Coach: Jay Dodd, 13th season with Blaine (61-62)
Home Field: Blaine High School
Last Season: 1-9 (0-6 NWC)
Key Losses: TE/DE Cruz Rodriguez; OL/DL Porter Schmidt; RB Julian Gonzalez; QB Cam Ellis; WR/DB Dalton Mouw.
Top Returnees: WR/DB Chase Abshere; OL/DE Gavino Rodriguez; RB/LB Jacob Westfall; OL/DL Wyatt Cole.
Click HERE to listen to an interview with Coach Jay Dodd on the Doug Lange Network. For more interviews go to www.onthedln.com.
2017 RESULTS
Nooksack Valley 45, Blaine 6
Meridian 50, Blaine 44
Sedro Woolley 42, Blaine 7
Bellingham 36, Blaine 35
Anacortes 36, Blaine 30
Lynden 35, Blaine 12
Lakewood 32, Blaine 30
Blaine 31, Shorewood 26
Burlington-Edison 47, Blaine 13
Sehome 65, Blaine 24
2018 SCHEDULE
08/31 – Earl Marriott, BC – 7 PM
09/07 – at Cedar Park Christian – 7 PM
09/14 – Lynden Christian – 7 PM
09/21 – at Sehome- 7 PM
09/28 – Bellingham – 7 PM
10/05 – at Mountlake Terrace – 5 PM
10/12 – Cedarcrest – 7 PM
10/19 – at Anacortes – 7 PM
It was the ideal year for the Borderites in 2017. A 1-9 record, yes, but so many games came down to the wire. A new outlook in 2018 has Blaine going in the right direction.
The Borderites will look to sophomore William McKinney to lead the team in 2018, and the 6-foot-3 185-pounder has looked good. “He’s a great kid that loves football,” Coach Dodd said. “He watches a ton of game film, and he pays attention to every little detail.”
A trio of running backs have caught the eyes of the coaching staff, and the Borderites could go to more of a pro-style offensive this year, including numerous two-back sets. 200-pound senior Jacob Westfall returns as more of a downhill bowling ball type of runner. Senior Danyil Tkachov is more of a slasher that really blossomed at football camp, and junior Oscar Caridad is the speed guy.
Senior Chase Abshere returns as one of the best wide receivers in the county. It might be hard to duplicate the 50 receptions he had last year with more of a ball-control offense, but he has all the ability to do it. Senior Alex Mercado returns after having a productive season a year ago in the slot, and at 6-3 and 200 pounds, senior Tanner Beson supplies a big target for the sophomore slinger. Another weapon could be senior Derek Machula, a transfer from Texas that has impressed during practice.
Senior Hudson Reid steps into the tight end spot, but could also see time as a fullback, or even split out wide from time to time.
The offensive line will be anchored by junior left tackle Wyatt Cole who has transformed his body into solid muscle. Senior Connor Ellis is also extremely strong, and will move to
right tackle after playing center last season. Junior Gavino Rodriguez will start at guard, and is one of the most athletic linemen in the county. Three to four players are still battling it out for the final two spots of the offensive line.
The defense will be revamped in the border city, and could see different types of fronts. You could see four-down linemen, you might see just one down-lineman and five linebackers. Cole and Ellis will play in the interior, with Rodriguez, Beson and Tkachov rushing off the edge. Westfall returns at inside linebacker.
The secondary looks good with Abshere, Machula and Mercado in the mix. You can also count on seeing a lot of action in the defensive backfield from junior Robbie Parker and sophomore Seth Blomeen.
Senior Bryce Kamrath returns at kicker, and should take over the punting duties as well.
Coach Dodd likes his chances this year, and believes his team can compete with anyone. If they come out of the “Lake” division, he’ll have his chance to prove it.
2017 STATISTICAL LEADERS
(Returning players have the * after their names)
RUSHING
| Rank | Player | Season | Games | Att. | Yards | TD | Yds./Att. | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julian Gonzalez | 2017 | 5 | 149 | 771 | 7 | 5.17 | 154.2 |
| 2 | Oscar Caridad* | 2017 | 7 | 66 | 283 | 5 | 4.29 | 40.4 |
| 3 | Jacob Westfall* | 2017 | 9 | 62 | 251 | 2 | 4.05 | 27.9 |
| 4 | Seth Blomeen* | 2017 | 1 | 5 | 27 | 0 | 5.40 | 27.0 |
PASSING
| Rank | Player | Season | Games | Comp. | Att. | Comp %. | Yards | TD | Int | Rating | Yds./Att. | Yds./Comp. | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cam Ellis | 2017 | 10 | 154 | 297 | 51.85% | 2197 | 17 | 18 | 69.94 | 7.40 | 14.3 | 219.7 |
| 2 | William McKinney* | 2017 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 33.33% | 48 | 1 | 0 | 102.78 | 8.00 | 24.0 | 48.0 |
RECEIVING
| Rank | Player | Team | Season | Games | Recpt. | Yards | TD | Yds./Att. | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chase Abshere* | Blaine | 2017 | 10 | 50 | 736 | 7 | 14.72 | 73.6 |
| 2 | Dalton Mouw | Blaine | 2017 | 9 | 46 | 720 | 4 | 15.65 | 80.0 |
| 3 | Cruz Rodriguez | Blaine | 2017 | 9 | 30 | 352 | 4 | 11.73 | 39.1 |
| 4 | Alex Mercado* | Blaine | 2017 | 6 | 14 | 172 | 1 | 12.29 | 28.7 |
| 5 | Max Miller | Blaine | 2017 | 4 | 6 | 118 | 1 | 19.67 | 29.5 |
KICK RETURNING
| Rank | Player | Season | Games | Returns | Yards | TD | Yds./Att. | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julian Gonzalez | 2017 | 5 | 11 | 358 | 1 | 32.55 | 71.6 |
| 2 | Oscar Caridad* | 2017 | 7 | 12 | 174 | 0 | 14.50 | 24.9 |
| 3 | Alex Mercado* | 2017 | 6 | 9 | 108 | 0 | 12.00 | 18.0 |
| 4 | Jaden Fritsch* | 2017 | 3 | 6 | 88 | 0 | 14.67 | 29.3 |
PUNT RETURNING
| Rank | Player | Season | Games | Returns | Yards | TD | Yds./Att. | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chase Abshere* | 2017 | 10 | 3 | 42 | 0 | 14.00 | 4.2 |
| 2 | Alex Mercado* | 2017 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | 1.5 |
| 3 | Dalton Mouw | 2017 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7.00 | 0.8 |
| 4 | Robert Parker* | 2017 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.00 | 1.0 |
PUNTING
| Rank | Player | Season | Punts | Yds./Att. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kai Nagle | 2017 | 26 | 27.15 |
| 2 | Victor Escalante* | 2017 | 1 | 33.00 |
INTERCEPTIONS
| Rank | Player | Season | Int. | Yards | Yds./Att. | TD | Yds./Gm. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dalton Mouw | 2017 | 1 | 23 | 23.00 | 0 | 2.6 |
| 2 | Brian Davis | 2017 | 1 | 20 | 20.00 | 0 | 20.0 |
| 3 | Jacob Westfall* | 2017 | 1 | 11 | 11.00 | 0 | 1.2 |
| 4 | Isaiah Russ | 2017 | 1 | 1 | 1.00 | 0 | 0.3 |
SCORING
| Rank | Player | Season | TD | FGs | 2-Pt Conv | PAT | Total Points | Points/Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julian Gonzalez | 2017 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 9.6 |
| 2 | Chase Abshere* | 2017 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 4.4 |
| 3 | Oscar Caridad* | 2017 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 4.3 |
| 4 | Dalton Mouw | 2017 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2.7 |
| 5 | Cruz Rodriguez | 2017 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2.7 |
| 6 | Bryce Kamrath* | 2017 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 21 | 3.0 |
| 7 | Jacob Westfall* | 2017 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1.3 |
2018 ROSTER
(Roster not available yet, please check again soon!)
