

Blaine scored its first touchdown against Cedarcrest in the first quarter on a 1-yard run by senior running back Alex Mercado. Mercado scored again in the second quarter, making the score 14–0 at halftime.

Mercado continued running the ball, scoring twice more in Blaine’s 28-point third quarter. Senior Derek Machula also scored in the third quarter on a 41-yard interception and sophomore quarterback Will McKinney made a 5-yard pass to senior wide receiver Chase Abshere for another score.

Sophomore Seth Blomeen scored Blaine’s final touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run.

In total, Mercado rushed for 139 yards on 22 attempts and McKinney completed 10 passes on 21 attempts for 87 yards.

The offense fired on all cylinders, but the Borderites’ defense really broke the game open for Blaine. The Borderites intercepted four passes in the third quarter thanks to Machula, Blomeen, and juniors Zane Rector and Mason Vega.

“I thought our defense set the tone by swarming the ball and being on attack mode the whole time,” Dodd said. “Cedarcrest couldn’t breath on offense.”

The Borderites are finally starting to click as a team, Dodd said. Machula played in his first game after three weeks on the sidelines due to a back injury, Abshere was healthy after being sick for a few weeks, and the team has more experience with some of the position changes Dodd made mid-season. In game five, Mercado moved to running back and senior Jacob Westfall switched from running back to guard, where he’s blocking for Mercado along with Gavino Rodriguez.

“Alex has only played nine or 10 quarters as a running back, but he is reading the blocks well. He’s explosive,” Dodd said. “And now we have guards on both sides that are very athletic. Those moves have really benefitted the offense a lot.”

But perhaps a bigger factor in Blaine’s blowout against Cedarcrest, Dodd said, is the team’s mindset – the team showed up ready to play. That wasn’t the case during a 40–0 loss at Mountlake Terrace the previous week.

“We had an open conversation at Mountlake Terrace after the game. We said ‘hey guys, let’s talk about this, because this was not good,’” Dodd said. “I think we learned a big lesson at Mountlake Terrace. We played our best game last week so we want to keep building on that.”

The Borderites play next at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 19 at Anacortes.