BELLINGHAM – The Bayhawks put the ball in the air over 90% of their plays, but Sultan took advantage of some big plays to come away with the 38-24 victory over Bellingham at Civic Stadium on Friday night.
Things were looking great for the Bayhawks early on as senior quarterback Ben Leonard’s deep pass on the first play from scrimmage down the middle of the field was hauled in by senior wide receiver Matthew Steel for a 58-yard touchdown, and Bellingham held the early 7-0 lead.
The Turks then countered with a strong running attack, and wound up scoring on their first drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.
As predicted before the game, it would come down to Bellingham’s speed against Sultan’s size.
Leonard’s sharp passing allowed for another strong Bayhawk drive, and they settled for a 28-yard field goal from junior kicker Alejandro Pringle, and Bellingham had a 10-6 lead early in the second quarter.
The Turks then returned the ensuing kickoff past midfield, and then on the very next play they took advantage of a mix-up in the Bellingham secondary and completed a 45-yard touchdown pass to take a 12-10 lead.
Sultan was able to turn the Bayhawks over, and score again on a pass, this time from 24 yards out, and the Turks extended their lead to 18-10, which remained throughout the rest of the first half.
Both teams traded possessions multiple times in the third quarter, and when the final quarter began, the scoreboard still read 18-10 in favor of Sultan.
The Turks scored early in the fourth with an 18-yard touchdown run, and after the two-point conversion was successful, it was going to take a lot to come back as Sultan then led 26-10.
Something big needed to happen soon for Bellingham to stay in the game, and the timing couldn’t have been better as junior Lucius White returned the following kickoff 75 yards before being knocked out of bounds as the Sultan 7-yard line. Moments later, Leonard hit Steel in the corner of the endzone for their fourth touchdown connection of the young season.
The two seniors hooked up again for the two-point conversion, and now Bellingham was back in business, down by just eight points, 26-18, with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the game.
The Turks were able to bleed five minutes off the clock before being forced to punt, and the Bayhawks were able to set up shop at their own 27-yard line with five minutes left. A penalty pushed them back to their own 14-yard line, but a 34-yard pass from Leonard to senior Calvin VanHofwegen got them back near midfield.
Steel then caught a 29-yard pass from Leonard down the near sideline, and Bellingham was in the red zone with a little over four minutes to go.
On the next play, Leonard’s shovel pass to junior Julius Sefried was perfectly executed as the 6-foot-2 230-pound tight end sprinted through the Turk defense and into the end zone from 12 yards out. Down by two points, the Bayhawks went for another 2-point conversion, but the pass was snuffed out by Sultan.
It was Leonard’s third touchdown pass of the game, and he finished with 273 yards passing on 21-of-37 through the air. Steel was the main recipient as he caught nine passes for 131 yards.
Bellingham attempted an onside kick, but a Turk grabbed the ball at its highest point, and was able to rumble 50 yards for a touchdown. Sultan’s two-point conversion was unsuccessful, and the Bayhawks, now down by eight points, 32-24, still had a chance now with 3:40 left in the game.
Bellingham came up short on a 4th-and-3 play near midfield, and the Turks took over possession with 2:48 left to go.
The Bayhawk defense needed to come up big one last time, to get the ball back for any chance of a victory, and on 4th-and-1, it was VanHofwegen who made the stop, which gave the ball back to his teammates.
Bellingham had one last try, now with only 22 seconds remaining, down by eight points, another big play was needed, but the final play of the game was a big play by the Turks as they intercepted a pass and turned it into a touchdown as the scoreboard read all zeros.
Sefried led the defense with 13 tackles, one tackle for loss and a quarterback sack, while VanHofwegen finished with 10.5 tackles, one tackle for loss, one sack and a pass broken up.
Bellingham (0-2) will travel to Lakewood (0-2) on Friday to take on the Cougars at 7:00.
Sultan 38 Bellingham 24 SUL 6 12 0 20 - 38 BEL 7 3 0 14 - 24 BEL - Steel 58 pass from B. Leonard (Diaz kick) SUL - 5 yard touchdown run (run failed) BEL - Pringle 28 FG SUL - 45 yard touchdown pass (run failed) SUL - 24 yard touchdown pass (pass failed) SUL - 18 yard touchdown run (2pt run good) BEL - Steel 7 pass from B. Leonard (Steel pass from B. Leonard) BEL - Sefried 12 pass from B. Leonard (pass failed) SUL - 50 yard kickoff return for a touchdown (run failed) SUL - 53 yard interception return for a touchdown (no conversion attempted) SUL BEL 52-280 Rush Att-Yards 4-(-12) 4-9-0 Comp-Att-Int 21-37-3 95 Passing Yards 273 Individual Leaders RUSHING - SUL: N/A. BEL: Maina 3-(-4), B. Leonard 1-(-8). PASSING - SUL: N/A. BEL: B. Leonard 21-37-3-273. RECEIVING - SUL: N/A. BEL: Steel 9-131, VanHofwegen 5-91, Sefried 3-35, Maina 2-14, Button 2-2.
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