BURLINGTON – The youthful Bayhawks fell behind early, and could never catch up as they were upended by the Tigers 56-21 at Roland Kirkby Field on Friday night.
Bellingham put together numerous long drives, but were often turned over on downs deep in Burlington-Edison territory. The run-heavy Tigers were able to move the ball in big chunks, and they often finished their drives with touchdowns, and led 20-0 halfway through the second quarter.
The Bayhawks got on the board in the second quarter with a 3-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Ben Leonard to junior wide receiver Lucius White, and the score was 20-7 at the midway break.
The two teams traded touchdowns early in the third quarter, with Leonard and senior Matthew Steel hooking up from three yards out, but the Tigers then scored the next three touchdowns of the game, all on the ground, to take a commanding 49-14 lead in the fourth quarter.
Leonard and Steel did it one last time on their final play from scrimmage, as it covered 39 yards and resulted in another touchdown for Bellingham.
Leonard finished the night completing 30-of-47 for 306 yards. His 30 completions broke his own school record for a single game, and he also became the school’s all-time leader in pass completions, now with 376. He passed Nick Knutson, who held the record for nine years.
Steel also had a memorable night as he caught 13 passes for 145 yards, and he also broke the school record for receiving touchdowns in a season with 13. The previous record of 12 was held by Joe Harward, Josh Tolle and Wyatt Stephan.
The defense was led by senior linebacker Silas McGerr who finished with 12 tackles, including a tackle for loss.
Bellingham (2-6) will face Squalicum (3-5) at 8:00 on Thursday at Civic Stadium.
Burlington-Edison 56
Bellingham 21
BEL 0 7 7 7 - 21
B-E 7 13 15 21 - 56
B-E - 2 yard touchdown run (kick good)
B-E - 23 yard touchdown pass (kick good)
B-E - 31 yard touchdown pass (kick blocked)
BEL - White 3 pass from B. Leonard (Diaz kick)
B-E - 22 yard touchdown run (2pt run good)
BEL - Steel 3 pass from B. Leonard (Diaz kick)
B-E - 2 yard touchdown run (kick good)
B-E - 1 yard touchdown run (kick good)
B-E - 19 yard touchdown run (kick good)
BEL - Steel 39 pass from B. Leonard (Diaz kick)
B-E - 83 yard kickoff return for a touchdown (kick good)
BEL B-E
15-22 Rush Att-Yards 41-309
30-47-1 Comp-Att-Int 11-21-0
306 Passing Yards 164
Individual Leaders
RUSHING - BEL: Miller 4-15, Malone 2-3, Chartier 7-3, B. Leonard 2-1. B-E: N/A.
PASSING - BEL: B. Leonard 30-47-1-306. B-E: N/A.
RECEIVING - BEL: Steel 13-145, VanHofwegen 9-148, White 5-11, Chartier 2-(-3), McGerr 1-5. B-E: N/A.
Leave a Reply