BY MAKAYLA SPARKS – For Whatcom Preps
BELLINGHAM – It didn’t take long for the Bellingham Bayhawks to make noise on their home turf at Civic Stadium as they kept the Lakewood Cougars out of the endzone in a 42-0 conference victory on Friday night.
Bellingham found itself with a 6-0 lead just under five minutes into the game after a quick 18-yard touchdown run from senior wide receiver Joe Harward.
Lakewood’s offense attempted to respond, but its first play from scrimmage put the ball in the hands of Bayhawk junior defensive back Matthew Steel. Steel raced down the near sideline 23 yards to the house for a pick-six, and with a successful two-point conversion, Bellingham took a 14-0 lead at the 6:47 mark of the first quarter.
Bellingham junior quarterback Ben Leonard connected with Harward a second time at the end of the first quarter on a 5-yard touchdown pass, and the Bayhawks pushed their lead out to 20-0. Two and a half minutes into the second quarter, they did it again. This time, the ball traveled 21 yards to the endzone, giving Harward his third touchdown of the game.
Leonard finished 13-of-22 for 187 yards and three touchdowns.
Up 28-0 after the first half, the Bayhawks scored again just four and a half minutes into the second. Senior Sonny Powell, powered the ball 10 yards into the endzone on his first carry of the season, and Bellingham continued out to a 36-0 lead.
Leonard found Harward one last time in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard touchdown connection, making the score 42-0. The defenses took control of the last 10 minutes of the game, and that would be the final score as the Bayhawks climbed to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.
Harward, who leads Whatcom County in receiving yards, caught seven passes for 120 yards.
The Bayhawk defense was led by Powell who finished with 8.5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two quarterback sacks, and junior linebacker Calvin VanHofwegen registered 6.5 tackles.
Bellingham will host Anacortes (2-0) at Civic Stadium on Thursday at 6:00.
Bellingham 42 Lakewood 0 LAK 0 0 0 0 - 0 BEL 20 8 8 6 - 42 BEL - Harward 18 run (kick blocked) BEL - Steel 23 interception return (VanHofwegen pass from Leonard) BEL - Harward 5 pass from Leonard (kick blocked) BEL - Harward 21 pass from Leonard (Wright pass from Leonard) BEL - Powell 10 run (Wright pass from Leonard) BEL - Harward 16 pass from Leonard (kick failed) LAK BEL 25-54 Rush Att-Yards 21-105 11-30-1 Comp-Att-Int 13-22-0 62 Passing Yards 187 Individual Leaders RUSHING - LAK: N/A. BEL: Hanstead 16-69, Harward 3-26, Powell 2-10. PASSING - LAK: N/A. BEL: Leonard 13-22-0-187. RECEIVING - LAK: N/A. BEL: Harward 7-120, Wright 5-57, VanHofwegen 1-10.
