Blaine football continued its perfect start to the season with a 47-22 win against Granite Falls on September 27, advancing to 4-0. According to the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association, the Borderites are the fifth-highest ranked 1A team in the state, tied with rival Nooksack Valley based on RPI rankings.
Blaine couldn’t have had a better start to the season, knocking off four non-conference opponents by a combined score of 163-54. The Borderites have defeated their first four opponents by an average score of 27.25 points.
Against Granite Falls, the Borderites jumped out to an early first quarter lead, with the vast majority of the offensive production coming from the ground attack.
Blaine rushed the ball 48 times for 367 yards compared to just 12 pass attempts for 96 yards. Even with limited passing, senior quarterback Colin Davis made an impact on the ground with nine rushes for 65 yards and a touchdown.
Once again, senior running back Jaiden Paez dominated with four touchdowns rushing and a pick-six on defense. Paez rushed for 180 yards on 20 attempts, which was his fourth time rushing for over 125 yards – a mark he’s reached every game of the season so far.
With the non-conference schedule taken care of and Blaine riding a 4-0 start for the first time since 1979, according to whatcompreps.com, the stakes haven’t been higher for the start of Northwest Conference competition.
And what better way to kick off NWC play than at home against rivals Lynden Christian? Last season, the Borderites lost a lopsided, 48-14 game to the Lyncs. A year later, the Borderites look like one of the most improved teams in the conference.
If the Borderites want to keep that top-five 1A ranking, the team will have to beat some of the best 1A teams in the state, with tough games up ahead against Lynden Christian on Friday, October 4 at 7 p.m., then on the road against Nooksack Valley on Friday, October 11.
Stats provided by whatcompreps.com
Blaine girls soccer suffered a pair of tough 1-0 defeats, first to Sedro-Woolley on the road September 26 and then hosting Meridian on October 1. The back-to-back losses put Blaine at 3-5-0 halfway through the fall season, but the team still sits as the second-highest ranked 1A team in the Northwest Conference.
Offensive chances have been hard to come by in Blaine’s losses, with four of the team’s five losses this season being shutouts.
Against Meridian, the Borderites allowed a late goal in the waning minutes of the first half after Meridian made a quick counter attack up the right sideline, and blasted home a goal above senior goalkeeper Larissa Pluschakov’s outstretched arms. The Borderites weren’t able to get an equalizer in the second half.
But with eight games remaining in the regular season, all against NWC rivals, Blaine has a chance to jump up significantly in the conference standings and secure a better seeding for district playoffs.
With a game against Lynden at home on Thursday, October 3 at 7:30 p.m., the Borderites will have a chance to earn three points and leapfrog 2A Burlington-Edison in the standings.
Girls volleyball dropped its last two conference games, one a 3-1 loss on the road to Sedro-Woolley and another as a 3-0 sweep at home at the hands of Meridian.
The pair of losses dropped the Borderites to 1-7 just before the halfway point of the season.
The Meridian game began like many for the Borderites this season, with Blaine jumping out to a strong start, going up 14-10 and forcing the visiting team to take a timeout and regroup. But Meridian was able to bounce back and close the door on Blaine, winning 25-21, 25-14 and 25-20.
The Borderites still showed great offensive production from outside hitters, with sophomore Teia Dube racking up seven kills and senior Kaitlyn Harrington adding six kills on the night.
With the second half of the season up ahead, the Borderites have time to turn the season around. Blaine will host Lynden after press time on October 2 at 7 p.m. at home and then travel to Mt. Baker on Tuesday, October 8.
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