Football
With the clock ticking under five minutes in the third quarter and Blaine football trailing 27-17, junior quarterback Colin Davis botched a handoff to junior running back Jaiden Paez. The resulting fumble gave the ball to the visiting Bellingham Bayhawks on Blaine’s 33 yard-line. The very next play Bellingham quarterback Josh Leonard hit senior receiver Wyatt Stephan for a 33-yard touchdown, and the Borderites were down for the count.
Those back-to-back plays were a microcosm of Blaine’s 40-23 loss on October 13. The Borderites made costly mistakes and Bellingham’s potent combination of Leonard and Stephan took advantage.
Stephan tied a Whatcom County record on Friday night, hauling in five touchdown passes on seven total catches for 197 receiving yards. Partner-in-crime Leonard became the 19th player in Whatcom County history to reach 40 career touchdown passes.
“There were a couple plays where made great contested catches,” Blaine head coach Andy Olson said. “But the other ones, those are on us: mental miscues. We’re just young football players making mental mistakes. We just have to clean that up.”
The Borderites tried to stay close with Bellingham, ending the first half down just 10 points after senior kicker Matthew Hayes drilled a last-second field goal. But Blaine’s secondary just couldn’t handle Stephan, who accounted for five of Bellingham’s six touchdowns on the night.
After a heroic homecoming performance on October 6 against Meridian, where junior quarterback Colin Davis led Blaine on a game-winning two-minute drill, Davis struggled in the rain against Bellingham.
Davis rushed for a score in the first quarter and threw two touchdown passes – one an electrifying, 72-yard catch and run to senior Tyler Bouma – but threw multiple interceptions that kept the Borderites in a hole it couldn’t climb out of.
“It’s hard throwing in the rain, there’s no doubt about that,” Olson said of his quarterback. “I feel like we, as receivers, didn’t do him any favors. We dropped a lot of balls and then started to bring some heat and we didn’t do a good job picking it up for him.”
With the passing attack thwarted, and junior running back Colby Shipp out with an injury, Jaiden Paez was given the rock plenty of times Friday night. He finished with career highs in rushing attempts (22) and rushing yards (115).
Inside linebacker Blake Koreski continued his great defensive year, tallying four tackles, one tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.
Blaine (2-5, 1-1) remain in fourth place in 1A Northwest Conference standings, now staring down the toughest stretch of its remaining schedule, going on the road to face first-place Lynden Christian (5-2, 2-0) on October 20 at 7 p.m., and second-place Nooksack Valley (5-2, 2-1) at home on October 27 at 7 p.m.
Stats provided by WhatcomPreps.com
Volleyball
Blaine volleyball bounced back from two straight-set losses last week to Oak Harbor and Lakewood with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-22, 18-25, 25-15) win over Squalicum at home on October 12.
Senior standouts Teya Zaddack and Deja Dube, in what is becoming a habit of the pair, dominated the stat sheet in the win over Squalicum. Zaddack earned a double-double with 18 kills and 16 digs, and Dube had a great defensive performance with 15 digs to go along with seven kills.
As head coach Jacquie Tesarik is always ready to point out, Blaine’s offensive performers were helped tremendously by their setters, especially junior Kaitlyn Harrington, who tallied a whopping 22 assists, four kills, 13 digs and three aces on the night. Senior Emersyn Bakker also contributed with three kills, 11 digs and two aces.
For head coach Jacquie Tesarik, this team is deeper than just the
top players who consistently rack up the statistics. Sophomore Carly Saunders and junior Brie Smith have both impressed their head coach this season.
“Saunders has had a lot of growth in her game physically and mentally. She is currently third in hitting for our team and has been contributing,” Tesarik said. “Smith loves the game and puts everything into her training and development. She has stepped up defensively for us, helping make our hitters shine.”
After the win, the Borderites travelled to Meridian on October 16, losing in straight sets (25-16, 25-13, 25-16). Teya Zaddack led the team with nine kills, 11 digs, one block and three aces.
Dube had four kills, while Harrington and senior Bella Vezzetti combined for 19 assists in the 3-0 loss.
After a tumultuous start to the season that saw Blaine fall to 0-6 and the bottom of the NWC standings, the Borderites went 3-3 in the last six games, seeming to find a footing in the second half of the season.
Although a 1A state playoff berth is more than likely out of reach, the Borderites (3-9) pulled itself up from conference basement-dwellers to a middle of the pack program that Smith believes can be a tough matchup for any team once district playoffs begin.
“We are fortunate that our league gives us an opportunity at the playoffs,” Tesarik said. “We are continuing to discuss our goals and striving to play our best as we wrap up the regular season.”
Stats provided by WhatcomPreps.com
Cross-Country
Blaine cross-country competed in the massive, 171-competitor 2023 Lake Lap Invitational at Lake Padden in Bellingham on October 12. 10 runners from Blaine competed against 10 teams from across Whatcom and Island counties. Of the 11 teams in the field, Blaine placed 10th with a team score of 250.
Blaine’s top performer was junior Tucker Green, who ran the 2.6-mile lap around Lake Padden with a time of 15:29.4, placing 45th in the massive field of runners. Green was followed far behind by teammates Sam Stiles (16:36.3) and Ian Tuski (16:43.5) who both placed in the top-100.
The Borderites now travel south to Bellingham for the Northwest Conference Championship at Civic Field on October 18. The boy’s junior varsity race starts at 3:20 p.m., featuring Blaine sophomores Oscar Taylor, Ethan Reynolds, Rhys Milligan and freshman Jonathan Clarke. The varsity race begins at 4:40 and features seven Blaine runners competing in the multi-surface, 5,000-meter course that meanders around Civic Field’s track and outdoor grass area.
Admission for adults is $7, free for students with an ASB card, and $3 for children, senior citizens and military with ID.
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